Despite its name habanero which means “from Havana”, this pepper is only Havana by adoption. To add to the confusion, this species which bears the Latin name chinense (from China) has nothing Chinese in it!
Why did you give it these misleading names? Probably because he knew how to fool the botanists of another era!
A trip around the world in the hold!
Indeed, after its introduction to Portugal by Christopher Columbus in the 15e century, its popularity in Europe, Africa and Asia was such that taxonomists from the 18e wrongly believed that it came from the “Middle Country”, where it had quickly spread.
Also, the large contingents of fruits of this species scattered around the world, while the Cuban capital acted as an export hub during the Spanish colonial period, would naturally have inspired its vernacular name habanero.
Its true origins
According to more contemporary researchers, habaneros come from Mexico or even the Amazon in Brazil, but the Mexican theory seems the most plausible. From there, the species would have migrated in the luggage of populations traveling towards the Caribbean basin.
They rely on significant discoveries to establish their hypothesis:
- Seeds found in Central American caves — inhabited 7000 BC AD — indicate that this pepper was consumed at this distant time.
- In eastern Mexico, dried fruits and seeds have been found in burial sites dating back to 9000 BC. AD
Many estimate that the domestication of the species even dates back 10 or 12 millennia, in central-eastern Mexico.
A well-deserved global success!
Habanero changes from green to a bright orange hue with a beautiful shiny finish. Like most hot peppers, the flesh hidden under this bright color is thin and crunchy, with a fruity, sweet and spicy flavor.
They are certainly not the hottest peppers (150 to 000 SHU), but their unique fruity taste means they are grown all over the world!
Habaneros are an excellent source of vitamin C and a good source of calcium, potassium, folic acid, and vitamins A and E.
