Banana Pepper

The Hungarian hot wax banana pepper has a long, interesting history, originating in the southern most areas of North America. One could be easily fooled by the origin of this chile with its large profile in Hungary. The plant for the Hungarian wax chile pepper is believed to have traveled from North America to Hungary and Serbia during the early 16th century via explorers, traders, and the invasion of the Turks. Within 200 years, it was known as the Hungarian chile pepper abroad as Hungarians were some of the first to love them, but also developed their own consis- tent version, which is milder and used in their paprika.

The fruit begins green, then yellow, but at maturity turns red with a sweet thick flesh. Most are harvested while yellow, being just slightly fiery. Considered medium in heat range, but packing a fiery punch, it has a varied Scoville scale between 1,000 to 15,000 units.

While yellow, this chile is popular in mole sauces and traditional Latin dishes. When red, dried, and ground, it’s famously and widely used as paprika. They can be pickled, roasted, grilled, or used for stuffed paprika (a dish made by stuffing paprika peppers with a filling of meat, rice, and vegetables), or filled with meatballs and served with tomato sauce. So loved is this chile that there is an annual paprika festival held each October in Hungary to celebrate the spice with live entertainment, cooking competitions, and epicurean foods.

Whether you’re a fan of mild or fiery flavors, chile pepper festivals offer a unique opportunity to explore the diverse world of spicy cuisine and celebrate many vibrant cultures. Curiously, this way-hot fruit has developed such a frenzied following that festivals and competitions abound in the U.S., Canada, Britain, and Australia and much else of the world. Even in China, chile peppers have a cultural significance, with Mao Zedong (founder of the communist People’s Republic of China) highlighting them as the food of revolutionaries. The fact that these fruits have been cultivated to have many distinct flavor profiles along with varying heat levels makes them ripe for competition and their lingering endorphin effect.

The following is a website listing Hot Pepper, Chile Pepper, Chili, and Hot Sauce Festivals planned in 2023. It provides information about the dates, locations, and activities of various chile pepper festivals, such as cook-offs, pepper eating contests, and live music performances. The website also includes links to other resources related to chile peppers, such as recipes and gardening tips. Alas, no Fish Pepper festival in Maryland…yet!

By Ellen Moyer

Maryland Firsts

An article series exploring our state’s contributions to American industry

The sugar and spice trades were once the world’s most expansive and lucrative industry. For 5000 years it dominated all ventures. Along the Silk Road to India and the Middle East, black pepper, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cardamom found a home. But it was by sea that the trade prospered, ultimately bringing profound social, emotional, and economic impact to Europe. Over the course of its history, the industries, with the power of pepper, cane, and cinnamon, would establish new empires and find new continents. It defined what it meant to be wealthy and powerful. It changed the bland, monotonous diets of the well-off, and eventually the world populous.