the heat is on
Omri said:
Liked the way you went a line down, made it dramatic.
Then your gonna love this...
But then I guess this lady is wrong too...
copied from NMSU CPI website link to
fieryfoods.com
Bhut Jolokia, Bih Jolokia, Naga Jolokia -- what the ...?
Bhut Jolokia, Bih Jolokia, Naga Jolokia, Naga Morich, Raja Mirchi ... what's the deal with all those different names you can read in print and on the Internet these days for supposedly the very same chile variety? We asked someone who should know best: Leena Saikia of Frontal Agritech, a pepper grower and processing company in Assam that also grows and cultivates Bih Jolokia. Here's what Leena told me:
"All these chillies are from North East India. They belong to Capsicum chinense. In fact, Naga jolokia, Nagahari, Bhut jolokia, Bih jolokia or Borbih jolokia are the same chilli but named differently at different places. For example, the Assamese community call it as Bih jolokia (poison chilli -- jolokia means chilli in Assamese), Bhut jolokia (probably due to its ghostly bite or introduction by the Bhutias from Bhutan poison chilli) or Naga jolokia (due to extreme hotness representing the aggressive temperament of the warriors of neighbouring Naga community). In Nagaland and Manipur states, it is known as Raja Mircha or Raja chilli (King of Chillies). In major Indian languages, chilli is known as Mirch or mircha (Bengali and Hindi)." Morich" may be a distorted version of 'mirch'.
So how about this chile variety outside Northeastern India?
Leena said:
"We fully agree that these are of the same species and type which might have migrated to other nearby states and countries including Bangladesh and Srilanka where this chilli continued to be known as Naga Mircha ("Naga Moresh''). The original seeds of Dorset Naga were sourced from Bangladeshi community of Britain who might have taken the fruits of this chilli from Bangladesh for culinary purposes."
In their home country, Bhut Jolokia and Bih Jolokia are also spelled Bhwt Jolokiya and Bih Jolkiya respectively.
In a blog we overheard this statement, obviously by a local as well:
"It depends on where you grow it. If it is in Guwahati, it is Bhot Jalakia. In Jorhat it would be Bhut Jalakia. The end result is the same, you burn at both ends."
Confusing.
There seem to slight differences between various flavors of this pepper, though.
While the Assamese growers (Bih Jolokia) as well as the Chile Pepper Institute (Bhut Jolokia) report two flowers per node for their respective plants, we found clusters of up to five on the Naga Morich test plants we grew in our Pepperworld greenhouse from original "Chileman" seeds.
Also, depending on the source, certain calyx differences are evident, and also in fruit shape. Growing the various peppers next season will hopefully bring more insight, so some updates in the future are possible.
With the potential to have the latest "Hottest Chile on Earth" in their hands that will kick Red Savina off its throne, it is no wonder that various parties are trying to market this pepper as "theirs."
Maybe this last sentence has more to do with the disput than anything else.
From everything in print and photograph I have seen, leads me to believe they all are the same genetic species of chilli pepper.
one sure fire way is to test for the common jolokia RAPD marker found in the CPI DNA test for the Bhut Jolokia and compare Naga Morich to it...that would most assurdly quell this disput...
no need for drama,we agree to disagree
pablokia
