Growing Cascabella Peppers
Cascabella is a popular variety of Chili pepper, which belongs to the Capsicum genus (Capsicum annuum longum group ‘Cascabella’). This variety is an Vegetable that typically grows as anAnnual, which is defined as a plant that matures and completes its lifecycle over the course of a single year. Cascabella normally grows to a max height of 1.49 feet (45.72 cm metric).
Mexico is believed to be where Cascabella originates from.
Cascabella Chili pepper is normally fairly low maintenance and is normally quite easy to grow, as long as a level of basic care is provided throughout the year. Being aware of the basic soil, sun and water preferences will result in a happier and healthier plant.
How to grow Cascabella
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Full Sun
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Medium
Try to plant in a location that enjoys full sun and remember to water moderately. Keep in mind when planting that Cascabella is thought of as tender, so it is really important to ensure that the outside temperature is well above freezing before planting or moving outdoors. The USDA Hardiness Zones typically associated with Cascabella are Zone 5 and Zone 12. Ensure your soil is loamy and sandy and has a ph of between 7.0 and 8.5 as Chili pepper is a neutral soil to weakly alkaline soil loving plant.
Growing Cascabella from seed
Look to ensure a distance 1.95 inches (5.0 cm) between seeds when sowing – bury at a depth of at least 0.2 inches (0.5 cm) deep. Soil temperature should be kept higher than 18°C / 64°F to ensure good germination.By our calculations, you should look at sowing Cascabella about 38 days before your last frost date.
Transplanting Cascabella
Ensure that temperatures are mild and all chance of frost has passed before planting out, as Cascabella is a tender plant.
Harvesting Cascabella
Other Names for Chili pepper ‘Cascabella’
Cascabel
Pick a Pickle
Red state or blue state, it doesn’t matter because we’re all green! Almost everyone likes pickles (86%), especially Baby Boomers (90%). Dill has universal appeal, and is favored more than 2 to 1 over any other kind of pickle. Bread & Butter comes in distant second (21%), though only 12% of millennials pick Bread & Butter as their favorite.
Forty-one percent of Americans say their favorite way to eat pickles is on a sandwich or burger, though straight from the jar is a close second (39%). Interestingly, busy households with kids ages 13-17 are more likely to eat them right out of the jar (42%) vs. on a sandwich (34%).
While nearly everyone knows you can pickle cucumbers (84%), the majority doesn’t know or think about pickling other foods. Most people (84%) didn’t know or think they could pickle crabapples, but the newly released 37th edition of the Ball Blue Book has over 30 recipes for pickling alone, including Crabapple Pickles.
– Research conducted by ORC International on behalf of the iconic Ball® brand canning line
Nothing Says “I Love Pickles” Like a Celebration Devoted Entirely to PICKLES!
Get Your Fill Of Pickled Treats At First-Ever Picklesburgh
by David Highfield – http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Who doesn’t love a good pickle?!
The pickle is part of Pittsburgh’s heritage.
And this weekend there is a perfect opportunity
to celebrate all things pickled.
The first Picklesburgh festival is going on.
Today on the Rachel Carson Bridge, there was a giant inflatable pickle that had people stopping to snap a picture.
So what’s the big “dill”?
“Whether you’re a pickle aficionado, or pickle curious, we invite you to come on down to Picklesburgh,” said Leigh White with the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership.
It’s all part of the festival bringing nothing but pickles.
“Whether it’s pickled cucumbers, pickled produce,fruits, pickled ice cream, pickled cookies, it’s going to be a great time,” said White.
And it’s all topped off with an amazing 35-foot pickle balloon, made to resemble the original Heinz Pickle pin.
The custom-built balloon was built by the team that also crafts balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
“We’re excited that the blimp is in the air and you can come down and see it in real life, get your picture with the pickle,” said Jennifer Owen with Flyspace Productions.
So if you were ever thinking about learning how to pickle, this is the weekend to do it.
“It’s going to be the best two days ever!” said one pickle lover.
There’s going to be live demonstrations, a pickle juice drinking competition, in addition toentertainment and vendors featuring pickles in every kind of variety.
And the people organizing Picklesburgh hope this year is just the first of many Pickleburghs to come.
2015 Tour de Jalapeno Race Coming Soon – Tito’s LOVES this concept!
26 Mile Jalapeno Race, 26 Mile Regular Race And Tour
The 26 mile JALAPENO race will have 2 aid stations stocked with Jalapenos for every Jalapeno you eat ( 2 minutes ) will be deducted. Cash awards
The Regular 26 mile race is to race flat out and see how fast a time you can turn in. The intersections will be manned by Police however you must obey their instructions.
Both races will have age group awards, 0-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70+ ( 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awards for Male and Female )
The 26 mile tour will follow the same route as the 26 mile race. The tour is not timed, and the jalapeno’s are not involved. You are more than welcome to stop and enjoy the aid stations, but the jalapeno eating is not part of the tours.
– See more at: http://tourdejalapeno.com/Details#sthash.9jAZhkmV.dpuf
Artisan Pickle Company Worth Mentioning
Expansion, can-do attitude get Epic Pickles out of the garage
By DAVID WEISSMAN
505-5431/@DispatchDavid / www.yorkdispatch.com
Robert Seufert, owner of Epic Pickles, chops cucumbers last year at his Windsor Township home. After four years, Seufert is expanding his pickle business to a former bakery in Yoe. (Dispatch file photo)
Epic Pickles will soon be moving to a location more consistent with its moniker.
After about four years of pickling in his Windsor Township home, owner Rob Seufert has leased a former bakery in Yoe to move the operations of his expanding business.
“I’m looking forward to having my garage back,” Seufert said, laughing about how many jars currently litter his home.
As he searches for more equipment and completes minor alterations on the 2,400-square-foot property at 165 Orchard Road, Seufert said he is hoping to be fully moved in by early October. He had been looking for a location for more than a year but had trouble finding a workable space that wasn’t priced and zoned for retail, which he didn’t need because he mostly sells to other retailers and restaurants.
To date, Epic Pickles has been mostly a one-man operation with occasional help from family members, Seufert said, but he will be looking to hire two to four part-time employees based on demand.
Epic origin: Seufert started dabbling in pickle production after hearing about a “pickle guy” in Baltimore and tasting the flavored pickles for himself.
“I thought, ‘I could try this,'” he said. “Next thing you know, neighbors are knocking on my door asking for pickles.”
After getting laid off from his art director position because of the economic downturn, Seufert started dedicating more time to his pickling and decided it was more than just a hobby to him.
“Life deals you cards, and the cards dealt me pickles,” he said.
Advertisement
Epic Pickles produces six flavors of pickles as well as other products, including okra, string beans and asparagus. They are sold by more than 30 retailers and nine restaurants throughout Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware.
— Reach David Weissman at dweissman@yorkdispatch.com.
Just dill with it: Yinzers to soak up sun and salt at Picklesburgh
Gherkins galore
Pickling is taking the community by storm.
Posted: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 10:51 pm
Chris Estes / Staff Writer | The Pitt News – www.pittnews.com
Leigh White is looking forward to the “ginormous” floating pickle that will be attached to the Rachel Carson Bridge later this month.
“We were noticing the cool, innovative restaurants around town were doing pickling,” White, the spokeswoman at the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership (PDP), said. “[And] Pittsburgh has such an interesting and strong history of pickles with Heinz.”
So, from July 17-18, the city is hosting the inaugural Picklesburgh: a local celebration of all things pickled, in Downtown. The PDP, a group dedicated to revitalizing Pittsburgh with local events like Light Up Night, is hosting the event. From 3 to 10 p.m. on Friday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, local vendors like The Pittsburgh Pickle Company, Happy Camper Cakes and Heinz will serve up pickles and delicacies including ice cream, cocktails and ethnic dishes that incorporate pickling. Local musicians like Norm Nardini and King’s Ransom will perform alongside events like a pickle juice drinking contest.
“There were a lot of cool things happening [in Pittsburgh],” White said. “From homemade pickles to kimchi, we just saw this really interesting explosion.”
Local restaurants featuring dishes with pickled ingredients along with Pittsburgh’s historical association with Heinz make Pittsburgh an ideal location for a pickle-themed event, according to White.
More than 20,000 people are slated to attend the event, and the PDP hopes it becomes an annual affair. For resident foodies, Whole Foods will offer pickling technique demonstrations, which will experiment with pickled mango spears.
Vendors like Gwyn Zollinger, a Jeannette, Pennsylvania native and the owner of the mobile cupcakery Happy Camper Cupcakes,is treating the event as a challenge.
“I love creating new things that no one else thinks of,” she said of her cupcake recipes.
Zollinger will debut three new cupcakes featuring pickled ingredients. This will include “The Local Dip” — a take on Neapolitan ice cream that includes a strawberry balsamic filling and a pickled cherry on top.
Those who don’t think pickled ingredients and cupcakes mesh well together may want to reconsider. Zollinger uses a balsamic vinegar, among other ingredients, to create a rum-pineapple compote filling for her “Pickled Pirate” cupcake, served in a souvenir jelly jar.
“[The cupcakes] are all sweet,” she said. “They’re a little tart but have a really nice sweetness to them.”
Zollinger has provided cupcakes to Pittsburgh before at events like Pierogi Fest.
“It’s a great place to have a food truck,” she said. “Every event I’ve done in Pittsburgh has been so much fun.”
Other local vendors are also eager to share pickles with Pittsburghers.
The Pittsburgh Pickle Company, co-owned by John and Will Patterson and Joe Robl, will make an appearance with their “Pittsburgh-Style” pickles, nachos and cheese topped with pickles, pickled banana peppers, pickled red onions and pickled jalapeños.
“We source our pickle ingredients locally, when in season and possible,” owner and Pittsburgh-native John Patterson, said. “We don’t have some old family recipe. We just grabbed what made sense.”
John avoids current trends in food, and said his favorite food to pickle is the classic cucumber.
“The cuke is like a blank canvas,” he said. “It’s stiff on the edges, so it can stand up. Its face can absorb anything, allowing you to paint all kinds of different flavor combinations.”
John wants the Pittsburgh Pickle Company to gain some exposure at Picklesburgh.
“We want to let everyone know we’re here to stay, and that we want to be the ones that provide Pittsburghers with their pickle needs,” he said. “We’ve been a part of the recent food scene and [play] our part in feeding Pittsburghers.”
Just as the Pittsburgh Pickle Company is here to stay, maybe Picklesburgh will be a staple, as well.
Jeremy Waldrup, president and CEO of the PDP, said Picklesburgh will be a welcome addition to the city’s festivals.
“We believe Pittsburghers will relish this new festival,” he said.
Can this man create a more potent jalapeno?
COURTNEY SHEA
Special to The Globe and Mail
Published Tuesday, Jul. 14, 2015 10:24AM EDT
Last updated Tuesday, Jul. 14, 2015 10:27AM EDT
Before his retirement two weeks ago, Aziz Baameur was a farm adviser at the University of California. For the past couple of years, Baameur has been preoccupied with one particular project: the hunt for a hotter jalapeno. Here, he explains his passion for peppers and why when it comes to the humble jalapeno, there is no substitute.
Why do we need a hotter jalapeno? Why not just sub in a habanero or a Scotch bonnet?
We tend to think of peppers in terms of heat, but each chili pepper has its own unique flavour profile, aside from the level of spice. The jalapeno has a specific taste that people really seem to like. The other thing is that a habanero, for example, is almost 100,000 times hotter than a jalapeno, so if you’re going to use that in a recipe – say a salsa – you’re only going to be able to use a very small amount and the ratios will be off.
How did you first get involved in this heat-seeking mission?
It started with a casual conversation I had with one of the growers in the area. One of their challenges is that the heat in peppers is never the same across the board, depending on a number of variables. Most growers will favour one variety of jalapeno because it produces [a robust crop] in the given conditions. So they want to increase the heat without changing the variety. Not knowing any better, I said, “I’m sure I can figure it out.”
And have you figured it out?
Ha! Not yet. We have worked with different water and nutrient inputs to see if we can increase the heat of the peppers in the field. The first year, we tried stressing plants by not watering them. Last summer when we reduced the nitrogen levels [in the soil] we saw a huge increase in heat.
What’s the plan for this summer?
I have actually just retired as of July 1. I do want to continue with this project, but things have gotten more complicated and we need funding. Money is not flowing in my direction at the moment. Other things are more pressing, like [eradicating] diseases.
Why the passion for hot peppers? Are you a spicy-food fiend?
For me, the passion is in experimenting with how plants react to conditions: What happens if we do X and Y? In this particular case, it has been fun to work on a question that takes more than a few hours to solve. Growing up, my dad grew chili peppers in the house and I hated hot stuff. As I’ve grown up I’ve acquired a taste for it and I really do enjoy it.
Have you tried jalapeno ice cream?
No – I’ve heard that they’re making it, but I have not tried it yet.
What sorts of dishes go best with jalapenos?
I’ll put them on just about anything. I like them better roasted than raw. I make a lot of salsa. Couscous, tagines, omelettes. It’s not that I’m wedded to jalapenos, it’s just that I like them and this project has provided me with an ample supply.
Original article at: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/food-trends/can-this-man-create-a-more-potent-jalapeno/article25498245/
Jalapenos will again get Fiesta Mexicana off to a hot start
This will be the 25th year for the jalapeno-eating contest
Posted: July 13, 2015 – 5:14pm
By Bill Blankenship – www.cjonline.com
bill.blankenship@cjonline.com
Want to disperse a huge crowd? Try dousing them with pepper spray. Want to attract a huge crowd? Offer them the chance to watch some foolhardy folk down a bunch of red hot chili peppers.
The latter is what has made County Legends 106.9’s jalapeno-eating contest an opening-night tradition of Topeka’s annual Fiesta Mexicana and one of its biggest spectator draws. This year will mark the 25th contest, and KTPK-FM has spiced up its prizes to include a trip for two to San Antonio, Texas, for the first-place finisher.
The contest will begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday on the Fiesta Stage, which is the one just east of N.E. Atchison and Lake streets, a block east of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 201 N.E. Chandler, which most years since 1933 has staged the fiesta to support a Catholic school or its parishioners’ children.
Registration will begin at 5:30 p.m. and end at 6 p.m. or until all the contest slots are filled. That only took 20 minutes last year. All past champions will get an automatic berth in the 30-contestant roster. Three more reserve contestants will be registered to replace any no-shows. Entrants must be 18 years old or older and must sign a waiver.
The contestants will be divided into three preliminary heats. To start the contest, participants will be given one minute to eat just one fresh jalapeno pepper to within an eighth-inch of the stem. This initial pepper is just to allow the capsaicin oils to stew in the mouth where they trigger the same sensors that read “Fire!” the same way heat does in the human brain.
During the next 60 seconds, competitors will eat as many jalapenos as possible and keep them down for an additional minute. Winners of the preliminary rounds will advance to the final heat, where more jalapenos will be consumed until the first four finishers can be determined.
The first-place jalapeno eater will, as in years past, get a $500 cash prize, plus the San Antonio trip, which will include airfare, three nights at the Drury Inn and Suites, admission for two to Six Flags Fiesta Texas and its White Water Bay water park, a tour for two on Rio San Antonio Cruises and free admission to the Alamo.
Westar is the contest’s principal sponsor, with prizes further underwritten by La Colonia retirement community, the Kansas Expocentre, Dog Day Afternoon Inc. and Mi Ranchito restaurant.
The entertainment will continue on the Fiesta Stage after the jalapeno-eating contest with Rusty Rierson & The Forever Young Band, a Wichita-based Christian country band playing at 7:45 p.m., and Blazing Mojo, a local band that plays classic rock, country, Latin and ’70s dance music at 9:30 p.m. The Our Lady of Guadalupe Stage, which is near the church, will feature the Fiesta Dancers at 7 p.m. and Manolo y Los de la Cuesta at 9 p.m.
There also will be an opening ceremony at 5 p.m.
Bill Blankenship can be reached at (785) 295-1284 or bill.blankenship@cjonline.com.
Follow Bill on Twitter @TCJ_AandE. Read Bill’s blog.
Antioch man eats 52 jalapenos in 10 minutes to win contest
By Denys Bucksten News-Sun
Antioch 52-year-old consumed his age in the spicy-hot peppers
A cool and calm Antioch man crushed the field Saturday in Mundelein Community Days’ Jalapeno Eating Contest, consuming his age, 52 of the crunchy, spicy-hot peppers.
Mike Meyer was among eight entrants, in two flights, who tested their intestines in the contest, sponsored by Mundelein’s El Barrio Restaurant. The idea is to belly up to a table holding large bowls of 2-inch long, plump jalapenos — in front of hundreds of strangers — and eat the most peppers in 10 minutes.
Contestants signed liability waivers before gorging themselves on a veggie in the same chili-peppers group used by police, in liquid spray form, to subdue offenders.
Meyer’s nearest opponent, a woman calling herself “Hot Tamale,” placed second with 42 peppers. Tamale’s staying power was tested as she spun away from the table at the seven-minute mark, with spectators ducking for cover. But the red-haired woman, wearing a pale green tank top and white Ray-ban sunglasses, was a gamer and returned to finish strong.
Another contestant, his face dripping with sweat, consumed 26 jalapenos, washing them down with bottled water. After him was a young man gulping down copious amounts of soothing vanilla ice cream, between peppers, to finish with 22.
Meyer, who “tasted defeat” two years ago in a “Man vs. Food” contest involving 3-pound beef sandwiches, never faltered Saturday in his quest for a trophy and eternal heart-burn.
“I felt good,” he said, immediately after the competition.
Meyer said he entered the contest with his wife’s “Don’t Do It!” ringing in his ears.
“I guess she was sort of preparing me with negative reinforcement,” he said, with a smile. “I’m glad I won. If I’d done it and hadn’t won I’d be asking myself, ‘Why did you do that?'”
Armando Arebalo, Jr., owner of El Barrio’s, a family business started in 1971, said he began researching holding a jalapeno contest a year ago.
“Jalapeno contests are big in southern Texas,” the San Antonio native said. “We held our first last summer. This year we had two, Mundelein and Libertyville Days (in June), in which the winner ate 61 jalapenos.”
Gulping down whole jalapenos is not a natural or recommended pastime, Arebalo conceded.
“We don’t even put them out at our restaurant because nobody asks for them whole,” he said. “We only slice them up to put on nachos.”
Jalapeno eating has become a major event, according to the Guinness Book of World Records and the International Federation of Eaters, whose website is http://www.Majorleagueating.com.
Major League Eaters, which promotes and tracks competitions for dozens of foods, including pizza, burgers, Nathan’s Hot Dogs, Twinkies, apple pie, birthday cake, corn dogs, oysters and cow brains, lists the jalapeno record at 275 in eight minutes. That astounding mark was set in 2011 at the annual “Feel the Heat” competition in Chicago.
If Meyer were to get serious about gulping jalapenos, he’d have to consider adopting a menacing nickname. Patrick “Deep Dish” Bertoletti — now retired — set the 2011 record, against the likes of Joey Chestnut, Sonya “Black Widow” Thomas, and Eric “Badlands” Booker.
Denys Bucksten is a News-Sun freelancer