Malagueta pepper
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Malagueta pepper (Capsicum frutescens var. malagueta, Solanaceae) is found, and heavily used, in the Bahia area of Brazil (also used throughout the country). It apparently gets its name from the unrelated melegueta pepper from West Africa (Zingiberaceae). The Brazilian state of Bahia was a center of slave trade and as a consequence the Portuguese name for the African species was transferred to the local Capsicum.
It is a small, tapered, green pepper that turns red as it matures. It is about 2 inches in length at maturity. It is a very hot pepper, with a range of 60,000 to 100,000 Scoville units (about the same as Tabasco peppers).
There are two sizes seen in markets, which will sometimes have different names: The smaller ones are called “malaguetinha”, and the larger ones are called “malaguetão”. They are not different varieties, just peppers of different maturities from the same plant.
This pepper is used to season many regional dishes in Brazil and is used in sauces. In Portugal, the term “malagueta” is used to describe a wide range of hot peppers.
[edit] External links
- Capsicum variety database
- Pepper Profile: Capsicum Frutescens
- Index of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants - Capsicum
- Chile Database
- thechileman.org - Database for the Capsicum genus and its varieties
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