Space Chillies

[liuzhou]

Those who know me know that I have more than a soft spot for the food of Hunan, where I lived from 1997-1999. I have a hard spot!

 

It has been reported that the average Hunan person consumes around 50 kilograms of chilli peppers a year. That’s an average of around 140 grams a day, every day. Before I lived there, I would have thought that highly unlikely and started looking for the flaw in the mathematics. I soon learned that, if anything, it’s an underestimation.

 

Hunan grows many different types of chilli but one is considered the Rolls Royce of chillies. Or as the Chinese put it, 辣椒中的爱马仕 (là jiāo zhòng dì ài mǎ shì), the “Hermès of Chillies”. Note this is not a direct reference to the Greek god or to Percy Weasley’s owl in the Harry Potter franchise. It is to the French luxury goods company and reflects the high price these varietals fetch – up to 600 times the price of regular chillies.

 

It is considered to be highly fragrant (I agree) but it has a low yield with only 14,200 tons being grown in 2023. Its ‘real’ name is 樟树港辣椒 (zhāng shù gǎng là jiāo) meaning Zhangshugang Chilli, Zhangshugang being a town in Hunan and which holds the sole right to grow the type. It is said the unique weather and soil conditions make the peppers crispy, tender and strong. The name has been trademarked and  has been approved by the Hunan Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs as an agro-product with geographical indication.

 

Not only that; they may be the only chillies to have travelled to space! I don’t know. However, two years ago, 163 grams of Zhangshugang chilli seeds were carried into space by the Shenzhou XIV spaceship to see whether that improved their germination, flavour, spiciness or anything else. Early analysis is reported to be positive.

 

So, at great personal expense, travail, inconvenience and hardship, I bring you these wonders of the capsicum family which I purchased today. They are at their best in late spring and early summer, so a bit cheaper in December.

 

Zhangshugang Chillies

 

Having bought them purely for educational purposes, I will now discard them and certainly not be using them in my dinner tonight. Perish the thought.

 

 

 

[Tropicalsenior]

I agree. They certainly are pretty little peppers. If they are so delicious and fragrant and expensive why aren't you going to eat them? Do you plan to press them in the pages of your OED and frame them?