Red jalapenos are not merely green jalapenos that have turned red, correct?

[tatamagouche]

They are an entity unto themselves, yes? Or no? I'm not sure.

Thanks!

[Scargod]

I don't think all the red peppers that somewhat resemble jalapenos are necessarily jalapenos. My Stop n Shop often sells a pepper that looks more like a small pimento (as I've attached), than a jalapeno, meaning it has more of a shoulder at the stem. It is about the same size but milder.
Here are some good pepper sites:
http://www.g6csy.net/chile/database.html
http://sev.lternet.edu/~jnekola/Heirloom/plantlist.htm
http://www.rachelssupply.com/pepper.htm

[smadara]

What if I want to turn green jalapenos red? I heard that if you bury them in sand and turn them frequently, they will not dry out or rot; but, turn red as if ripening on the plant.

[alkapal]

smadara, that is bizarre! maybe it works? i bought some hatch chilies on tuesday, and they're turning red (at least some of them on the tips). is that normal, pepper experts?

[Passadumkeg]

Yup, Hatch red chile is just mature green ones. The green are roasted and pealed, the red are strung into ristras and dried (or just dried).

[alkapal]

passa, my hatch chilies have thin, but a little tough, skin. should i stuff them and roast? could i make them like jalapeno poppers?

[Passadumkeg]

No, they must be roasted and the skin peeled, either in the broiler or gas burner if only a few. With copious amounts, crank up the grill, pop a top again, kick back and enjoy the day.

[Scargod]

Marco, poco loco, Any excuse to pop a top, right?
dígame, por favor, ¿siempre eliminar las semillas?
(Tell me please, do you always remove the seeds?) Membrane?

[RicRios]

Reminds me an old green limes vs yellow limes discussion.
ALL green limes become eventually yellow on the tree, and the yellow ones are much better as far as juice contents, flavors &etc.
BUT... market requires cutting then green to avoid dear consumers confusing limes and lemons. So farmers must trash the yellows.
Now, curiously enough many people believe yellow limes are a different species.

[CrazyOne]

Ever since I first heard this recently (yes, I didn't know better before) I've started looking at the limes and picking out ones that are closer to yellow than green. Some places are more likely to have limes that have been ripened closer to yellow. They're never fully yellow that I've seen in markets here, but they are yellow tinged with green.

They shouldn't be that confusing with lemons. Lemons always seem to be much larger. And they have a thicker skin.

[sel]

I profess no expertise in this matter but I'll pass on that back in the early 80's I had a girlfriend who along with others in her family owned a very large citrus ranch in Fillmore, CA. I recall that is was primarily avocados but they also grew grapefruit, lemons and limes, perhaps other citrus as well. They had a small area which they referred to as the 'family grove' and there were some trees there that they called 'golden limes' which they really raved about. I now wonder if they were a different variety or a standard one that was just allowed to fully ripen on the tree? I guess I'll have to research it!

[alkapal]

the first google pass gave me this from an aussie citrus farmer: "The Golden Lime has a flavour similar to mandarin..." http://www.marvicknativefarms.com.au/Marks-Favourite-Limes.php

but this says the "golden lime" is a key lime (which does turn a mellow yellow, and is relatively small, cf, w/ typical persian limes. http://books.google.com/books?id=WaPt5KSaVEIC&pg=PA148&lpg=PA148&dq=golden+limes&source=web&ots=ZVxzXdBEdt&sig=AeuVJPpPGZgSnR4B82Pmy9Tzt6M&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result

so, a bit of confusion. key lime clearly isn't like a mandarin. was the "golden lime" tart or sweet-ish?

(to add to the confusion, there is a mandarin lime: "flavor exceedingly sour but suggestive of orange; there may be 6-18 seeds, small, green within." http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/mandarin_lime.html

this is a nice little easy history of the citrus, native and hybrids: http://neptune.lunarpages.com/~mindsc...

sel, did they have any connection to australia or the far east?

[sel]

Nah, just long time California ranchers, before that (1800's) at least some were from Utah as I recall.

[Hungry Celeste]

They're the same; no difference. Just like red/yellow/purple/orange and green bell peppers. BUT, you might not have jalapenos at all....

[tatamagouche]

OK, thanks all! That certainly makes life less confusing.

[BobB]

Not quite a perfect analogy - red jalapeños are the same variety as green ones, just riper, while the different colored bell peppers are variations (a green one may turn red when riper, but it won't turn into an orange or yellow or purple one just by leaving it on the plant longer). And when I grow them the red ones seem a bit hotter than the green, though if I leave them on the plant long enough to turn red they usually also start getting those striations that make them less visually appealing.

[Peppermaster]

Those striations may make them less appealing, but they also denote which peppers are hotter. If you like your jalapenos hot... go for the striations.

The red are also higher in vitamin C than Vitamin A, whereas the green are higher in Vitamin A than Vitamin C.

Red V green is purely a flavour/colour preference.

[BobB]

I bow to the wisdom of the Master.

[tatamagouche]

Although I admit I'm now back to being confused. They *are* or *aren't* the same plant at different stages of ripeness?

Sorry to be so dense.

[Nyleve]

Yes, they are exactly the same plant. The peppers are just at different stages of ripeness. All peppers start out green - jalapenos, bell peppers, everything - and they turn colour when they are fully ripe. Jalapenos turn red. Bell peppers can turn red or yellow or brown or orange.

[ESNY]

Same plant different level or ripeness but as with anything, the taste will change as it further ripens

[tatamagouche]

Whew. Got it. Thanks all!

Ashamed to say I didn't know that about bell peppers either. Fascinating.

[cherrylime]

geez, me too.

[Passadumkeg]

No, the same, grow some and see.

[Nyleve]

Jalapeno peppers left on the plant to fully ripen will indeed turn red. So this is probably what you have.