Chiles, chili peppers, peppers, bell peppers, no matter the name, they are all fruit from plants of the same genus: Capsicum. These species are native to the Americas and extremely popular worldwide in cuisine. In northern Arizona, September is peak season for peppers, and the best place to find them is the Prescott Farmers Market. This time of year you can smell the roasting chiles from the parking lot!
Peppers are in the nightshade family, which includes tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant. Fossil evidence shows prehistoric people from southern Peru up to the Bahamas were cultivating peppers around 7,000 years ago. The chiltepin, which still grows wild in southern Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and throughout Mexico and Central America, is thought to be the ancestor of all the peppers we eat today. Though the size of a pea, the chiltepin packs the heat. Currently there are around 25 recognized species in the Capsicum genus, five of which are domesticated. There are thousands of pepper cultivars (plant varieties that have been produced by selective breeding). Prescott Farmers Market vendors offer more than 30 varieties.
Our short growing season makes peppers tricky to grow. They like it hot from start to finish. Farmers in Yavapai County germinate pepper seeds in heating cabinets as early as January and transplant outside in June, once the danger of frost is past and the soil is warm. Green bell peppers can be harvested starting in late July, with fully ripened fruits featuring the fullness of color and flavor starting in mid- to late August. Peppers hate the cold, so once the temperature dips into the 50s or 60s consistently, the plants will slow their production. Farmers use row-cover cloth in the early fall to extend the harvest season. A frost will kill the plant and spoil its fruit.
Hot peppers contain the chemical capsaicin, which produces their famous burning sensation. This chemical is most plentiful not in the seeds, but in the pale membrane of the fruit that holds the seeds. Most mammals find the burning sensation unpleasant, but birds are unaffected, contributing to the spread of seeds. Pepper heat is measured on the Scoville scale, which rates a given pepper in units. A bell pepper has zero units, and an extremely spicy pepper rates over 2 million.
In the culinary world peppers are used not only for their spice, but also depth of flavor. Peppers are extremely versatile in the kitchen: raw, roasted, smoked, dried, fermented, sautéed, pickled, stuffed, grilled, powdered for spices, infused in oils and liquors, and pulverized for hot sauce. Roasted chiles can be frozen and thawed in the middle of winter, when we all need reminders of warm and bright summer days.
Americans are generally familiar with bell, jalapeño, poblano, and cayenne peppers. Those looking to expand their repertoire should take a trip to the Saturday market where they can find over 30 cultivars to taste. Throw some lunchbox peppers in your kids’ lunches. Sugar and sahuaro peppers provide wonderful flavor for hot sauce, just add jalapenos to obtain the desired level of heat. Indian Bhut Jolokia (‘ghost pepper’) is an ultra-hot pepper that should be left to very experienced spicy-pepper enthusiasts (seriously, don’t even touch it or your fingers will be on fire). On the other end of the spice spectrum, shishitos blistered in a hot pan with oil, salt and garlic can be eaten straight off the stem. Charger peppers are mild and meaty (thick), making them a great choice for chile rellenos. The list of peppers goes on.
Beyond finding the freshest, most unique peppers at the market, customers benefit from the extensive knowledge of the people who grow them. Ask farmers what their favorite varieties are and how they like to cook them. Pepper adventures await you. Follow your nose to the market, where the scent of fire-roasted chiles is intoxicating. We’ll see you there!
Chef Molly Beverly is away. Kathleen Yetman is Executive Director of the Prescott Farmers Market.
Chef Molly Beverly is Prescott's leading creative food activist and teacher. Photos by Gary Beverly.
