Datil pepper facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Datil pepper |
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| Species | Capsicum chinense |
| Heat |  Very hot |
| Scoville scale | 100,000–300,000 SHU |
The datil pepper is a very hot pepper. It is a type of the Capsicum chinense plant species.
Datil peppers are grown in many places. However, most of them come from St. Augustine, Florida. People have different ideas about where the Datil pepper first came from. Some say workers from Minorca brought them in the late 1700s. Others think a jelly maker named S. B. Valls brought them from Cuba around 1880.
A datil pepper starts green and turns yellowish-golden. It has a nice smell and a hot, sweet taste. A full-grown datil pepper is about 3-4 cm long. It has a blunt tip and weighs about 3 grams. The name "datil" comes from Spanish and Catalan words meaning "date palm." This is because the pepper's shape looks a bit like a date.
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Where Did the Datil Pepper Come From?
The story of the Datil pepper's origin is interesting. After a peace treaty in 1763, a Scotsman named Andrew Turnbull got a lot of land in Florida. He brought many families from Mediterranean countries to Florida. Many of these families came from Minorca, a Spanish island.
Turnbull started a settlement called New Smyrna. Life there was very hard. Many people died during the journey or after they arrived. The survivors eventually moved north to St. Augustine.
Some historians believe the datil pepper came to St. Augustine with these Minorcan settlers. Others think it came through Turnbull's slaves, the Mandingos. It's thought that Capsicum chinense peppers were not grown in the Mediterranean at that time. This suggests the pepper came from somewhere else.
Another idea is that slaves from New Smyrna had access to peppers in the West Indies. British ships might have brought them from places like Havana to Florida. Africans often used chili peppers to season their food. So, chili peppers might have been on the ships with the slaves. Trading by ships from Cuba and the West Indies could have brought datil pepper seeds to Florida.
Research suggests the St. Augustine datil pepper might be related to the Habanero pepper. However, it's unlikely the Minorcans got the pepper from Africans in New Smyrna. This is because New Smyrna had few connections with Cuba.
In 2013, a professor named Daniel Cantliffe spoke about the Datil pepper. He told the St. Johns County Commission something important. He said, "St. Johns County is the only place on the planet that this plant, the Datil, has come from." He added, "It originated and came from St. Augustine." This means experts believe it started right there. Today, about 25,000 to 26,000 people in St. Johns County are descendants of the Minorcans.
Growing Datil Peppers
The datil pepper was the first Capsicum chinense grown for money in the United States. It arrived in St. Augustine and became popular. Many families in northeastern Florida grow them in their backyards.
It can be hard to buy datil pepper seeds in stores. You can often get them from local farmers or online. Families grow small amounts of peppers. They then sell them to local restaurants and businesses. Datil peppers don't last long when fully ripe. So, it's best to buy them when they are still green.
Datil peppers are grown much like other hot peppers. Their seeds sprout best in soil that is 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit (24-27 degrees Celsius). It takes about 10 to 20 days for the seeds to sprout. You can plant seeds indoors in late winter. Then, move them outside when the weather gets warmer. You can also plant them in mid-summer and move them in the autumn.
You can save seeds from a ripe pepper. Dry the seeds for several days. Then, store them in a cool, dry place. A common bug that bothers datil peppers is the pepper weevil.
Scientists studied how picking peppers at different times affects their quality. They harvested datil peppers when they were yellow and when they were orange. Peppers picked when yellow were much better. About 91% of yellow peppers could be sold. Only 75% of orange peppers could be sold.
A datil pepper starts to lose quality after 14 days in storage. It will begin to shrivel. Yellow-picked peppers are a little less sweet than orange-picked ones. The best time to pick datil peppers is when they are yellow. They can then be stored for up to 21 days at 2 °C (35.6 °F) before they start to decline.
Some common types of datil peppers used in cooking are Wanda, Sensation, and Terra Time.
How Datil Peppers Are Used
Datil peppers are mostly used in cooking. They are also popular in hot sauces and other condiments. Minorcan cooks made vinegars, jellies, and mustards with them.
A popular ketchup-based datil sauce is called "Bottled Hell." It's often used locally with seafood. Another well-known hot sauce is "Dat'l-Do-It." It contains ketchup, brown sugar, tomato paste, honey, and datil pepper sauce. The most famous dish with datil peppers is Minorcan seafood chowder.
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Datil Pepper in Culture
The datil pepper is very well known in St. Augustine. It has been special to St. Augustine for centuries. This has made it a key part of Florida's food and culture.
Datil peppers and their sauces are important for tourism in St. Augustine. You can find them in grocery stores and souvenir shops. In September 2013, the Datil pepper became so popular that a special day was created. The first Saturday in October is now "Datil Pepper Day." This was announced by the St. Johns County Board. The datil pepper is now "the official plant of St. Johns County."
St. Johns County celebrates its official plant every autumn. They host The Datil Pepper Fall Festival. This festival happens every October in St. Augustine. The 12th annual festival was held on October 5, 2019.
Datil Pepper Characteristics
The datil pepper has a similar heat level to the Habanero pepper. Its heat ranges from 100,000 to 300,000 on the Scoville scale. (The Scoville scale measures how hot a pepper is.)
It takes about 5 months for the pepper to grow fully. The plant can grow up to 18 inches (1 foot 6 inches) tall. Its color changes from green to yellow to orange. The datil pepper is about 12 times hotter than a jalapeño pepper. It looks similar to a habanero, which is also a Capsicum chinense pepper. However, the datil is usually longer, skinnier, and sweeter than the habanero.
See also
In Spanish: Chile dátil para niños
