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www.thevillagenews.co.za
10 March 2021
LOVE A LITTLE LOCAL
Turning up the heat in Hemel-en-Aarde Writer & Photographer Taylum Meyer
F
rom sweet bell peppers and red chillis, to jalapenos and habaneros, chilli peppers (from the genus Capsicum) are regularly used to improve the taste of any meal with their flavour. This can come in the form of the actual pepper itself, or as a spice/sauce. Their primary compound, capsaicin, gives them their distinct taste and spiciness. Most people have eaten at least one type of pepper in their lives and some use them often when cooking, but how many have had the chance to eat (or have even heard of ) a Carolina Reaper? The Carolina Reaper is as nasty as it sounds and it is largely regarded as one of the hottest peppers in the world, sitting at an astonishing 1.4 – 2.2 million Scoville Heat Units (SHU) on the Scoville Scale, which is used to measure a pepper’s spiciness. To give you an idea of just how HOT that is, a habanero measures at just 100 000 – 350 000 SHU, jalapenos come in at 2 500 – 8 000 SHU, and bell peppers come in at 0 SHU (meaning they don’t have any heat to them at all). Thanks to Suné Eksteen, the culinary master behind Maná at Bartho Eksteen Family Wine farm, and the Eksteen’s longtime family friend, Rod Haestier, we now have the chance to taste this infamous pepper right here in the Hemelen-Aarde Valley! At the end of 2018, Rod completed a 55-day solo sailing trip across the Atlantic from Brazil, and after arriving in Hermanus, was invited by the Eksteens to stay and mentally reset on their farm after the challenges he had faced on his journey. Suné and Rod both share a love for gardening and spicy food, so it was only a matter of time after he’d settled in that the two set about growing Suné’s pepper collection and food forest (a
diverse planting of edible plants that attempts to mimic the ecosystems and patterns found in nature). Thanks to its location and the fact that it is on a slope, the farm has several microclimates which have allowed Suné and Rod to grow a variety of different plants and peppers, of which there are now ten different types on the farm: Serrano peppers (10 000 - 23 000 SHU), Habaneros (100 000 - 350 000 SHU), Pimientos (100 - 500 SHU), Hungarian Black peppers (5 000 - 10 000 SHU), Scotch Bonnets (100 000 - 350 000 SHU), Jalapenos (2 500 - 5000 SHU), Bird’s Eye peppers (50 000 - 100 000), Pequin peppers (30 000 - 60 000 SHU) and now Carolina Reaper peppers (1.4 -2.2 million SHU). Whilst the other peppers are fairly easy to source, the Carolina Reaper is not such a common occurrence in South Africa as of yet. Both huge lovers of spicy food, Suné and Rod decided that they wanted to add one of the world’s hottest peppers to the already impressive assortment of peppers on the farm and, after searching around, Rod managed to order some seeds online which they then germinated on the farm. Unfortunately, Rod left Hermanus not too long afterwards and was not here when the Carolina Reaper peppers were ready to harvest a few weeks ago. Suné, who was sitting with quite a few peppers from the harvest, decided to create a sauce for other pepper lovers to enjoy. Because of how hot they are, she has only used one pepper in four litres of a tomato-based sauce to try and cut some of the heat – and it’s still spicy! For those who are brave enough to try it, the sauce is available at Maná at the Bartho Eksteen Family Wine farm. While it is spicy, Suné’s sauce is very delicious and well worth a taste – after all, it is not every day you get to say that you ate one of the world’s hottest peppers!
ABOVE: Suné makes a variety of spicy sauces which can be bought at Maná. They include Spicy Tomato Sauce, Chilli Jam, Louisiana Hot Sauce, Chilli Sauce, Thompson’s Ring Sting and now Carolina Reaper Sauce. In front of her on the table are the ten peppers they grow on the farm: (from left) Serrano pepper, Habanero, Pimiento, Hungarian Black pepper, Scotch Bonnet, Carolina Reaper, Jalapeno, Bird’s Eye pepper and Pequin peppers. LEFT: Suné’s Carolina Reaper sauce (available at Maná) is carefully labelled ‘Be Afraid!’ for those who haven’t heard of the pepper before and don’t know how spicy it is. BELOW: These Carolina Reaper peppers are not quite ready to harvest yet. Peppers get hotter as they age and these still need to turn red.
