Recent content by PSmythe (not my real name)

Update:   My Vietnamese friend tells me they are called "chi thien".   (the i in chi has a diacritic atop it resembling a comma)   Chi thien literally means "point sky"   She said that what she sometimes does with the chillies at the black stage is to grind them in a mortar with coarse salt and...

Thanks for all of your replies. It does look like it's Goatsweed.   In reply to "Mild" in Montreal - no, it was easy to grow. The seeds germinated easily and all of my plants have grown to around a metre and have plenty of fruit (at the beginning of our autumn).   I dried the fruit I was given...

Sounds like you might have identified it! Here's a whole plant:   The plant is around 1 m high. Vietnamese Black Dragon, you reckon?   I didn't realise C annuums could get as hairy as this.  

Hi all,   I've grown out some unusual Asian chillies this Summer and thought you might like to see some pics. My knowledge of the charcteristics of different species and varieties is not great but I did think these were particularly unusual. The plants come from seeds given to me by a Vietnamese...

Thanks Dave!   I tried the cajun seafood pasta sauce for dinner the other night and it was great! I used a marinara seafood mix (here in Oz that means bits of unidentified fish, prawns [what you call shrimps], mussels and calamari), kept the pepper in and put in about half a tsp of dried tepin...

Thanks SanPatricio... I'll definitely have a go at this.   But this is more like a condiment type sauce, isn't it? The impression I got from reading about the fish pepper history is that the white sauce was more like a kind of spicy bechamel and the fish was actually cooked in it or served with...

Hi everyone, I've just germinated some fish pepper seeds and have some healthy little seedlings. I've read about the history of the fish pepper and have come across references to a hot white sauce that was made for fish and shellfish dishes in the 19th century using these peppers. Does anyone...

    Plugged in the germinator for the first time in years. Running at about 20 deg C, not sure if that is going to be warm enough.   Seeds: Anaheim, Long Red Slim, Ghost/Bhut Jolokia, Butch T Trinidad Scorpion, Naga Morich, Fatalii, Pimenta De Cheiro, Pimenta Malagueta, "Saigon Phô" Vietnamese...

I have always had good results with fruit set and fruit quantity without bloom ferts. I usually just turn the soil over and dig in some compost and manure before planting out. I've had good results with plants put straight into the lawn, after turning it over. Like someone said above - chillies...

I used to have a good Thai friend who was a wonderful cook and really loved her own food, which was hot even by her standards. After being diagnosed with stomach ulcers she continued to eat hot (very hot) food laced with birds eye chillies, but with a bottle of Mylanta (antacid) on the table...

Interesting article here:   http://www.sunnybangprivatelabel.com/about/          

I was excited to find this, in a middle-eastern (!) supermarket here in Melbourne, but ultimately disappointed. The ingredients are listed as "capsicums, water, salt, vegetable oil, spices, acidity regulator, preservative and thickener," and it's made by the Maçarico company in Praia de...

Not sure if the name piri-piri refers to a bird, if that's what you mean. A Goan friend of mine, who lived in Angola for a few years, says that the name is not African at all but comes from the Portuguese expression "puta que pariu" - more or less "son of a bitch" (literally "whore that gave...

A friend of mine nearby in suburban Melbourne has them in his lawn. They dig little holes everywhere, don't know why, must be part of their life cycle or something. He does live in Templestowe, near the Yarra river, which might have something to do with it. The local nursery has them in a pond...

Hi Deathtosnails! I am in Doncaster, not too far from you. You would use this sauce with dishes like feijoada (the Brazilian national dish - a beans and smoked meats stew), dobradinha (white beans and tripe), fried fish, moqueca de peixe (fish & seafood stew) - it could obviously be used on...