Habanero

The habanero (/ˌ(h)ɑːbəˈnɛəroʊ/; Spanish: [aβaˈneɾo] ^ⓘ) is a pungent cultivar of Capsicum chinense chili pepper. Unripe habaneros are green, and they color as they mature. The most common color variants are orange and red, but the fruit may also be white, brown, yellow, green, or purple. Typically, a ripe habanero is 2–6 centimetres (3⁄4–2+1⁄4 inches) long. Habanero chilis are very hot, rated 100,000–350,000 on the Scoville scale. The habanero heat, flavor, and floral aroma make it a common ingredient in hot sauces and other spicy foods.

The habanero is named after the Cuban city of La Habana, known in English as Havana, because it used to feature heavily in trading there. (Despite the name, habaneros and other spicy-hot ingredients are rarely used in traditional Cuban cooking.) In English, it is sometimes incorrectly spelled habañero and pronounced /ˌ(h)ɑːbəˈnjɛəroʊ/, the tilde being added as a hyperforeignism patterned after jalapeño.^{[better source needed]}

The habanero chili comes from the Amazon, from which it was spread, reaching Mexico. Today, the largest producer of the habanero pepper is the Yucatán Peninsula, in Mexico. Habaneros are an integral part of Yucatecan food, accompanying most dishes, either in natural form or purée or salsa. Other modern producers include Belize, Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, and parts of the United States, including Texas, Idaho, and California.^{[citation needed]}

The habanero chili was disseminated by Spanish colonists to other areas of the world, to the point that 18th-century taxonomists mistook China for its place of origin and called it Capsicum chinense ("the Chinese pepper").

The Scotch bonnet is often compared to the habanero, since they are two varieties of the same species, but they have different pod types. Both the Scotch bonnet and the habanero have thin, waxy flesh. They have a similar heat level and flavor. Both varieties average around the same level of pungency, but the actual degree varies greatly from one fruit to another according to genetics, growing methods, climate, and plant stress.^{[citation needed]}

In 1999, the habanero was listed by Guinness World Records as the world's hottest chili^{[citation needed]}, but it has since been displaced by other peppers. The heat of the habanero does not immediately take effect, but sets in over a period of a few minutes and lasts up to an hour in the mouth. The heat can sometimes be felt in the esophagus some hours after consumption. The Trinidad moruga scorpion has since been identified as a native Capsicum chinense subspecies even hotter than the habanero. Breeders constantly crossbreed subspecies to attempt to create cultivars that will break the record on the Scoville scale. One example is the Carolina Reaper, supposedly a cross between a bhut jolokia pepper with a particularly pungent red habanero.^{[citation needed]}

Habaneros thrive in hot weather. Like all peppers, the habanero does well in an area with good morning sun and in soil with a pH level around 5 to 6 (slightly acidic). Habaneros which are watered daily produce more vegetative growth but the same number of fruit, with lower concentrations of capsaicin, as compared to plants which are watered only when dry (every seven days). Overly moist soil and roots will produce bitter-tasting peppers. Daily watering during flowering and early setting of fruit helps prevent flower and immature fruit from dropping, but flower dropping rates often reach 90% even in ideal conditions.

The habanero is a perennial flowering plant, meaning that with proper care and growing conditions, it can produce flowers (and thus fruit) for many years. Habanero bushes are good candidates for a container garden. In temperate climates, though, it is treated as an annual, dying each winter and being replaced the next spring. In tropical and subtropical regions, the habanero, like other chiles, will produce year round. As long as conditions are favorable, the plant will set fruit continuously.^{[citation needed]}