V y' 



\ 



HSITYJ 



PEPPER. 



The pods of this species are quite small, cayenne 

 cone-shaped, coral-red when ripe, intensely Pepper. 



* C. FKOTESCENS. 



acrid, and furnish the Cayenne Pepper of com- 

 merce. Like others of the family, it is of tropical origin, 

 and being a perennial, and of a shrubby character, will not 

 succeed in open culture at the North. 



Both the green and ripe pods are used as pickles, and 

 also for making Chili vinegar, or pepper-sauce, which is 

 done by simply putting a handful of the pods in a bottle, 

 afterwards filled with the best vinegar, and stopping it close- 

 ly. In a few weeks, it will be fit for use. 



The process of preparing Cayenne Pepper is as follows : 

 The pods are gathered when fully ripe. " In India, they 

 are dried in the sun ; but, in cooler climates, they should be 

 dried on a slow hot-plate, or in a moderately heated oven : 

 they are then pulverized, and sifted through a fine sieve, 

 mixed with salt, and, when dried, put into close, corked 

 bottles, for th^e purpose of excluding the air. This article 

 is subject to great adulteration, flour being often mixed with 

 it, and, still worse, red lead, which is much of the same 

 color, and greatly increases the weight. 



" A better method is to dry the pods in a slow oven, split 

 them open, extract the seeds, and then pulverize them (the 

 pods) to a fine powder ; sifting the powder through a thin 

 muslin sieve, and pulverizing the parts that do not pass 

 through, and sifting again until the whole is reduced to the 

 finest possible state. Place the powder in air-tight glass 

 bottles, but add no salt or other ingredient whatever." 

 Mclnt. 



The pods of either of the long-fruited sorts, or those of 

 the Cherry-pepper, prepared as above, wilf furnish a qual- 

 ity of Cayenne Pepper greatly superior to that ordina- 

 rily sold by grocers, or even by apothecaries and druggists. 



The larger and milder kinds, powdered in the same man- 

 ner, make a wholesome and pleasant grade of pepper, of 

 sufficient pungency for a majority of palates. 



