Peppers are fantastic ingredients. They can be used for a variety of different meals and are an excellent means of getting a good number of vitamins into your diet.
Whilst many people simply think of peppers as being fiery pieces of fruit that cause your mouth to water and you to gasp for air, this is an incorrect assumption.
Peppers are much more than that and the vast variety of peppers out there proves that they are more than their simplistic reputation would have it.
So, if you have ever wanted to know why peppers are so good for you and why you should use them in your cooking then you have come to the right place.
This article will tell you all you need to know about the Gypsy Pepper and why you should add it to your list of favorite ingredients right now.
What Is A Gypsy Pepper?
Before we explain exactly how to use a Gypsy Pepper in your cooking, let’s first explain what exactly a Gypsy pepper is.
The Gypsy Pepper was first developed in the United States in the 1980s. It was developed by Petoseed, a company founded in the 1950s in South California. The company specialised in making peppers that were disease resistant and the Gypsy pepper is one of their attempts.
Sometimes referred to as the Gypsy Bell Pepper, thanks to it being a cross breed of the Italian Bull Horn Pepper and the Bell Pepper. As such it is recognized as a member of the Capsicum Annuum family of peppers.
The Gypsy Pepper is not only distinctive because of the fact that it is a cross breed between different types of peppers but also because it is one of the least hot peppers in existence.
In fact on the official scoring method for how hot peppers are, the Scoville Heat Unit ranking system, the Gypsy Pepper scores a 0 means it is not considered hot at all.
In fact, rather than being noted for its heat the Gypsy pepper is best known for how sweet it is. Unlike other peppers which are known for how hot they are, the Gypsy pepper’s sweetness is its standout feature.
The Gypsy Pepper grows to around four inches in length and about two inches wide in diameter.
The end of the pepper tails somewhat upwards giving it the appearance of being like a bell, hence why some people refer to it as the Gypsy Bell pepper highlights its descent from the Bell Pepper.
The Gypsy Pepper can be easily grown inside in a variety of conditions. It is best to grow it in a light airy environment and one that is well insulated from the cold weather.
Whilst there are parts of the country such as Florida or California where you can grow the Gypsy Pepper outside unless you live in one of those states then it is always best to keep your plant indoors in a warm and well insulated room.
You must make sure that your plant gets enough sunlight as well – this can of course be a problem during winter so it is best to consider seeing if you can get a sunlamp or something similar to ensure that your plant keeps healthy all year round.
The Gypsy Pepper tends to be a high producing pepper. If you grow a Gypsy Pepper plant then you are likely to be able to see between 50 to 100 peppers during a good season.
This means that if you particularly like the Gypsy Pepper then it is well worth investing in buying one for yourself so that you can be certain that you can have a good supply of them for whenever you need to cook.
Now that we’ve explained exactly what a Gypsy Pepper is, let’s turn to how to use them in cooking.
How To Use The Gypsy Pepper Is Cooking
Due to its lack of intense heat and its sweetness, the Gypsy Pepper is one of the few peppers that you can in fact eat raw. Eating the occasional Gypsy Pepper raw is perfectly fine however you wouldn’t want to make a habit of it as eating too many of them can in fact cause stomach ache!
The best way to use your Gypsy Pepper in cooking is to use it either to compliment or to contrast the rest of your ingredients.
For example, if you want to make a particularly spicy meal then using it to contrast the meal works perfectly; the sweetness of the Gypsy pepper will make the meal not too spicy and may add a sweet after taste.
Similarly, if you want to make your meal event sweeter then adding a little bit of Gypsy Pepper to it will certainly ensure that it will be even sweeter than you hoped for.
Yet because of their sweetness and the fact they can be eaten raw means that the Gypsy Pepper can be easily added to a fruit salad or indeed any kind of salad to give it that extra kick.
The sweet, rich flavor of the Gypsy Pepper artfully combines with the other items in the salad to create a truly spectacular salad that your guests will be sure to rave about for a long time to come.
The most important thing to recognize regarding the Gypsy Pepper when cooking is its sweetness.
It is not like one of those peppers that burns your mouth as soon as you eat it – it is much more like a traditional piece of fruit and when cooking it should be treated more like a piece of traditional fruit than a pepper.
That way you will be certain to get the best out of it as an ingredient.
Why You Should Make Sure To Try The Gypsy Pepper In Your Cooking
The Gypsy Pepper is a truly unique pepper. It combines a lightness of touch with a welcome lack of heat and a wonderful, sweet taste which can add to any dish that it is used in.
It can easily be eaten both raw and cooked and tastes delicious whichever way you eat it.
It is a truly phenomenal pepper and one that should not be dismissed outright because of it being a pepper – rather it should be treated in the same way you would a wonderful piece of fruit.
Many people feel wary of trying peppers, but they never should, and they certainly shouldn’t with the Gypsy Pepper.
It is by far and away one of the nicest peppers out there and if you haven’t had the chance to try it in your cooking you must rectify that straight away; you certainly won’t regret it.
