The Anaheim pepper is a mild pepper that adds a flavorful touch to any dish. Many people enjoy it raw. It is also known as the Magdalena pepper or the California pepper. When Anaheim peppers are dried, they are called chile seco del norte. This pepper can be eaten when it is either green or red.
It is mostly consumed when green, but we recommend grilling it to bring out more flavors, as it has less taste when green than when it is red. When a recipe calls for a bell pepper but you want a bit more heat and spice, use an Anaheim pepper instead!
Origin:
It was developed from the Pasilla variety from New Mexico and was already being cultivated around the early 1900s in Anaheim, California. The farmer Emilio Ortego, renowned in Mexican culinary circles, brought them to California via New Mexico.
Scoville Scale: 8
Between 500 and 2,500 Scoville units
Flavors:
- Smoky, sweet, and tangy.
- High water content, plenty of flavor, and very few calories.
How to Cook It?
This pepper can be used fresh, peeled, or grilled. It is well-suited for drying and long-term storage. You can stuff it, can it, and create excellent sauces.
When green, you can use it in sauces, stews, or stuff it.
When red, it’s delicious in soups, sauces, or stews. It is often used to make ristras (dried peppers strung together) that can be used as decorations.
Varieties Grown on the Farm:
On the farm, we grow the Charger variety, which produces a green fruit by late July and a red fruit by mid-August.
Botanical Characteristics:
- This pepper is 15 cm long and has a diameter of 1.5 cm
- The plant grows between 60 and 100 cm
- Maturity (after transplantation): 65 days for the green fruit and 85 days for the red fruit
