Here’s another addition to our “Ask Jamie” series of questions from you. Keep them coming!
Question:
Hey Jamie,
Last year I grew them, and the pepper started green then started to yellow and then bright red . . . HOT but this year they started green and ended up all bright yellow. They are the same size and shape so I’m leaving some on the plant to see what happens. They are still totally hot. My question is; what could be responsible for the color change – weather, water or fertilizer. I’ve also seen listing’s for the Naga Morich which looks similar. Is it possible that when I ordered my plants (Bhut) they could have been substituted. I did not order from you but next year I plan to. Do you have an online listing of all plants or a catalog I can get.
Thank You for Your Help,
W. Reed
Answer:
Sounds like you got the old “switcharoo” to me. You have to think about what is happening. The normal color change of a Bhut Jolokia is from green, to orange, then when totally ripe a beautiful deep red. A ripe hot pepper that is yellow is not a Bhut Jolokia. It is pretty easy to identify the Bhut Jolokia, please check out the photos in our photo gallery on thehottestpepper.com/gallery.html
For your knowledge a few words about yellow plants. When a plant turns yellow it is usually from the inability of the plant to get rid of water in the soil (could also be from an iron, or nitrogen deficiency, or a high pH). This is usually caused from a clay based soil that holds the water. If this is the case then you need to add compost to your soil. But I don’t think this is the problem because your peppers are bearing fruit. A clay soil will make it difficult for the plant to extract the nutrients it needs to produce the fruit and mostly likely if this was the case you would have a lot of peppers dropping onto the ground. I suspect that you went sent another type of pepper.
I have been in business since 1986 and I have learned that there are a lot of unsavory characters out there. You are only as good as your word, and all the money in the world won’t repair a damaged reputation because of dishonesty. When you need the real thing, send me an email and we will get them out to you ASAP.
Jamie
Aloha Everyone,
Last night I drove out to Palm Springs from San Diego to meet Justin Bailey at “The Falls” restaurant. Justin and I have been in contact for about a month. He is the “Executive Chef” at this restaurant and contacted me regarding our “Bhuts”. I sent him some fresh Bhut Jolokia peppers and some fresh, dried flakes that I processed at the same time. He had been having a difficult time getting the real stuff and had heard a few too many “cock and bull” stories along the way. These “Bhuts” I sent to him were sampled by the brave and were evidently a bit hit as everyone at the restaurant knew about them and me “The Pepperman”. When I arrived, I was greeted with open arms everywhere and treated like a “rock star”. Then the stories about eating those peppers I sent the previous week started to flow. I swear, I laughed all night hearing these stories and had one of the best nights of my life. I asked some of the story tellers to email me those stories from last night so stay tuned.
Now, about the dinner we had. It was absolutely amazing. I consider myself a good cook and take pride in using only the freshest, organic food that I can find (most of it comes from my garden). So, when Justin told me that he searches far and wide to do the same whenever possible, I was impressed. Usually restaurants use way too much salt
and/or sugar, but not Justin. Our meal started out with seared Ahi on top of a beautiful salad that had a fruity but not sweet garnish with ginger. I cannot do it justice with words, I can only tell you that there was not a morsel left in record time. The next dish was “jerk” chicken with sauteed plantains and I don’t remember much else (the tequila was starting to take effect). Then there was halibut, beautiful carrots, and black garlic that was fermented for 6 months that was absolutely delicious. Then arrived a petit fillet topped with duck liver. This was unbelievable! I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would ever eat duck liver, but needed to expand my horizons. I rarely eat meat or fish, but wanted to last night and was very glad that I did. With every new dish, Justin gave us a full description of what he was serving, how it was cooked, and what he was trying to accomplish. I have traveled to more than 50 countries in my life and have had great meals along the way , but I honestly do not EVER remember eating food that tasted this great. I will be “overnighting” our fresh organic Bhuts to Justin throughout our harvest season which goes well into November. He has some very special plans for this hottest pepper of all peppers. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with! If you are ever in Palm Springs, please, check out “The Falls” restaurant. It’s right downtown on Palm Canyon.
Jamie
If you have read our website you would be aware that we are trying to set the world record this year for the hottest pepper. We have just received the results of our first test. We attained an incredible result via HPLC and are convinced we can and will set the world record this year. Stayed tuned. Anyone who guesses our first test results within 100 SHU will receive $100 gift certificate on our bambooandtikis.com website. If no one guesses within the 100 SHU, the closest will win the prize. Contest ends August 30, 2009. Please start posting now. Jamie
Aloha, Here are my photos finally updated from my trip, Enjoy the picture slideshow!
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Aloha Everyone,
Thanks for being patient. I am reluctantly back in the USA and at my desk in San Diego. Have to do the “hard yards” for a few days before I can go home to Hawaii. Anyway, we will start our “Where’s Jamie” contest right now with these photos from my trip. The winner gets a $50.00 gift certificate from our Bamboo and Tikis website (bambooandtikis.com). I will give you a hint and let you know that I was in Central America. You must now guess the country
and the approximate geographic location. I cannot expect you to know exactly where I was as it was not WWW accessible and dirt roads only. No more hints!
Now about the trip. I travel a lot with my friend Tom. His wife Heather lets him go with me which is saying a lot since I have always been single and have been known to get into a wee bit of trouble now and again. Anyway we had a great 2 weeks and did nothing but surfed. It was cranking and we surfed at least 6 hours a day. We were in bed by 9PM and in the water by 5AM. And much to my chagrin, we only went into town one night and even then we were back to our place by 11PM. I just found out that I cannot post any photos except some surf shots as they are on my friends computer. Here they are. Enjoy…Jamie
