Alvarez Farms has been selling these lovely small purple peppers that they're calling "blueberry peppers". I couldn't resist bringing some home and playing with them. I roasted them, and they lost their wonderful color, but kept plenty of flavor. Some were hotter than others, in fact, there was quite a range of heat, with occasional specimens that I found downight challenging, although most weren't really hot at all.
I tried to do a bit of internet research on "blueberry peppers," but I found virtally nothing, except for a number of sites selling spicy blueberry jam. Next I looked at listings of chile varieties, which was fun, but didn't tell me much about these particular peppers. I found one picture that looked kind of like them, but they were supposed to be extremely hot, so I'm not sure they were the right ones.
There are over 150 varieties of chiles grown in this country, and the Alvarez guys cultivate about 100 types. Between the common names, the scientific names, and the natural genetic diversity, it makes sense that I couldn't find much on this small, obscure, colorful pepper. But that's all part of the magic.
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