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Looking for info about "Aji Panca"
- Thread starter iziko
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http://www.chileplants.com/search.asp?CategoryID=1,9&Keyword=AJI%20PANCA&SearchButton=Pressed
Above is a link to CCN's entry on it. I haven't grown it myself, but may, as I have it powdered. It's a good, all-around chile that you can use with almost anything, and mix with other chile powders if you want a higher heat. I use it much like I use cayenne powder, like a table powder. Because it's pretty mild, even non-chileheads are usually ok with it, at least in small doses, which is why I consider it a table powder.
Above is a link to CCN's entry on it. I haven't grown it myself, but may, as I have it powdered. It's a good, all-around chile that you can use with almost anything, and mix with other chile powders if you want a higher heat. I use it much like I use cayenne powder, like a table powder. Because it's pretty mild, even non-chileheads are usually ok with it, at least in small doses, which is why I consider it a table powder.
My favorite pepper for use as a powder. Great aroma and flavor as well as a nice lingering heat that doesn't overwhelm even in large amounts. Plants can be quite prolific if grown in moderate and consisent temperatures (which don't exist in my area). They are not useful for fresh consumption at any stage, but something magical happens to them when they dry! If I lived in the right climate I would grow rows and rows of these! They seem to be a great flavor enhancer as well, when added to soups, salads, beans (latin american style), meats, potatoes, eggs, veggies, well just about everything. I guess I have a high opinion of the chile, the only downside is the finicky growing conditions it seems to need.
I'd say it is definitely worth a try! Yes, it is quite unique!
I'm growing Aji Panca for the first time this year in my grow list and have 3 sprouted seedlings (2 of which are at the 2 true leaf stage).
I have had some confusion between whether these are a Bacatuum spiecies or a a Chinense species. The seeds I bought them off and ebay seller who claims they are a bacatuum species and even at this stage, they do look like it. However an article by DeWitt abd Bosland in their chilli Pepper book say that it is a chinense species. Maybe their are two varieties which are called the same. It's cotyledons are long and thin and the stem is very long and gangley (even with quite high light intensity) which is characteristic of the baccatum species.
I'm intrigued about this plant from what I've heard of it tasting fantastic.
Has anyone grown this before and can give some tips?
I have had some confusion between whether these are a Bacatuum spiecies or a a Chinense species. The seeds I bought them off and ebay seller who claims they are a bacatuum species and even at this stage, they do look like it. However an article by DeWitt abd Bosland in their chilli Pepper book say that it is a chinense species. Maybe their are two varieties which are called the same. It's cotyledons are long and thin and the stem is very long and gangley (even with quite high light intensity) which is characteristic of the baccatum species.
I'm intrigued about this plant from what I've heard of it tasting fantastic.
Has anyone grown this before and can give some tips?
Interesting topic!
I don't have much to offer as far as your question. However, early last year, the local Asia grocer in my area had a package of dried Aji Panca Rojo chiles for sale in their South American section. I bought a pack, and planted a few of the seeds I got out of the dried pods. Right now in my small green house, I have a huge (tall) Aji Rojo Panca plant that is about to flower! After I deseeded the pods, made a paste out of the dried peppers, but the paste spoiled too soon in my fridge before I did anything of substance with the paste.
This Spring, I plan to raise a couple of more of these plants, and I'll take care to either make a powder or freeze some chopped cubes of these peppers. What I tasted was pretty good, before it went bad.'
By the way, I have plenty of seeds for trade from these peppers, just in case anyone is interested. The brand of packaged dried chilies I bought was Amazonias.
I don't have much to offer as far as your question. However, early last year, the local Asia grocer in my area had a package of dried Aji Panca Rojo chiles for sale in their South American section. I bought a pack, and planted a few of the seeds I got out of the dried pods. Right now in my small green house, I have a huge (tall) Aji Rojo Panca plant that is about to flower! After I deseeded the pods, made a paste out of the dried peppers, but the paste spoiled too soon in my fridge before I did anything of substance with the paste.
This Spring, I plan to raise a couple of more of these plants, and I'll take care to either make a powder or freeze some chopped cubes of these peppers. What I tasted was pretty good, before it went bad.'
By the way, I have plenty of seeds for trade from these peppers, just in case anyone is interested. The brand of packaged dried chilies I bought was Amazonias.
To add more confusion to the chile world, there are both baccatum and chinense "Aji Panca". The chinense are the ones mostly grown commercially in Peru and ripen to brown/black, the baccatum are generally less common and ripen to a very dark red, appearing brown or blackish. Both are used as a paste or paprika-like powder. I believe the baccatum version is slightly more mild than the chinense and may be more common in some areas of Bolivia.
I grow the chinense Aji Panca from Peru and it doesn't look anything like a typical chinense until it flowers, even then the flowers are much larger than other chinense.
I grow the chinense Aji Panca from Peru and it doesn't look anything like a typical chinense until it flowers, even then the flowers are much larger than other chinense.
I think I will post a grow log of my Aji Pancas on this page with any info I find out during their growth cycle. A similar page started a couple of years ago demonstrated that a number of able growers had difficulty with this variety, yet the taste of the pods are apparently very much worth the effort.
The first issue is that of starting seeds. People report low germination rates and high percentage of stuck seed caps upon emergence. Having taken note of this, I planted 9 seedlings with the intent of maturing 2 or 3. 6/9 germinated after 5 weeks at 20-25deg C (68-77F). 2 germinated after 16-18 days, then another 4 about 10-14 days later, however 2 had the seed caps stuck. The oldest 2 are now about 2.5 weeks old, and the third is about 1 week old.
Yesterday I repotted the oldest three in 1 pint pots, burying the stem up to the cotyledons (the stems were quite long about 2.5-3" in length - characteristic of bacatum)
here are some photos of them
Not much to see really at the moment other than that the cotyledons are elongated and narrow, and from what I've seen those of chinense varieties tend to be smaller and more oval. This doesn't rule it out of being an annuum, however I recognise the similar elongated stems to my Aji Limon which I am certain are baccatums.
In terms of seeds, that's a kind offer, though London is a long way for them to go and I am already at the limit of my grow capacity (probably over).
Jonny.
The first issue is that of starting seeds. People report low germination rates and high percentage of stuck seed caps upon emergence. Having taken note of this, I planted 9 seedlings with the intent of maturing 2 or 3. 6/9 germinated after 5 weeks at 20-25deg C (68-77F). 2 germinated after 16-18 days, then another 4 about 10-14 days later, however 2 had the seed caps stuck. The oldest 2 are now about 2.5 weeks old, and the third is about 1 week old.
Yesterday I repotted the oldest three in 1 pint pots, burying the stem up to the cotyledons (the stems were quite long about 2.5-3" in length - characteristic of bacatum)
here are some photos of them
Not much to see really at the moment other than that the cotyledons are elongated and narrow, and from what I've seen those of chinense varieties tend to be smaller and more oval. This doesn't rule it out of being an annuum, however I recognise the similar elongated stems to my Aji Limon which I am certain are baccatums.
In terms of seeds, that's a kind offer, though London is a long way for them to go and I am already at the limit of my grow capacity (probably over).
Jonny.
In my experience, the C. chinense Aji Panca seedlings do have very large and elongated cotyledons, not looking anything like any other C. chinensis I have grown/seen.
I have found an identification key to the five domesticated species of Capsicum in DeWitt and Bosland's book: The Complete Chilli Pepper Book.
"
Description....................................Species (or go to)
1. Seeds black, corolla purple........C. pubscens
1. Seeds tan................................... 2.
2. Corolla with spots.......................C. baccatum
2. Corolla without spots..................3.
3. Corolla white...............................4.
3. Corolla greenish..........................5.
4. Flowers solitary and filament......C. annuum
not purple
4. Flowers two or more per node...C. Chinense
and filament purple
5. Flowers solitary...........................C. Futescens
5. Flowers two or more per node....C. Chinense
"
So you're right that this could be a Chinense Jesse, we'll have to wait and see.
There are two ways of separating species: by morphological characteristics and by genetic traits. Our current method utilises the less reliable former of the two. The biological definition of a species is a group of organisms in which genetic information flows freely in subsequent generations under natural conditions, however we know some peppers of different species may hybridise and share genetic information so our generally accepted distinctions between species are in question and it is likely that the distinctions may change in the future to reflect this. However there is relatively little interest in running genetic tests on all varieties and re-characterising species so for now we are stuck in ambiguity. Oh well...
"
Description....................................Species (or go to)
1. Seeds black, corolla purple........C. pubscens
1. Seeds tan................................... 2.
2. Corolla with spots.......................C. baccatum
2. Corolla without spots..................3.
3. Corolla white...............................4.
3. Corolla greenish..........................5.
4. Flowers solitary and filament......C. annuum
not purple
4. Flowers two or more per node...C. Chinense
and filament purple
5. Flowers solitary...........................C. Futescens
5. Flowers two or more per node....C. Chinense
"
So you're right that this could be a Chinense Jesse, we'll have to wait and see.
There are two ways of separating species: by morphological characteristics and by genetic traits. Our current method utilises the less reliable former of the two. The biological definition of a species is a group of organisms in which genetic information flows freely in subsequent generations under natural conditions, however we know some peppers of different species may hybridise and share genetic information so our generally accepted distinctions between species are in question and it is likely that the distinctions may change in the future to reflect this. However there is relatively little interest in running genetic tests on all varieties and re-characterising species so for now we are stuck in ambiguity. Oh well...
The two or more flowers per node is what "confirmed" that the ones I grow are C. chinense, but yeah, who knows what genetic testing would reveal about this particular variety. It would be interesting.
Aji Panca ,I think is a generic name used in Peru for several Brown podded varieties.
I've gotten seeds that grew Annuums , Baccatums and Chinense from both Peru Market pods and seed packs from Peru.
Same thing goes for Aji Amarillo and Aji Norteno.
I think as far as market pods go,it depends how early or late in the season it is as to what variety you get.
Early season would be Annuum ,cooler temps would be Baccatum and late season could be either Chinense or Baccatum...
As far as what the people I know in Peru say is that they only sell a few peppers in the market:
Aji Amarillo , Aji Panca , Aji Limo aji norteno and Rocoto.
Aji Amarillo = almost any yellow or orange pepper
Aji Panca = almost any brown pepper
Aji norteno = can be sold in different color stages as amarillo or rojo...
Aji Limo = orange pepper-hotter than amarillo
Rocoto =sold in red mostly but comes in all colors.
Most of the peppers in Peru are processed rather than sold fresh.
Pepper paste is a BIG export.
On the good side the street markets have a LOT of stuff that isn't grown in large amounts commercially except for local markets.
I'd bet there are tons of land race varieties in Peru that nobody but the locals know about.
Who knows what has been growing in some small jungle or mountain area for all these years.
I've gotten seeds that grew Annuums , Baccatums and Chinense from both Peru Market pods and seed packs from Peru.
Same thing goes for Aji Amarillo and Aji Norteno.
I think as far as market pods go,it depends how early or late in the season it is as to what variety you get.
Early season would be Annuum ,cooler temps would be Baccatum and late season could be either Chinense or Baccatum...
As far as what the people I know in Peru say is that they only sell a few peppers in the market:
Aji Amarillo , Aji Panca , Aji Limo aji norteno and Rocoto.
Aji Amarillo = almost any yellow or orange pepper
Aji Panca = almost any brown pepper
Aji norteno = can be sold in different color stages as amarillo or rojo...
Aji Limo = orange pepper-hotter than amarillo
Rocoto =sold in red mostly but comes in all colors.
Most of the peppers in Peru are processed rather than sold fresh.
Pepper paste is a BIG export.
On the good side the street markets have a LOT of stuff that isn't grown in large amounts commercially except for local markets.
I'd bet there are tons of land race varieties in Peru that nobody but the locals know about.
Who knows what has been growing in some small jungle or mountain area for all these years.
Can definitely agree with that. I remember backpacking through South America, walking through the markets in Tacna and Puno and thinking there were so many fruits and vegetables I had never seen before, and ended up trying all sorts of oddities. Of course there you can buy coca leaves too and drink coca tea. Something you'd never see in the western world.
I guess when you consider their translation Aji Amarillo simply means yellow chilli and Panca translates in Andean spanish (apparently) to dried leaf of maize (i.e. brown) then you can see how these descriptive names lead to inconsistencies.
I'm wondering if you've got photos of the three different pods from the annuum, baccatum and chinense species and could notice any differences between them smokemaster?
I guess when you consider their translation Aji Amarillo simply means yellow chilli and Panca translates in Andean spanish (apparently) to dried leaf of maize (i.e. brown) then you can see how these descriptive names lead to inconsistencies.
I'm wondering if you've got photos of the three different pods from the annuum, baccatum and chinense species and could notice any differences between them smokemaster?
I only took pics of a few Peru pods.
Never took any pics of the stuff I considered common side by side.
Here is a couple pics of pods from Peru that were given to me by a friend who lived in Peru and brings me pods and seeds whenever she goes home for a visit.
Peru Baseball and Aji Amarillo.Market pods.
Seed packs from Peru
I have Aji Limo,Aji Panca and Escabeche in the sprouter now.
If I think of it I'll get pics after harvest.
Never took any pics of the stuff I considered common side by side.
Here is a couple pics of pods from Peru that were given to me by a friend who lived in Peru and brings me pods and seeds whenever she goes home for a visit.
Peru Baseball and Aji Amarillo.Market pods.
Seed packs from Peru
I have Aji Limo,Aji Panca and Escabeche in the sprouter now.
If I think of it I'll get pics after harvest.
Here is an update on the Aji Pancas. They've been a little slow to progress as I have a feeling the lights have been switched off for part of the time I have been away, but still healthy.
I topped the plant in the last photo to make the plant grow with two main stems, as I have heard this generally results in better yields. I may do this with a second one soon.
I topped the plant in the last photo to make the plant grow with two main stems, as I have heard this generally results in better yields. I may do this with a second one soon.