chuk hell said:
Dude, what kind of peppers do you have down there? Any native varieties?
Oh,BTW, welcome on!
Nothing that I know of. Most of the seeds I can get my hands on are from around the globe. There are a few interesting variety's at local nurseries...but again, are usually Thai hybrids or such. Although, what really kick started this ride was a plant I bought in a local nursery called Purple Rocket. I've never found a match on the internet. 9 out of 10 heat....I ate one whole off the plant on the way home in the car...like I normally do with the supermarket ones.
Then I finally understood I knew nothing about chilli heat.
I live in Sydney and the supermarkets are a joke for fresh peppers. Most all stock only 2 at best. A variety of birds eye (not the same as what you call a birds eye I believe)....just a very generic looking red pepper, perhaps 6 or 7 out of 10 heat, and Jalapenos. Even Cayenne is only for sale as a ground pepper in the herbs section. I'm sure specialty shops may do more but I'm yet to find any.
Supermarket chilli sauces are horrible, mass produced, plastic tasting, additive flavoured abominations...although I've recently noticed some of the smaller producers are finally starting to get their produce on the shelves.
For eg;
http://www.byronbaychilli.com/
There are some nice local producers, but you usually have to buy online or mail order and even then, I prefer the North American flavours.
Ironically, after all I've tasted so far in my search for heat (and there are a lot more to try yet), my favourite is not that hot at all. Blair's Original Death Sauce. Man that's some tasty stuff.
Australia is very strict when it comes to importing most seeds. Basically it's illegal. I buy my seeds from a local company, who seem to have an amazing variety.
Here, have a look...tell me if there's anything the you don't recognise. I would be quite curious.
http://www.fireworksfoods.com.au/
On the left hand side, there's a PDF of the seed catalogue.
Excuse the ramble.
