misc Pepper Garden Jargon: the Floral-Fruity Spectrum

[thoroughburro]

I always notice jargon peculiarities when settling into a new hobby…

In the broader food world, “floral” is usually a positive attribute which, when negative, instead becomes “perfumey”. However, in the pepper growing community, “floral” is usually seen as negative which, when positive, instead becomes fruity.

Or, in cuisine:

<— gooder ————— badder —>
Floral ————————— Perfumey

But, in pepper growing:

<— gooder —— badder —— even badder? —>
Fruity ————— Floral ————— Perfumey?

I decided to create a poll to see if my initial observation holds up at all…

 

[Datil]

Pretty spot on i must say.
Do you like to eat flowers or drink perfume?
I would add that this is often associated to chinenses (so all the superhots).

F

 

[The Hot Pepper]

None are bad, it all depends on who is describing them and their preferences.

Fruity may involve notes of peach or strawberry, etc. Sometimes you hear citrusy or lemony.

Floral, of a flower. This is often used when cutting a pepper, as the aroma may mimic a flower garden or specific flower. When eating, same, but we don't eat a lot of flowers so it may lean negative.

Perfumy refers to perfume. Perfume is a concentrate (not delicate) with alcohol, and not always flowers (floral). There is also spice and fruit (hence why you often see these three terms together). So when cutting a pepper open it may be reminiscent of an actual perfume or cologne. A strong mix of floral, fruit, and/or spice. When eating, think of spraying perfume in a room but tasting some. Blech! You get that perfume + alcohol sting. It is not pleasant. That's why, with taste, it is most often a negative. Peppers also have a sting, so a perfumy pepper reminds one of tasting perfume.

 

[thoroughburro]

Interesting theory, that an otherwise pleasant floral flavor may be pushed towards perfuminess by pungency… I like that.

 

[MarcV]

To me it is still difficult to understand all these descriptions of flavors and scents. Nigel Carter had a whole arsenal of terms to describe chili flavors. Floral, perfumy, earthy... difficult to me what that is like in the mouth...

 

[The Hot Pepper]

To me it is still difficult to understand all these descriptions of flavors and scents. Nigel Carter had a whole arsenal of terms to describe chili flavors. Floral, perfumy, earthy... difficult to me what that is like in the mouth...

Taste more peppers, taste wine, taste beer. For the purpose of tasting, and take notes. After awhile it all makes sense. An earthy pepper to me is the Jamaican Hot Chocolate.

 

[MarcV]

When it comes to wine tasting, I know a very knowledgeable person who can educate me in distinguishing the different aromas in wine. Unfortunately I know no such person for chili tasting.

Nevertheless, when tasting my chilies this season, I was able to recognize the aroma that is described as citrus flavor

 

[dragonsfire]

I miss Nigel Carter Vids.

 

[The Hot Pepper]

It's all the same! Cocoa notes or fresh cut grass notes, etc. Beer, wine, peppers. You just have to remember, we taste with our noses! Pinch your nose and you can't taste anything. That's why we describe aromas you necessarily would not eat. We haven't eaten then but we know their scent.

 

[MarcV]

I miss Nigel Carter Vids.

His reviews were great. Wonder why he gave up reviewing...

 

[spicy.curry]

The Trinidad Perfume pepper gets mostly favorable reviews.

The floral habanero taste is what attracted me to growing peppers in the first place.

Another odd thing is that online, most people completely ignore green peppers, and focus only on the fully ripe, despite green peppers being an essential ingredient in many world cuisines.

I think part of this confusion is a focus on how the peppers taste fresh, by themselves, rather than as a spice which complements a complete dish.

 

[The Hot Pepper]

The Trinidad Perfume pepper gets mostly favorable reviews.

The floral habanero taste is what attracted me to growing peppers in the first place.

Another odd thing is that online, most people completely ignore green peppers, and focus only on the fully ripe, despite green peppers being an essential ingredient in many world cuisines.

I think part of this confusion is a focus on how the peppers taste fresh, by themselves, rather than as a spice which complements a complete dish.

A good example of that would be, we are used to eating green jalapenos, but don't realize things like, in the Caribbean it is very common to cook with green habs/bonnets.

We are familiar with green serrano, but don't think of how they cook with green Thai/birdseye in Asia.

Most people are familiar with the green they see in local markets and don't realize it is common everywhere.

 

[ahayastani]

Most people are familiar with the green they see in local markets and don't realize it is common everywhere.

In my part of MX, all peppers are sold green. There are two notable exceptions: (1) habaneros are sometimes sold fully ripe, and (2) rocoto is almost always fully ripe.