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Caribbean Red Habanero

Caribbean Red Habanero

When bright red, the wrinkled fruits of the Caribbean Red are perfect for salsas. After about 7 months of sufficient sunshine, they can be harvested. The fragrant flowers of this sharp Habanero variety are conspicuously beautiful.

Capsicum chinense

Like all chilli varieties, Habaneros also come from South America. Until the 15th century, Habanero chillies were mainly found on the Yucatan peninsula. The former Maya areas now belong to Mexico. The species was wrongly named after its distribution in China. Caribbean Red is a particularly popular Capsicum chinense species. Capsicum species belong to the nightshade family(Solanaceae).

Origin

Die Herkunft von Habaneros liegt wahrscheinlich in Yucatán. Es liegt an der südlichen Spitze Mexikos und trennt den Golf von Mexiko vom karibischen Meer. Durch Vögel wurde die Habanero auf den Inseln der Karibik verbreitet. Dazu gehört unter anderem die Caymann Inseln, Kuba und Haiti. Hier hat sich die „Königin des Feuers” zu einer besonderen Sorte entwickelt. Mit spanischen Galoenen kamen Chilis später nach Europa. Niederländer und Portugiesen sorgten später für eine Verbreitung bis China.

Scoville

Habanero Caribbean Red make it up to 450,000 Scoville (SHU). Other Habaneros have “only” 250,000 - 300,000 Scoville. Caribbean Red belongs to the sharpest Capsicum chinense varieties. Sharpness level: 10+.

Processing

Habaneros contain relatively much capsaicin. This causes the spiciness of the chilli. Capsaicin is a water insoluble alkaloid. In combination with alcohol and fat it dissolves. If you rub your eyes with chili on your hands, you will feel incredible pain. To protect yourself, you should wear disposable gloves.

Diving goggles or safety goggles and breathing mask may look funny, but can prevent burning pain. Once this has happened to you, you will surely agree. It is also better not to touch your nose or other mucous membranes with chili hands. It will burn insanely. Tip: Wear gloves and throw them away after cutting the chillies.

If something should have gone in the eye, rinse out with clear water. The pain will subside at some point. If necessary, contact a doctor. Should have come despite all caution juice of Habaneros at hands: Rub with sunflower oil and then wash with detergent. Repeat this procedure several times.

Salsa

A fresh salsa with Habaneros tastes fantastic. Unlike most other salsas you buy, you don’t need vinegar. It is often used as a preservative, but only falsifies the good taste. We can do without it in a quickly prepared salsa. All we need are:

  • Italian canned tomatoes
  • tomato puree
  • Onions or shallots
  • Lime juice
  • sea salt
  • sugar
  • olive oil
  • Herbs to taste:
    • cumin
    • garlic
    • coriander
    • parsley
    • oregano
    • thyme

Depending on the desired degree of sharpness Habanero pieces.

To get a lot of taste from the chilli into the salsa, you can use the following trick: Chop Habanero without seeds. Pour into a tea strainer and keep under running water. Some of the brutal spiciness drains off with the tap water. The fruity aroma is nevertheless retained.

Pour the ingredients into a kitchen blender, which you briefly switch on and off several times. Pulse about eight times until the consistency is nicely even.

The salsa tastes fantastic with tortilla chips and cheese. The fatty cheese also takes some of the heat off it.

You can make hot sauce yourself even faster and easier.

Chili Sauce

For the sauce we need:

  • pureed tomatoes
  • finely chopped onions
  • garlic
  • vegetable broth
  • cumin
  • olive oil
  • salt
  • brown sugar
  • red wine vinegar
  • Habanero

Puree it well with a kitchen blender. The homemade chilli sauce tastes best fresh.

Plant

Caribbean chili plants grow bushy with a short, strong trunk and reach a height of 80 to 120 cm (2,6 - 3,9 feet). Their leaves have a beautiful, bright green. Soon the plant forms many pretty flowers. They have a play of colours of white, violet, yellow and light green. After pollination, poison-green chili peppers are formed, which ripen to red.

Cultivation

You start sowing on the windowsill in January or February in Europe and USA. Southern hemisphere like India, Australia or New Zealand in June or July. Soak the purchased seeds in lukewarm water for one night. In a mini greenhouse, soak coconut growing tabs. Press a hole about 1 cm deep with a pencil.

Put in the chili seeds and cover with substrate. A germination temperature of 25°C is ideal. During the germination process, heating mats or heated greenhouses are good helpers. In our experience, Caribbean Red seeds germinate very quickly.

About a week after sowing, the first seedlings have already appeared. After 3 weeks of waiting, three out of ten seeds did not sprout. One chili seed was probably deaf when we planted it. So we spent about 2 Euro on the seed for seven plants. For the amount of super chillies we harvested later, a nice price.

Care

If possible, always keep the substrate of the chili plant slightly moist. No waterlogging, it means quick death for every chili. Tomato soil with a neutral to slightly acid pH value of 6.5 is perfect.

The heart root has enough space in a flower pot with a diameter of 27 - 35 cm. From mid-May, the chili plants should be slowly acclimated to the sun { : class=”chili-link”} and placed outside. You can bring the tub into the house later in autumn to spend the winter.

Fertilizing

Regular fertilizing with a tomato fertilizer ensures a rich harvest. Sometimes a dose of slow-release fertiliser at the beginning of the season is enough. We even use fertilizers that are suitable for organic cultivation.

Harvest

Wait patiently until the poisonous green of the chilli peppers changes to an intense, bright red. It often takes until September or October for the chillies to change from green to orange. Some plants then form deep red, almost smooth fruits. We have a wrinkled, bright red lantern shape. Habaneros with a mad sharpness, with great aroma. Chili heart what more could you want?

Variety name Caribbean Red Habanero
Species Capsicum chinense
Origin Mexico, Caribbean
plant size 80 - 120 cm
Maturing time 100 days
Scoville 450,000 SHU
Germination period 8 - 14 days
Germination temperature 24 - 28 °C
Planting distance min. 80 cm