Saucy Sandy

Picante Ground Zero

The chile pepper harvest has been accelerated this year by Hurricane Sandy. I usually wait until just a bit later in the year to take the last fruits — usually on the evening before the first real freeze of the season I find myself out picking the last of the green peppers with frozen fingers and steamy breath — but this year I was assured by the National Weather Service that the end was nigh; that Sandy’s fury would descend with darkened skies and howling winds and we would be lucky to survive the deluge even in our snug little brick house; so what chance could my poor tropical capsicum plants have out in the open? Consequently, in an uncharacteristic display of good sense, I harvested peppers before Sandy had a chance to gobble them up.

Habaneros - Yucatan green

So this year there will be lots more green sauce than usual. That should be a nice change from the sweeter sauce I’m used to focusing on. The green keeps that spicy vegetal character, the spicy bell pepper quality. So as we hunkered down over the last two days to wait for the end of the world, at least I had the warming company of some delightful Yucatan sunshine to see me through. I got through a couple of dozen 5 ounce bottles yesterday and hope to put by another couple of dozen in the next few days. Then there’s just labeling, packing and world-wide distribution.