Pequin Chilli Pepper TERRE EXOTIQUE, 30 g.

The Pequin chilli pepper resembles the bird’s eye chilli in its explosive spiciness. However, the Pequin chilli pepper has more intense spicy and fruity notes than the bird’s eye chilli. It has a lemony and nutty flavor. It is highly aromatic and falls into the category of powerful chillies, with a spiciness rating of 8/10 on the Scoville scale.

The Pequin chilli pepper, whose botanical name is Capsicum annuum, belongs to the Solanaceae family, just like tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants. It is also known as “chiltepines” in Guatemala and El Salvador, or “piment Congo” in Nicaragua and northern Costa Rica.

The Pequin chilli pepper was already consumed 7000 years BC by pre-Columbian civilizations to add flavor to their dishes. The chilli pepper made its way to European kitchens after the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus. Captivated by the organoleptic qualities of the chilli pepper, which resembled pepper, the explorer brought it back to Europe, where it was previously very expensive. The word “pequin” seems to come from the Spanish word “pequeño,” which means small, as it is a small-sized chilli pepper, measuring about 1 cm.