You are right! A little more research led to some interesting
information. Apparently in the Congo they grow a highly variable
variety of C. chinense CV Congo (AKA Trinidad or Congo Trinidad)
that they use in their pili-pili. Googling on "Capsicum chinense"
+ Congo led to several websites with photos and technical info.
The "Congo" variety looks like a "Red Savina". Check he

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gertrud...in/set-677510/
http://www.cardi.org/publications/pr...epper/4.5.html

I am currently growing some "Chocolate Habaneros" which might be
a "Congo" derivative.

-Philip


riverman wrote:
Thanks for the link, Philip, but those aren't the ones. You could buy
birds-eye peppers in the stores right beside the pilipili peppers, and
there was a definite difference is shape, flavor and heat. Also, piri
piri in East africa is different from pilipili from Kinshasa; its not
the same flavor and definitely not the same hotness. Considering the
abundant use of pilipili and the isolation of Congo in the past decade,
it might be that the local variety is a new variant.

The peppers that were abundant in Kinshasa looked like habaneros, but
were deep red, and very very hot. They looked a lot like one on the
bottom of this page:

http://wwwchem.uwimona.edu.jm:1104/lectures/pepper.html

Scroll to the bottom and look at the one second from the right. The
color is a bit off: congolese peppers are about halfway in color
between the last two on the right, but the shape is right.

I think the online resources for this might be thin; Congo has been out
of the mainstream for quite awhile.

--M Buck


Philip Wright wrote:
The peppers used to make pili pili (or often piri piri)
are called birds-eye peppers. There is a lot of info on
them on the web (including seeds). Here is a good starter
page: http://www.fiery-foods.com/dave/profile_birdseye.html

-Philip


riverman wrote:
I lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo for awhile, and the locals made
a version of an african hot sauce called 'pili pili'. It was a universally
common condiment. The particular peppers they used looked like red
habaneros, but had a very different taste, although they were very very hot.
I'm pretty sure its not a capsicum chinense, as the taste and heat is not
right.

Does anyone know what type of hot peppers are indigenous to the DRC, and if
they grow anywhere else? I have searched online for them, and most sites
only talk about making pilipili sauce using 'hot peppers'. I can't seem to
find any more specifics.

Thanks gustatorialy:

M Buck