A seemingly obvious question came into my mind when I first discovered that chili peppers were from South America and not, as I always thought, native to India.
If chili peppers are from South America, then why is the spiciest chili in the world found in India?
That would be the Naga Bhut Jolokia, the Ghost Pepper, which is considered the spiciest chili pepper in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The ghost pepper is from India, not South America.
It only grows in the northeastern Indian states of Nagaland and Assam, where they have been commonly used in local cooking, but were, until 2000, nearly unknown elsewhere, even in the rest of India. That all changed when the Indian Defence Test Laboratory found that the pepper has a scoville rating that was off the chart.
First, a little background. The pungency our tongues interpret as spiciness comes from a chemical compound known as capaicin. It was created by chilies to warn off mammals, as their target wasn’t us, but birds who would spread chili seeds far and wide. Birds cannot taste capaicin – they can’t feel spice.
Latin American chilies can pack their own punch. The most well known is the habanero (pictured above), today most commonly grown in the Yucatan region of Mexico, with a scoville score (the most commonly accepted spice-scale) of 200,000. The common jalapeno scores a meager 8,000.
The Bhut Jolokia? The record holder hit a previously unthinkable 1 million scovilles.
Where did the Ghost Pepper come from? What probably happened was that the chili pepper, during its 16 century global trek, arrived through unknown means to northeast India, where it was planted in a unique climate, bred by local hands, and, voila (italic), the spiciest chili pepper in the world. In fact, the Ghost Pepper loses its pungency when it is grown outside of the particular climate of Nagaland and Assam (though 300,000 scovilles vs. 800,000 really doesn’t make a difference to our tongues).
It is a unique pepper, specific to the culture and soil of where it grows. It is an example of how the chili pepper can be uniquely shaped and adapted by each culture that accepts it, partly by the soil, but, more importantly, by the hands of those planting its seeds and harvesting its fruit. It is, in essence, an ideal migrant, assimilating, adapting seamlessly into the culture until it is mistaken as being purely native.
Is it this power, to transform culture, that A Spicy Quest aims to discover.
The Ghost Pepper’s story is not finished, as it is breaking barriers today. Just take a walk into your local grocery store or farmers market. Chances are you’ll find Ghost Pepper product. In just over a decade, it has become an international commercial success, made into hot sauces so spicy, a single drop can create fiery pasta sauces or burning tex-mex chile.
In fact, the pepper has a cult following, with numerous Twitter accounts, websites, and more dedicated to all things Jolokia. A Spicy Quest also aims to look at the modern spread of the chili, and what better candidate than the mighty ghost pepper, unknown just two decades ago, today a global celebrity.
There is another question, of course. Could there be another, more powerful ghost, hiding in the jungles or another country?
I grow my own jalapeno, habanero and ghost chilis down here in southeastern Arizona and enjoy them very much. The jalapeno is pretty much a sissy but I eat the habanero and ghost with a lot of respect, making sure I have food in my mouth before I introduce a very small piece of either of those two. Some of my friends ridicule me for eating these chilis but If your food doesn’t make your mouth burn, your eyes water, your head itch, your nose run and your neck sweat, why bother with it?
Ulcer in your Gut !
The Carolina Reaper, a cross-bred pepper of the habenero and ghost pepper at the last time I checked is the world record hot pepper supposedly well in excess of the ghost pepper’s scoville rating. I’m not sure that it really matters, other than for bragging rights, since either one would make you cut your tongue out just to stop the pain.
I’m living in Tucson. And I want to grow ghost pepper, do you think is possible?
yes its possible in moderate temperature place. check here it ll be available in this website http://www.soinuko.com
The mystery of Bhut Jalokia’s existence in Assam in India and the chili peppers home in mexico and South America defy current theory that it was a post Christopher Coumbus migration into India.
Please consider that Its extensive role in South Indian cuisine point to the availability in India long before Columbus
Do you know of evidence of its use in India before 1493? I haven’t been able to find any (and I am South Indian myself!)
I heard it was a hybrid chilli created in Northern lndia
It was developed in India, but chiles are all originally from the Americas.
Four to five centuries is a long time for chiles to mutate to adapt to a new environment. A genetic comparison to american heirloom chiles should point to the ghost chile’s origins. But, the observation that there is more SPECIES diversity as well as a larger number of CULTIVARS in the Americas would also point to the length of time for this to have occurred; i.e. the chile has been in the Americas longer than in India.
I have no idea from where it originated, but what I do know is that this particular chilli is produced in abundance in my state, so much so that the prices are far higher in nagaland and Assam. I don’t know it’s origin, and that’s what brought me here in my quest. I know the GI belongs to nagaland, but I very much doubt it as it’s loved and produced much much more in my state of Manipur
The name Bhut jolokia comes from the Assamese language , spoken by natives of Assam, a northeastern state of India where this chilli is grown. I am from Assam and have grown up with the Bhut jolokia making regular appearances on my plate at meal times. Bhut means ghost and jolokia is the Assamese word for chilli.
The chilli may also be found in neighbouring states such as Manipur and Nagaland, where climatic conditions are similar to Assam, but I do not know if these are equally hot.Prices vary in different religions
*Capsaicin
How did you even manage to write an article on a website with spicy in the name and how is it still up here years later