Zavory Habanero - No Heat

[Hunt-Grow-Cook]

Originally Posted by Starlight

Great! Didn't know there was a sweet hab either. Definitely gotta add to my list of ones to get.

Does it stay sweet with no heat even with it is fully ripe? I've had a few types of peppers that were supposed to be sweet and when they turned bright red they had heat.

To better answer your question....it really only gets sweet when fully ripe. Hab flavor is there, fruity, citrusy, and floral but the redder they get the sweeter and more flavorful they got. I wasn't particularly fond of them green. Ive also grown Arroz Con Pollo, and Bishops Hat. Arroz being very very similar in taste, but more of a wrinkled pod similar to scotch bonnet. Still completely mild though. Bishops has more heat the closer you get to the seeds and placenta. Great flavor as well. All 3 varieties were pickled last year, and we're tasty. Zavory was a frequent snacker for me in the garden though. Growing Trinidad Perfume this year to compare a yellow variety.

[dmforcier]

There's two conflicting definitions of "sweet" at work here. HGC means sweet as in sugar. Most of the other references mean sweet as in not hot.


On reason I've never liked the term "sweet" for heatless peps.

[Hunt-Grow-Cook]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

There's two conflicting definitions of "sweet" at work here. HGC means sweet as in sugar. Most of the other references mean sweet as in not hot.


On reason I've never liked the term "sweet" for heatless peps.

I agree with DM here, don't know I would classify it as a "sweet pepper" like say a bell or something like that. It is a mild heat less hab, that has some sweetness when dead ripe.

[Starlight]

Originally Posted by Hunt-Grow-Cook

To better answer your question....it really only gets sweet when fully ripe. Hab flavor is there, fruity, citrusy, and floral but the redder they get the sweeter and more flavorful they got. I wasn't particularly fond of them green. Ive also grown Arroz Con Pollo, and Bishops Hat. Arroz being very very similar in taste, but more of a wrinkled pod similar to scotch bonnet. Still completely mild though. Bishops has more heat the closer you get to the seeds and placenta. Great flavor as well. All 3 varieties were pickled last year, and we're tasty. Zavory was a frequent snacker for me in the garden though. Growing Trinidad Perfume this year to compare a yellow variety.

Thanks for the information. : ) Good to know about the green not quite as tasty either. I've grown the Bishop's before, both the hot and the sweet. Thought I had tags mixed up for a bit as I did notice the heat in well ripe Bishop's Hat.

Arroz a new name for me. Gonna have to check it out. Also check my notes too as I had Trinadad Perfume in the super hots category. Probably my mistake. It gets hard some times keeping track of who is hot and who is sweet-like.

[dmforcier]

There are several Trinidad peppers in the super-hot category, the most notable being the Trinidad Scorpion. Better to err on the side of less pain, I suppose.

[peebee]

Is this Zavory a hybrid or can you save seeds from it to grow true again? I've never tried a Hab due to the heat but have always heard how flavorful they are. If this has almost no heat (I do like a little) I must try it.

[ContainerTed]

PeeBee, this is not a hybrid. And when I grew last (I'm growing this year as well), it had NO heat at all. I have a couple of plants coming up now, and I sent some seeds out. That person has 7 out of 8 seeds up. And that's seed that was saved back in 2009.

The plant itself should be about 30 inches high and slightly bushy.

[peebee]

Hmmm, even with NO heat at all, it still sounds interesting. For sure it will not be something I can find at the local market to try first so I will have to grow it next year.
Thanks Ted.

[fonseca]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

I have Trinidad Perfume for the first time this year. From what I understand, it is a heatless hab.

I grew it for the first time last year. Actually bought the seedling from nctomatoman. This single plant produced 300 pods in a 5 gallon self-watering bucket. The pods were smaller in the fall but kept producing through December. I was so impressed that I cut it back to a stump and overwintered in a quart-sized container indoors. I transplanted it to a 1 gallon pot a few weeks ago, and it is now about 2' tall. I'm considering putting it in a 10 gallon growbag this year.

The flavor is very strong and unique, zero heat. It does not have any "sweet" flavor whatsoever, and is actually very pungent. I prefer them dried, definitely not for snacking on fresh. It makes fantastic chile powder, good on grilled chicken, in turkey chili or for seasoning rice pilaf.

I'm growing some other non-hot hot peppers this year:

Sweet Datil (I have read that this can turn hot)
Aji Dulce I
Aji Dulce II
Criolla de Cocina (this one is actually sweet, have grown for years)

And some mildly-hot peppers:

Joe's Long Cayenne (not as hot as regular cayenne by a large margin)
Aji Brazilian Starfish (first year growing, reports on heat level vary wildly)

Zavory Habanero is one I have been meaning to try for years. Also Tobago Seasoning. I love the flavor of habaneros, but their heat can be too much in many foods. It's nice to be able to add lots of flavor to a meal and then adjust the heat to an appropriate level with just a few superhots.

For some reason the only photo I took of the Trinidad Perfume last year was of its broken branch, which I unsuccessfully attempted to repair. The branches definitely need support, they can't handle the weight of all the pods. I'm thinking about picking up some of the round tomato cages that are useless for tomatoes, but should be perfect for smaller pepper plants.

[Fusion_power]

You all missed Aji Jobito.

[fonseca]

Do you know of a reliable source for Aji Jobito seeds? I followed the discussion on the pepper website a few years back, but didn't want to buy a bunch of different varieties just to get that one.

[clkingtx]

Ok, one more to add to my list. I second the question of where to find these seeds. Anyone grow this one?

[Zeedman]

Originally Posted by fonseca

I'm growing some other non-hot hot peppers this year:

Sweet Datil (I have read that this can turn hot)
Aji Dulce I
Aji Dulce II
Criolla de Cocina (this one is actually sweet, have grown for years)

I grew Aji Dulce last year, and wasn't fond of the pungent flavor - as others have stated, definitely not sweet. If Criolla de Cocina is sweet, I'll have to give it a try. Looking it up, the description definitely gets my attention:
"Criolla de Cocina is a rare sweet pepper from the country of Nicaragua. It grows wrinkly looking peppers the size of baseballs!"

[Hunt-Grow-Cook]

Here's an Arroz Con Pollo branch that was broken off. More wrinkly and roundish. Very similar in taste too, but I preferred this one slightly and my roommate preferred the Zavorys, grown side by side. I'd say slight edge in productivity to the Zavory.

[fonseca]

Originally Posted by Zeedman

I grew Aji Dulce last year, and wasn't fond of the pungent flavor - as others have stated, definitely not sweet. If Criolla de Cocina is sweet, I'll have to give it a try. Looking it up, the description definitely gets my attention:
"Criolla de Cocina is a rare sweet pepper from the country of Nicaragua. It grows wrinkly looking peppers the size of baseballs!"

I'm planning to dry the Aji Dulce peppers for powder, I imagine they would not be any better for snacking than Trinidad Perfume.

William Woys Weaver talks about Criolla de Cocina in his book, "100 Vegetables and Where They Came From". IIRC a farmer found a single pepper plant producing sweet pepper in his field. It is actually sweet, and while I would call it full-flavored, it lacks the pungency of seasoning peppers. I don't know about baseball-size, but mine do get ~5" tall but they are somewhat narow. Here's a photo comparing Criolla (red) to Szentes: