Expensive! $2.99 for 3/8 oz. of dried chiles.

I had not seen tepin for several years, so
I had to buy it. I was attending a lecture
at Facebook headquarters, and there are a
couple of Mexican food stores on the same road.
I didn't find anything interesting at the first
store, but found the tepin at the second.

I'd heard there was a shortage. I think it's
mostly harvested from wild plants, so prices
will be high for that reason. I'm glad to see
it's still available, even though it's not
my favorite dried chile. Thai chili or chili
de arbol is first, and chili negro is also good
(not very hot, but very good flavor).

Tepin is pretty hot. As per reputation, it
attacks quickly and decays quickly. The peppers
are about the size and shape of small peas.
I'm thinking I should save some seeds and
try planting them.

I saw some dried berries called "bearberry".
A small packet would have cost $0.99, and
I should have bought them just to try them,
but I'm aware that the dried herbs and spices
offered at Mexican food stores often include
non-culinary products used in folk medicine,
some of which can be dangerous if used
improperly. Wikipedia is not informative,
because it describes an arctic or subarctic
berry not likely to be used by Mexicans.

On Mon, 14 Jul 2014 17:17:53 -0800, Mark Thorson >
wrote:

> Expensive! $2.99 for 3/8 oz. of dried chiles.
>
> I had not seen tepin for several years, so
> I had to buy it. I was attending a lecture
> at Facebook headquarters, and there are a
> couple of Mexican food stores on the same road.
> I didn't find anything interesting at the first
> store, but found the tepin at the second.
>
> I'd heard there was a shortage. I think it's
> mostly harvested from wild plants, so prices
> will be high for that reason. I'm glad to see
> it's still available, even though it's not
> my favorite dried chile. Thai chili or chili
> de arbol is first, and chili negro is also good
> (not very hot, but very good flavor).
>
> Tepin is pretty hot. As per reputation, it
> attacks quickly and decays quickly. The peppers
> are about the size and shape of small peas.
> I'm thinking I should save some seeds and
> try planting them.
>
> I saw some dried berries called "bearberry".
> A small packet would have cost $0.99, and
> I should have bought them just to try them,
> but I'm aware that the dried herbs and spices
> offered at Mexican food stores often include
> non-culinary products used in folk medicine,
> some of which can be dangerous if used
> improperly. Wikipedia is not informative,
> because it describes an arctic or subarctic
> berry not likely to be used by Mexicans.

I had to look up Tepin, it's aka: Chiltepin, which I've heard of. At
first I thought Bearberry was another way to say Barberry... but they
are two completely different things. Where did you see the Tepin? I
was just a very few blocks from the Facebook campus near Meridian this
morning.

--
All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.

Mark Thorson wrote:
>
>Expensive! $2.99 for 3/8 oz. of dried chiles.

Grow your own:
http://parkseed.com/product.aspx?p=0...19310000055802
http://www.amazon.com/Tepin-Pepper-P...s=tepin+pepper
Penzeys sells them as Chili Piquin.

On Tue, 15 Jul 2014 15:55:40 -0800, Mark Thorson >
wrote:

> sf wrote:
> >
> > I had to look up Tepin, it's aka: Chiltepin, which I've heard of. At
> > first I thought Bearberry was another way to say Barberry... but they
> > are two completely different things. Where did you see the Tepin? I
> > was just a very few blocks from the Facebook campus near Meridian this
> > morning.
>
> It's on Willow, I think the cross-street
> is Newbridge. There's two Mexican supermarkets
> along that stretch of Willow -- this is the one
> a couple blocks further away from Facebook.

Thanks, I'll look for it the next time I'm in that area.

--
All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.

sf wrote:
>
> I had to look up Tepin, it's aka: Chiltepin, which I've heard of. At
> first I thought Bearberry was another way to say Barberry... but they
> are two completely different things. Where did you see the Tepin? I
> was just a very few blocks from the Facebook campus near Meridian this
> morning.

It's on Willow, I think the cross-street
is Newbridge. There's two Mexican supermarkets
along that stretch of Willow -- this is the one
a couple blocks further away from Facebook.

Sqwertz wrote:
>
> I have two places where I can pick them fresh from June-September.
> There's no value in the dried as the flavor isn't noteworthy unique,
> IMO.

It's the Official Native Pepper of Texas.
Texas also has an Official Pepper, which
is the jalapeno.

Look for fresh in Mexican food stores. Fresh is big time best. To many northern Mexicans it is also known as "chile del monte", but chiltecpin is my favorite little bullet.

They got up to $12/lb. last year, where I live. Habaneros were $10.

These require a little longer season.

Those things grow wild all over the place n S. Texas. The Mexicans call them chilepetins..or maybe chilepequins. The red necks around Corpus call them Pea Peppers. The Hippies in Austin call them River Peppers. They have a real nasty flavor. Not sure why anybody would want to eat one. I did send some dried pods to a horticulture guru in Germany a few years back..so maybe they got them in der Fadderland land now. They do have some heat. Sightly above a typcial jap maybe.

High in Scovilles; but I love the flavor. Nothing quite like them, really. Hard to find where I live, so I have to buy pulverized, usually. It's like the dried wasabi compared to the real deal. I like 'em both.