Tepin Varieties?

[Flamecycle]

So, thanks to CowboyBhuts, I now have some cool Arizona wild tepins growing. I have really come to LOVE the flavor of these , but the seeds are annoying.

I do not know much about tepins in general, so maybe somebody can edify me or point me to a good source. Are there a wide variety of types of tepins? I would be particularly curious to know if somebody has cultivated a variety that produces a relatively small number of seeds per pod. (and where I might find that variety)

 

[stc3248]

Mine were on a seed train and labeled "tepin #15" don't know about seed count yet, got some blooms so it won't be too long before I figure it out. Have you tried pequins? Very similar and the ones I had as a kid were a little meatier and had fewer seeds than the wild tepins growing in South Texas...don't know it the pequin I have is similar to my childhood plant or not yet. I have a small pod on my pequin and will be able to tell you soon enough whether or not there are many seeds in it. I'll try to remember to hit you back once I get some pods...

 

[willard3]

I have grown lots of tepins and they all have about the same amount of seed.

 

[POTAWIE]

I think we all wish for less seedy varieties but its not likely to happen. Seperating seeds from dry pods is possible, just not that easy

 

[Flamecycle]

Have you tried pequins?

I eat a decent amount of dried pequin, but I've never grown them before because the dried pods are so easy to come by here in AZ. I should try growing some to see what they are like fresh...

I have grown lots of tepins and they all have about the same amount of seed.

I think we all wish for less seedy varieties but its not likely to happen. Seperating seeds from dry pods is possible, just not that easy

Thanks for the replies guys. Separating the seed from dry pods isn't too bad of an issue with a sifter. I was kinda hoping for some low seed content fresh pods for sauces and snacks though (I think they would be pretty badass just tossed whole into salsa, and I was considering dipping them in chocolate and freezing them). Oh well, I'll learn to enjoy the seeds I guess.

 

[Tecolote]

Damn, I've never even considered seeds when eating tepins, or cooking with them. I guess i was raised on some gritty ass sauces, growing up we only threw the seeds out of bell peppers and maybe dried california chile.

 

[chile_freak]

"I eat a decent amount of dried pequin, but I've never grown them before because the dried pods are so easy to come by here in AZ. I should try growing some to see what they are like"

pequin are delicious fresh and they make awesome vinegar, salt white vinegar and fresh pods yummmmmm!

 

[Sawdust]

Hey Flame;

Good Topic and one that is partial to me..

My first encounter with a Tepin goes back almost 20 years, I was working as a Backhoe operator after getting out of the service for a well-to-do Texas city and when not on a emergency dig I spent alot of time snoozin in the passenger seat of a city truck cause I was in a band at night and most of the time I was a lil sleep-deprived/hungover, so my crew and I were cruising alleys killing time till payday, while my driver, Sancho, kept scouting out the rich peoples throw-aways or trash to take home with him, one day I was half awake and like a sniper he spotted a plant by a tree below a fence and jumped out of the truck and started picking away like a demon, well it was lunchtime so I asked him for one of this lil bb-size peppers to eat with my sandwich, so I did eat it, and I will never forget that day, my first real burn, it was a turning point in my heat tolerance of course Sancho was laughing his butt off the whole time. I will never forget that day

In my honest opinion this is a real grey area, a lot of people call Pequins -> Tepins and Tepins -> Pequins, but they are not the same...The true Tepin comes from a mountainous region in Mexico, perhaps the Sonora Mountains, just trying to recall w/o checking my notes...

But the real Tepins are the round ones and are genetically the "Mother of all Pepper Plants" and they will have the real woody stem and come back every season and can live from 20-30 years in a nice sandy Texas river bottom, The Pequins are something else, I can just look at them and tell they are not the same, the stems are not wood-like and fuzzy and kind of have a purple color, remind me of a Serrano...

Bottom line is true Tepin's are an acquired taste, but once they get you hooked, you will love them forever!!

God Bless and Be well

 

[chile_freak]

very true I grew them side by side last year, pequin is taller less bushy, bullet shaped and not quite as hot, both have delicious flavor

 

[Sawdust]

Hey Flame;

Back to your original question.

" I would be particularly curious to know if somebody has cultivated a variety that produces a relatively small number of seeds per pod"

answer is NO..But on the other hand YES! I did cross a variety that has more meat per pod! I suspect the Mother of all Peppers somehow inherently knew it would have a better chance of spreading all across NA by filling the fat border-crossing birds bellies full of seeds. or hence the name "Bird's Eye Peppers"? Perhaps that is why you find the "Wild Ones" along fencelines or roosting places where birds do what they do best and that is "poop" hehe, then the poop is a natural fertilizer and breaks down the hard outer shell of the seed and gives an optimal germination rate...

But I did..cross a variety that has more meat per pod! It is oblong in shape, but the pods lay down towards the ground, they look like mini-jalapenos or serrannos (both were in my garden and are suspect as cross pollinators as the pollen was probably on my hands) the plants will stay alive for years and are perrenial. I have had 5 four foot plants alive for ten years. The root base and stems are woody like the Mother. The peppers definitely have some heat to them cause if you don't crack your mouth and exhale a lil bit after biting into one it will take your breath away!

If you want I can send you a pic and or a few seeds or we can trade? I can snail mail just pm me, all I ask is an honest assessment a year or two down the line..

Be well
FX

PS: They germinate best in Orchid Soil using only diluted fish poop as fertilizer, real well ;] Go figure...

Here is a pic: if it works thanx to Pex..

 

[stc3248]

Cool looking little peppers! The stems on the pods/blooms, leaf and plant structure definitely scream Tepin. Two questions...how big are they (look maybe an inch...ish) and do they still dry well being a little meatier than typical Tepins?

 

[Sawdust]

Hey stc...The pods usually run around 5/8 to 3/4 inch at most and they dry extremely well because the skin is not any thicker just more surface area, I usually throw all my extra pods from picking or as they turn red in a bowl and let them air dry for a month or so and it works well and the seeds remain viable for planting. If you ever picked a Tepin with bb-size pods it usually takes forever and forever to get a bunch but with this strain it takes less time. I will try to take a pic one day of the base stem it looks like a knarly tree about an inch around and woody.

Be Well

 

[AlabamaJack]

true tepins are round as was said and pequins are bullet shaped...why?...mans selection...over the centuries, man has selected elongated pods that originally came from the wild tepins thus through selection, the pequin was born...

 

[Sawdust]

Forgot something..

 

[Sawdust]

true tepins are round as was said and pequins are bullet shaped...why?...mans selection...over the centuries, man has selected elongated pods that originally came from the wild tepins thus through selection, the pequin was born...

Thanx Jack but..Man should be careful about selecting his elongated pods too much, I hear it can make you go blind :}

but One more time, here is my story and I am sticking to it.

I have always referred to my little peppers as Chile Tepins or ChilTepins, Chiltepin was named "the official native pepper of Texas" in 1997 BTW. I have seen Pequins or peppers listed as Pequins at nurseries during Spring and the stems did not seem the same, more like an annual plant, where the stem of the Tepins are much more woody-like in nature and my Tepins have been coming back every year like a perrenial. Anyway, I love them, I found mine on a remote section of riverbank in Central Texas just across the bank from an old site of an 1840's fort called Bryant Station, it was a huge stand around the base of an old tree directly below a broken part of a dense canopy. It looked like these huge plants had been there for a long time, and they were loaded down with the little round peppers (bird's eye) with no telling how many years they had grown here, died back, regrew every Spring, etc.., the bases of the plants were huge and gnarly but you could see where every year they died back and re-grew from the base every year. Anyway I really liked the land and bought 12 acres thru the Texas Veterans Land Board and built a cabin about 100 feet from the pepper patch. I planted a little garden and grew tomatoes, jalapenos, serranos, squash, etc...and many times when I picked the garden I would also walk down and pick the chiltepin pepper patch. and here begins an interesting little story, I beleive when I picked the jalapenos and then went and picked the chile tepins, I accidentally crossed the two. It was by accident I discovered it. After that summer's harvest and winter came and the remaining chiltepins fell to the ground, the next spring there were a bunch of little sprouting plants around the bases of the wild pepper plants, so I thought cool, I will transplant these into some pots and give them to friends or spread them around, so I did and they grew big and when they fruited I had a little surprise. The fruit was about an inch long and shaped like a minituare jalapeno even though the parent plant's fruit were like little bb's. But they are alot hotter then a jalapeno like a Tepin and I love them. I sold that land and had to move but took six plants with me, and every year they come back and those little jalapeno shaped chile tepin's are my favorite. I do not let any go to waste so I keep them picked, eat most of them, and save the rest for seed. So I hereby dub thee "Frank's Firecrackers" and I respectfully refuse to call them Pequins.

But Thanx

 

[stc3248]

Great story! Sounds really cool! I may have to hit you for some seeds for next year...

We lived in a house in McAllen in the early 70's and we had a pequin in the back yard that was taller than the house. The trunk was about like an average sized mans ankle. Rarely even frosts there, and being up against the house protected it even further. I have a few pequins and tepins going for the first time in years...hope to keep them around long enough to get them that big. Shouldn't be to hard here in Socal.

 

[Sawdust]

Great story! Sounds really cool! I may have to hit you for some seeds for next year...

We lived in a house in McAllen in the early 70's and we had a pequin in the back yard that was taller than the house. The trunk was about like an average sized mans ankle. Rarely even frosts there, and being up against the house protected it even further. I have a few pequins and tepins going for the first time in years...hope to keep them around long enough to get them that big. Shouldn't be to hard here in Socal.

Thanx STC, I was in McAllen just a few years ago before it got too bad on the other side, I had a little Mesquite furniture factory going on the side with 4 workers in the interior and nervous as hell I crossed a pickup truck bed full of woodworking tools to them on the MX side and they would pick them up and take them to Nuevo Leon and build Mesquite furniture for me.

The interesting thing about this is that I actually had a chance to first hand witness how the Pequin perhaps evolved. Also that truly and genetically the Tepin is the Mother of all domesticated Chile plants. I was amazed that I was able to accidentally genetically alter it in two seasons.

I have to go the Post Office anyway and am sending flame some seeds out in the morning, just pm me your address and I will send you a pinch of seeds if u want..
Be well

 

[capsaicin]

Great topic. I have the Texas resolution making the chiltepin the official native chile pepper of the state stuck to my fridge. The chiltepin is the wild mother of the Annum family of peppers which includes jalapenos in its domestic branch. As Alabama Jack noted, the chile pequin (or piquin depending on your location) is a cultivar selected over, literally, thousands of years by humans.

My favorite part of their history is that the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico believed they were protection against sorcery and would not trust someone unless they would eat one of the little peppers. I almost feel the same way.

For me, they were the first pepper that really got my attention. I use them for everything. With the dried ones I like to grind them up in place of traditional crushed red pepper as their flavor and heat are much more interesting. But I also use them in sauces in combination with other peppers.

 

[Sawdust]

Great topic. I have the Texas resolution making the chiltepin the official native chile pepper of the state stuck to my fridge. The chiltepin is the wild mother of the Annum family of peppers which includes jalapenos in its domestic branch. As Alabama Jack noted, the chile pequin (or piquin depending on your location) is a cultivar selected over, literally, thousands of years by humans.

My favorite part of their history is that the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico believed they were protection against sorcery and would not trust someone unless they would eat one of the little peppers. I almost feel the same way.

For me, they were the first pepper that really got my attention. I use them for everything. With the dried ones I like to grind them up in place of traditional crushed red pepper as their flavor and heat are much more interesting. But I also use them in sauces in combination with other peppers.

Hey Cap....Good ole 6th st in Austin...glad to meet another Texan who understands the lil pepper with a bite as big as Texas...I had read somewhere about Indians beliefs in Mexico, I think it was a book by Carlos Castaneda, perhaps Northern regions of the Sonora Mountains? My favorite part is their history as well as they are highly addictive, the kick is intense but quick.with minimal damage going down..and the flavor is very interesting. I use them for everything from salsas to chili stews...like you

So how (or is it even possible?) does one go about obtaining a copy of the Texas resolution making the chiltepin the official native chile pepper of the state; Trade for some seeds? I'd like to frame it in barnwood with alot of old barbwire or something..



Be well..
FX
www.allthingsrustix.com

 

[capsaicin]

Hey Sawdust,

I found it on the actual state legislation site here:

ftp://ftp.legis.state.tx.us/bills/75R/billtext/html/house_concurrent_resolutions/HC00001_HC00099/HC00082S.HTM

Note the wording. The most poetic, simple and impassioned legislative prose I have ever read...so of course it's about chile peppers.

Cheers.