LAWS OF THE JUNGLE- FACTS AND FABLES & GROWING YOUR OWN HABANERO

I sat in the living room sipping my first cup of coffee in seven days and watched the legion of birds at the feeders like a hungry reptile. They are graceful in flight, zigging and zagging with marvelous percision, landing and taking off, never colliding as if impressed with alien navigational control systems. I was a vigilant lookout for the neighbor's devious and portly cat who sneaks in and around the brush like Sasha Siemel in the Matto Grosso. This is no ordinary cat. Its intelligence rivals that of an elephant. I have noticed the beast, long-haired and black and white in color, hanging from nearby tree branches, watching, measuring. I've seen it perched volumptuously on the roof of an exotic car just observing as if in a sickly daydream. I've chased it down through the hollow like an injun set on a scalp. This cat would arrive upon the feeders in a parachute if it had the financing. In this situation the optimal foraging theory goes out the window. I've never seen a predator expend so much energy, regularly, on a hunt. It is no longer about food for survival, or the blissful quest for satisfying some sexual privation, but sheer, unadulterated obssession, unquenchable like Sir Thomas Phillipps.

I watch the birds and sketch them and realize that their favorite dish is not the minced matsutake mushrooms, the sevruga caviar, nor the Devon crab but instead, the orginial bird seed. I was intrigued. They seemed content with the simplest of the variety. I as well lean toward a dish with a simpler combination of ingredients, though my appetite is boundless. I particularly enjoy those dishes that have been passed down and perfected for generations. I also love the stories behind the different recipes and I push for people to pick their brain for the origins and adventures that all recipes come from, both the romantic and tedious. They are the manifestations of people's lives, culture, and individual preferences, people who today are only memories, pictures and mysteries, but all who were once living and breathing. I am fascinated and study often and in depth the lives of people, both the princes and peons, pie-maker's and patriarchs. Speaking of yarns, I have some strange tales and facts about the habanero pepper, a continuation from yesterdays wild row down the Croton River of my mind.

CHAPTER 3: MYTHS AND LORE

I came across a great article from Fiery-Foods and Barbeque Magazine written by Dave Dewitt titled "Chili Peppers: Legend and Lore."  I was intrigued by what I read and kept it in the back of my mind and when the idea to compile this research came to me I remembered  this article.  Though it doesn't focus on habanero peppers the habanero could be associated with a few of the legends.  Here are a couple of the great ideas and stories from the article.

            Capsicums are located in the dominion of Mars in astrology.  Mars is the ancient Roman God of War, and to me, a well educated and voracious reader, it made sense because, as I mentioned earlier, capsaicin extract had been used for thousands of years as a weapon in battle.  Whether that has any relevance to the astrological title is only my opinion, but it would make sense.  Others might say that it is cayenne pepper that corresponds to Mars because Cayenne pepper is red.  It seems everybody has their own opinion and they have a right to that opinion, if they are well armed.

In the year 1690, Francisco Antonio de Fuentes y Guzman wrote that people who ate red chilies were protected from poison.  From this I can't draw any conclusions because I don't know what kind of poison they are referring and maybe there was a kind of, for example, mushroom that was used as poison where capsaicin worked as an antedote.  Who knows, that was 400 years ago, but I believe with every myth and legend, if you go back far enough you will find elements of truth.  Too bad we don't have more details about this so called poison. Fuentes y Guzman was born in Guatemala in 1643 and was the great-great-grandson of the Indies historian Bernal Diaz del Castillo, a member of Cortez's expedition that destroyed Montezuma and the Aztec Empire. Cortez once said, "We Spaniards know a sickness of the heart that only gold can cure."  I'm sure the Cortez expedition also stole from the Aztec's, their habaneros. 

A cure used for children, and possibly adults as well, for the evil eye, or bad luck, is when parents mix chili peppers with annatto seed in a cloth bag and pass it over the child's body while making the sign of the cross.  The bag is then thrown into a fire.  Whether or not that has any effect on a child's future luck is up for debate but it is an interesting concept.  I associate it with how the chemical compounds in soap adhere to the chemical compounds of grease thus cleasing the pan of the grease once rised by water.

Dave also wrote about how in Trinidad a similar practice was used except the people use seven red

peppers, salt, onion, and garlic wrapped in paper and pass it around a baby seven times to remove the evil

eye which they associate with unnecessary crying.  Green chili peppers are then dropped around the

doorway to keep away evil spirits.  Now I am a firm believer in the spirit world, in the afterlife if you will, but

I don't dwell much on the evil spirit world.  In fact I have never given evil spirits much thought, but I have, in

the deepest layers of my dreams and at the heart of my belief, entered a transcendent reality.  Absorbed in

the Infinite Light, and with me was my deceased dog who passed away last February, God rest her soul. 

Call me crazy, call me zealot, I call it remarkable.  Anyway some of these practices, to me, don't seem all

that far-fetched in concept, but scientifically speaking I guess you have to view them subjectively and

formulate your own opinions.  It is funny how something as simple as a pepper can open the conversation

and thought process to encompass something so complex and inscrutable. Genesis 1: 11-12 Then God said,

"Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it,

according to their various kinds."  And it was so.  The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed

according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.  And God saw that it

was good.

In the Southwestern states of the United States, two nails are tied together in the shape of a cross with a piece of wire.  It is placed in a fire and when it is hot, it is removed from the flames and placed on a rock.  A string, also called a ristra, of small chili peppers is placed on top of it, and then rock salt is sprinkled on top of that.  The vapors from this concoction are said to chase away any witchcraft in the area.  Once again you can believe this practice works or you can be skeptical and assume it is old fashion attempts to make sense of what we scientifically can prove today, it is up to you.

R.N. Chopra, in his book, Poisonous Plants of India, claims that if you eat too many chili peppers you will die.  In a way Chopra is correct because too much capsaicin is, as mentioned earlier, toxic, but in incredibly large doses.  Supposedly the Bajak natives of Borneo used chili pepper extract as an ingredient in their arrow poision.  Again, poision is mentioned.  Maybe if it is mixed with other chemical compounds there is a chemical reaction that causes the poisionous qualities of chili pepper extract are magnified?

There are many legends and myths about chili peppers and their uses both for good and bad.  I find it all fascinating. I came across an article one evening by a person who wittingly calls him/herself Detective

Habanero.  Just the name alone I thought was grounds for a pulitzer nomination.  The article was titled, A

Short and Sordid History of Pepper Spray.  The article, it says in a small preface, first appeared in "Fire in

the Eyes," a chemical weapons primer insert in the (Dec/Jan) 2000 issue of the Earth First! Journal. 

Interestingly the article states that the ancient Chinese used to grind up pepper, place it in rice sacks and

throw it into the face of enemy combatants in battle.  Detective Habanero lists the pepper used as cayenne,

and not habanero, but, habanero could also be used in a similar fashion and would burn even hotter.  Once

again and I believe for the third time, pepper has been mentioned in the same line as war.

CHAPTER 4: GROWING YOUR OWN HABANEROS

Whether you are interested in growing habaneros from seeds or from an already growing plant, you first need to decide whether you want to cultivate your plant in a pot on the deck, patio, window sill or out in a garden.  Myself, I prefer to grow my peppers in a pot on the deck because I live in the mountains of Tennessee so winters are freezing.  I have to bring my plants in-doors for the winter and then they really slow down in growth rate.  It is amazing to see, it is as if they go dormant once the cold sets in even though they are receiving sunlight, water and live in a comfortable temperature.  There is just something about that spring and summer sun.

            My choice of potting soil is Miracle-Gro, usually whichever bag is onsale.  It is affordable and it works just fine.  There are better soils or so I have heard but why change what works.  I have not experimented with soil other than planting a few peppers in the thick copper-colored Tennessee clay mixed with fertilized soil and it worked just fine but come autumn and winter, good-bye plants.  My one warning to you is never use anything with peat.  I never have and I don't know why it doesn't work well with your pepper plants but they will not grow very healthy.  An old sage from the Appalachian Mountains once gave me that advice and I have never used peat.

            I am telling you about soil that is onsale because I started becoming heavily into gardening while a dirt poor college student.  I barely had two nickles to scratch together but all you really need to get started is a .99 cent pack of seeds (though I have found that seeds from a fresh pepper work better) or a $2.95 habanero plant in its infant stages purchsed from your local nursery works wonderfully.  Use a plastic maxwell, folgers or any plastic or glass container with holes in the bottom for drainge, a $6.95 bag of soil and then you are ready to go.  As your peppers mature and you begin to consume them, save the seeds and plant them.  They will grow into beautiful pepper trees.

            Once you have all the supplies you fill your pot with soil, about 90%.  I always leave about an inch at surface, but it is not really necessary if you'd rather not.  With seeds I usually sow 2-4 seeds per one gallon pot, more or less depending on the size of the pot, about five or six inches apart.  I bury the seeds about an inch below the surface of the soil.  Eventually the trees will need to be placed in their own, medium to large pots.  In the ground they should be spaced from 2-3 feet apart.  Water well initially but not too much.  I moderatley water my seeds everyday during the germination period and especially if it is in a pot outdoors and the weather is dry and hot.  Germination can be anywhere from 14-30 days.  The habanero is a slow germinating seed.  Using liquid fertilizer helps with germination and also sprinkling a teaspoon of bonemeal over the soil every 2-4 weeks helps with germination.  Bonemeal is often used with growing roses as well and can be found in any hardware store or nursery.  And I am talking about a plant nursery for you beginners out there, not a nursery for children.  You would be surprised at how many non-gardeners or beginner gardeners misinterpret that word.  If transplanting a plant, keep watered well for the first week until the plant is established and then when needed.  When growing from seeds, after approximately one and a half to two months green peppers will appear where the flowers had been.  These are immature peppers.  After around 3-5 months you will have full ripe habanero peppers ready to consume. 

            The seeds prefer warm soil so keep the pot or container, if possible, in a room or outside temperature in the high 70's to mid 80's.  If the plants are outside and able to be relocated and the temperature drops below 50 degrees farenheit, bring them inside.

            The habanero is a perennial flowering plant.  If taken care of it will produce flowers which means it will bear fruit, and you can enjoy peppers from the same tree for years.  If you live in a tropical or sub-tropical climate your tree will produce year round.

            Knowing when to harvest your peppers is easy.  Once they are orange, red, pink, white, or

chocolate brown they are ready to be picked.  Once they are picked it is best to keep them at a cooler

temperature for preservation.  They have a thin skin and don't fair as well at room temperature.  I usually will

freeze the peppers I don't plan to use within a week or so, and they are just fine when I am ready to cook

with them.  I will wrap one in wax paper, place it in the microwave for 10 seconds and then it is ready to be

sliced.  When cutting up a habanero I recommend you wear plastic gloves or baggies covering your hands. 

As I mentioned in the first chapter I learned the hard way why covering your hands is a smart idea.