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

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

As an aside, all the Capsicum species are indigenous to the
Americas--even C. chinense, which probably hails originally from Brazil.
They've been nearly universally popular, though, so since their
transport to the Old World, many new varieties have been bred outside
the native range.

Monique Reed

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

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

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

Ahh, nice find. Those look like the variety.

I had come across "Congo Peppers" in my searches before, but it always
referred to a pepper found almost exclusively in Trinidad. One site said
that the 'Congo' meant 'Black' rather than referring to the country. There
are actually several similar looking peppers identified as a 'Congo
Pepper'...I haven't found one yet that specifically states that its used in
the DRC, but a hot chinense called 'Fatalii' comes from the Central African
Republic, which is a close neighbor. I bet there has been some blending of
varieties that has led to the Kinshasa variant.
http://www.mmattick.de/120_2022.JPG

Thanks for the leads.

--M Buck



"Philip Wright" wrote in message
. ..
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