Small, Sweet, not so Hots - Advice

AJ Drew

AJ Drew

Trying to create a job on the farm with a friend who has horrible trouble with conventional jobs.  She is soft spoken and presents very well.  The idea is that she peddles peppers to restaurants.  I am at about overload, but figure this is something she could take over.  I grow, she hawks.  So looking for ideas of what to offer semi fancy restaurants in Louisville.

So far: Trinidad Perfume, Trinidad Scorpion Sweet, and maybe Trinidad Cherry.  I am thinking garnish more than something for cooking.  Growing the baby bells, but thinking that is too common because they can buy the things at Walmart.

Weird looking is a plus.  Suggestions do not have to be peppers, that is our focus but anything weird / hard to find would be great.  Have this imagine of her introducing chefs to various produce they did not know existed.
 
There's several types of white colored mini eggplants on the market, I'm not sure how common these are but they might look awesome on a plate of a good chef. Just a suggestion :)
Other than that, maybe tomatillos? Or some other sweet physalis with weird colors they could use to brighten up a dessert plate.
 
Maybe Brazilian Starfish for the unusual shape and nice flavor they have. Also maybe something like Chinese 5 Color for all the bright colors. For non peppers, there is the Coyote tomato. Tiny yellow tomatoes about the size of marbles. They have a good tomato flavor too, better than a lot of big tomatoes IMO.
 
I think Uba Tuba (Chapeau de Frade, etc. lots of names) would be perfect. Great shape, no heat, and you can cut the top off and stuff like poppers, etc.
 
The middle eastern type bell peppers. They are way better than the traditional bells. Mine are flourishing this year even with the 100* weather.
 
ground cherry.... aunt molly is an example. i grow them every year and give the plants away as gifts.
 
the advantage of ground cherry is the plant can be grown in containers or restricted area.
 
the flower is pretty, yellowish/orange with a brown middle.
 
the fruit is encased, so it protected from everything including bird droppings and is ready when the casing falls from the plant.
 
the fruit has a caramel like flavour.
 
plants produce plentiful of fruit.......imagine all the dishes that this fruit can embellish.
 
hope everything works out for you.
 
BlackFatalii said:
Maybe Brazilian Starfish for the unusual shape and nice flavor they have. Also maybe something like Chinese 5 Color for all the bright colors. For non peppers, there is the Coyote tomato. Tiny yellow tomatoes about the size of marbles. They have a good tomato flavor too, better than a lot of big tomatoes IMO.
Click to expand...
Forgot that one, yes growing it this year for the seed stock for next year.  But that is EXACTLY what I am looking for.. other small peppers with weird shapes that normal people can eat and enjoy.  Not sure if this is going to work, but really think she would enjoy the work and god knows I can not appear in person and convince one of those people to buy something from me.

Burning Colon: Tried ground cherry for a couple years.  I have them in the strawberry category.  Entirely too tempting for duck and chicken.  I keep saying I am going to build a table for both, but never do.
 
What about Biquinho's?  The teardrop shape is not something you see every day and they are small and not hot.....
 
I'd definitely add some of the lower heat baccatums in there as they're generally well-received and people will appreciate the different flavor.
 
My Aji Limon was a total hit with friends, family, and even some chefs I chatted with at a restaurant in Napa. 
 
There are of course lower heat varieties than that. Maybe Aji Santa Cruz? *edit: oops, not so small. 
 
I'm all about eggplant so I think that suggestion is cool. There really are some cool looking varieties but you'll likely need to grow them from seed.
 
Check out the new 'Enjoya' bell as well. Not sure if there is an issue selling it or not though...
 
Urfa Biber.  Not a small pepper but one for nice restaurants.  Something between a bell and poblano in size.  Food & Wine magazine had an article about the pepper but the website isn't redirecting properly so the page 404's.  The Chef is Lior Lev Secarz at La Boite Restaurant who is the person in the article.  It is a Turkish pepper.  I have the article that I can scan if you want it. PM me if so.  Maybe the link will correct itself tomorrow.
 
 
From the article:
 
"It's quickly becoming a go to ingredient for chefs across the country"  Salty Sweet Smokey Sour.  You may know that people have made a killing on the whole sweet/sour thing.   ;)  
 
http://www.foodandwine.com/blogs/everything-you-need-know-about-urfa-biber-miracle-spice-youre-missing-out
 
chiltepin said:
Urfa Biber.  Not a small pepper but one for nice restaurants.  Something between a bell and poblano in size.  Food & Wine magazine had an article about the pepper but the website isn't redirecting properly so the page 404's.  The Chef is Lior Lev Secarz at La Boite Restaurant who is the person in the article.  It is a Turkish pepper.  I have the article that I can scan if you want it. PM me if so.  Maybe the link will correct itself tomorrow.
 
 
From the article:
 
"It's quickly becoming a go to ingredient for chefs across the country"  Salty Sweet Smokey Sour.  You may know that people have made a killing on the whole sweet/sour thing.   ;)  
 
http://www.foodandwine.com/blogs/everything-you-need-know-about-urfa-biber-miracle-spice-youre-missing-out
Click to expand...
 
For those interested, here is a Google cache of the article.
 
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:aXv5JeBAD7IJ:www.foodandwine.com/blogs/2015/06/11/everything-you-need-know-about-urfa-biber-miracle-spice-youre-missing-out+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
 
It doesn't have a unique shape, but check out pepper lovers aji calabaza (pl). It's still in its infancy as a strain but it's total candy from what I've been told (I can let you know for sure when my pods ripen) and they're nice and bright.
 
I've grown quite a few low/no heat peppers and the best one I've tasted yet is the Murupi Doce. It has detectable heat but it's hardly there, would be great sliced onto salads (although they're also great to eat straight off the plant). It's sweet and chinensey flavoured. Most other low/no heats I've found to be a little chemically tasting with no sweetness. It's shape is a little pedestrian though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top