Guampinha de Veado

Species: Capsicum baccatum | Origin: Brazil | Pungency: Medium

Guampinha de Veado is a semi-wild variety from the Southern Brazilian city of Piratini (often referred to as the Piratini Republic) in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, a region bordered by the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, the Atlantic Ocean, Uruguay and the Argentine provinces of Corrientes and Misiones. The region has a humid subtropical climate with four relatively well defined seasons and rainfall is well distributed throughout the year, but occasionally droughts can occur. The strong plants have a very tall and spreading growth habit and produce excellent yields of upright growing, tapered chillies which start dark green and ripen to red. The somewhat unusual plants can grow to about six feet in height when in pots, and the name 'Guampinha de Veado' means 'deer horn' or 'dear hornbill' in English. Guampinha de Veado chillies are good for spicing up many types of food, such as sauces, salsas, soups, stews, casseroles and rice dishes. They also work very well on pizza and are a good for pickling.

The plant shown below spent most of the season growing outdoors in a 7-litre pot because it was too tall for the greenhouse. It did eventually produce an excellent yield of chillies, but it didn't start flowering until the end of August and the chillies didn't start ripening until mid-November. By that stage, some of the unripe chillies had started shrivelling at the apex, and so therefore I decided to harvest them all and pickle them.

Page published on: 31st December 2022