Howdy Everyone!
It's been a loooong time since I have been here. My daytime and night time and every other job I have has been keeping me extremely busy these days! Just got off the phone with my good friend Patrick so I decided to post here for the first time in forever LOL.
As most of you already know, my wife is from Peru so when I visit her country I bring back a few seeds to try here. The aji (peppers) arent the super hots most of you all are used to dealing with but they are still my favorites as far as flavor.
The most famous aji from Peru is the Red Rocoto which I have been growing for 3 seasons now. They are a very difficult pepper to grow due to the fact they are native to cooler regions of the Andes Mtns where temps are much cooler. I have finally figured out how to grow them successfully though. I start them in either November or December indoors. They need cooler temps to do well. When started early one can have a large plant by late Spring which will produce during the not so hot months. They will stop producing during the hottest part of the Summer or at least for me here in Southern MO. By September they will start to produce again but I have to move them to the greenhouse to finish them off. I still have some in my greenhouse getting rige as I type this. Hoperfully the small heater in it will keep them warm enuff while we are in the deep freeze now.
My wife make a sauce out of the Rocoto that is used in soups. I save the sauce in these small condiment cups in the freezer
In Peru this pepper is called either Aji Escabeche or Aji Amarillo. Its a common cookin pepper there and is medium in heat and has a great flavor. Its much easier to grow than the Rocoto and tolerates hotter temps. These are whole peppers I have in the deep freeze for later. My wife uses these in the various "Lomo" dishes that are typical Peruvian
These are much more rare Yellow Rocotos that I grew this year. They are difficult to grow just as the Reds and have the same black seeds. The pods I got in Peru in 2009 were roundish but these grew more elongated here.
This is called Aji Panca in Peru and is usually dried and ground up and used when cooking chicken, turkey and ham. It gives the food a good flavor but is not very hot. These peppers have been dehydrated and ready to use after I grind them. Like the Aji Escebeche these are real easy to grow like a typical pepper and takes hot Summer heat really well.
I also still grow the so called super hots but will get into that more another time
It's been a loooong time since I have been here. My daytime and night time and every other job I have has been keeping me extremely busy these days! Just got off the phone with my good friend Patrick so I decided to post here for the first time in forever LOL.
As most of you already know, my wife is from Peru so when I visit her country I bring back a few seeds to try here. The aji (peppers) arent the super hots most of you all are used to dealing with but they are still my favorites as far as flavor.
The most famous aji from Peru is the Red Rocoto which I have been growing for 3 seasons now. They are a very difficult pepper to grow due to the fact they are native to cooler regions of the Andes Mtns where temps are much cooler. I have finally figured out how to grow them successfully though. I start them in either November or December indoors. They need cooler temps to do well. When started early one can have a large plant by late Spring which will produce during the not so hot months. They will stop producing during the hottest part of the Summer or at least for me here in Southern MO. By September they will start to produce again but I have to move them to the greenhouse to finish them off. I still have some in my greenhouse getting rige as I type this. Hoperfully the small heater in it will keep them warm enuff while we are in the deep freeze now.
My wife make a sauce out of the Rocoto that is used in soups. I save the sauce in these small condiment cups in the freezer
In Peru this pepper is called either Aji Escabeche or Aji Amarillo. Its a common cookin pepper there and is medium in heat and has a great flavor. Its much easier to grow than the Rocoto and tolerates hotter temps. These are whole peppers I have in the deep freeze for later. My wife uses these in the various "Lomo" dishes that are typical Peruvian
These are much more rare Yellow Rocotos that I grew this year. They are difficult to grow just as the Reds and have the same black seeds. The pods I got in Peru in 2009 were roundish but these grew more elongated here.
This is called Aji Panca in Peru and is usually dried and ground up and used when cooking chicken, turkey and ham. It gives the food a good flavor but is not very hot. These peppers have been dehydrated and ready to use after I grind them. Like the Aji Escebeche these are real easy to grow like a typical pepper and takes hot Summer heat really well.
I also still grow the so called super hots but will get into that more another time
