I picked all of the ripe Carolina Reaper peppers today - 48 of them on one plant - and took them up to the Mexican grocery/restaurant in town. The owner was standing out front when I walked up, and he knew I had something for him! I told him I had never brought him this one before, and wasn't sure if he would even want them, given how hot they are! He opened the bag and looked cautiously (not sure what he thought it would do), then he said "Oooohhhh...I've seen these but never had them before!" He told me there are a couple of guys in the kitchen that will want to try them, and there is a dish they will definitely make with it - a simple bean dish, usually black beans, since it is is a Yucatan dish, pork, onion, a little Mexican oregano, and habanero. In this case, they have used the ghost peppers - the superhots he does have sometimes, but he said he'd have them use this one, and see how much better it is. I'll have to go back in a few days, and ask him how they fared!
I got my corn tortillas, as always, and a large can of chipotles, and some Oaxacan string cheese. And I saw something I was low on last time I used it - True cinnamon, which he has in a bulk food bucket, so I got about 4½ oz, which is a generous amount, given how thin and light it is. When he rang the order up, he told me that was on him - a generous gift, in return for the peppers.
I also picked about 1 1/2 c kanthari peppers - the
frutescens variety, one of which was purple. And I dug the smallest one out of the ground, and planted it in a little less than 3 gal soil mix. And I'll cut it back even further. I'll see if it works out.
Purple Kanthari pepper, transplanted 9-27. Cut way back, but will definitely cut back more. by
pepperhead212, on Flickr
About 1 1/2 c Kanthari peppers - a variety of frutescens peppers. 9-27 by
pepperhead212, on Flickr
A pepper I started harvesting in early August, when I started ripening, was
Aruna. They started out all about the same time and size, like a determinate type, but when about 1/3 of them had ripened, and had been harvested, it started flowering gradually again, and started growing like an indeterminate type, with a few ripening every couple of days, and always a few smaller, and all different sizes, as well as new flowers. I've got close to 2 qts dried from 2 plants, with a bunch more already picked, and many more all over the plants. It is about 5-6" by about 3/8", and about 30-40k, so a little milder than a similar pepper I've been trying to replace -
Superthai - a hybrid (unfortunately) from Pinetree years ago, that they dropped, and years later the same name was totally different. And a couple of nights ago I made some simple hot oil with .75 oz aruna, slightly crushed, with 3/4 c oil, heated to about 375°, and the peppers darkened quickly, with a fantastic aroma from the caramelizing. I could still smell that this morning in my kitchen, from this small amount! Will definitely be good for when I make that nam prik pao.
Dried Aruna peppers, crushed some, and used to make some hot oil. by
pepperhead212, on Flickr