The world's hottest peppers are grown in traditional Dutch greenhouses. Names such as the Deadly Hot Scorpion Mix, Cherry bomb, Shakira and soon also the scorching Carolina Reaper are shipped all over the world from the Dutch town of De Lier to customers via a web-shop.
But how do green pepper growers enter the world of hot peppers? Pieter Boekestijn, who along with his two brothers, runs the company Westland Peppers, explains, "About 13 years ago, I was just looking for a little information about peppers and chillies on the Internet and saw that American companies were offering pepper seeds. There were a lot of crazy varieties on offer; we then planted two rows with some peppers, jalapenos and serrano peppers. After we harvested a few boxes, we just started making calls to find out who wanted them."
The two rows eventually became two greenhouses in The Hague and De Lier. "We expanded the acreage every year and we now grow only special peppers, such as Italian pointed peppers, tapas peppers and white pointed peppers. So we have products from sweet to extremely hot."
By paying attention to what is going on in countries like the U.S. and Mexico, Boekestijn can see what trends are emerging. "Each year we try a new variety to surprise our clients. I believe there are thousands of different sorts of chillies."
Varieties
When trying new pepper varieties, there are naturally some with which flames almost literally come out of your mouth. According to Boekestijn, there is a race among hobby growers to develop the hottest pepper. Since late last year, the Carolina Reaper is listed in the Guinness Book of Records. In terms of spiciness, it comes close to the pepper spray used by the police.
"Next year we will also have that one in our range," says Boekestijn with a proud smile. "The hottest peppers we now have are the Naga Jolokia and the Trinidad Scorpion, which reach values of around 1 million on the Scoville scale." In comparison, the Jalapeno does not go beyond 8,000. "It's a kind of sport, especially in the U.S and England. There they work night and day to create the hottest pepper."
Source: AD.nl
Source: AD.nl