Christmas Bell Chillies

I get pretty confused around chillies; I once acquired a dozen different types in pots, and grew them all on for seed, moving them about until the labels were hopelessly muddled. Nevertheless, the plants still exist in the garden, and as far as they are concerned, I can come up with any name I like…it matters not to them.

And so, when sitting down to write this story, I was convinced that I was going to talk about Scotch Bonnet (Bell Lantern) chillies. A quick check on the internet made it clear Scotch Bonnet chillies looked nothing like my plant, and there is no such thing as a Bell Lantern chilli – I must have dreamt that up myself.

This particular plant is about five years old and about 1.5m tall, and just keeps on spreading out, though I stake it to try to keep it off the path (pruning it wouldn’t hurt either). It’s a very mild chilli – about 5 out of 10 on the heat scale – and can almost be eaten like a capsicum (pepper). I’ve kept the seed by drying them on a cotton thread hung in the kitchen. I’ll just crush these up now to separate the seeds, then the hard work will begin – finding someone who wants to grow some too.

And so what chilli is it really?

My best guess is that it is a South American chilli originating in Barbados, from whence it found its way to Europe via Brazil and the Portuguese, and then by devious routes down here to Australia. Wikipedia calls it a Bishop’s Crown chilli, a variety of the species Capsicum baccatum var. pendulum. 

Perhaps it is, perhaps it is not. For whatever its genealogy, it’s a pretty and hardy bush, and the mild flavour is just fine for a palate used to the fairly bland flavours of English/Irish/German dishes.