Trinidad Moruga Scorpion
Species: Capsicum chinense | Origin: Trinidad and Tobago | Pungency: Super Hot
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, also known as 'Trinidad Scorpion Moruga', 'Trinidad Scorpion Moruga Blend' and 'Moruga Scorpion', but sometimes wrongly labelled as 'Trinidad Scorpion' and 'Moruga Red' (see below), is one of the hottest chillies in the world and originates from the Trinidadian village of Moruga, which is situated in Victoria County and lies on the Central south coast of Trinidad at the western end of the Trinity Hills. The village of Moruga, which is located in the Princes Town region, is believed to be the area where Christopher Columbus landed when he discovered Trinidad for the first time during his third voyage to the Americas (1498–1500). The original name for the island in the Arawakan language was 'Iëre', meaning 'Land of the Hummingbird', but in 1498 Christopher Columbus renamed it to 'La Isla de la Trinidad', which means 'The Island of the Trinity' in English, reflecting his special devotion to the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity.
In 2011, New Mexico State University's Chile Pepper Institute (CPI) performed a study to establish the heat levels of several high-heat chilli pepper (Capsicum chinense) varieties (Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, Bhut Jolokia, Trinidad Scorpion, Douglah Trinidad Chocolate and Trinidad 7-Pot Jonah) to determine which variety had the highest average measured heat level and the relatedness of the chilli peppers using molecular analysis. The analysis revealed that Trinidad Moruga Scorpion had the highest average heat level, measuring 1,207,764 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), with two plants exceeding 2 million SHU (2,009,231 and 2,006,598 SHU), making it the first ever chilli to surpass the 2 million Scoville mark. In February 2012, the Chile Pepper Institute identified it as the hottest chilli in the world, and it held the title for 18 months before eventually being replaced by the Carolina Reaper on the 7th August 2013.
Although the Chile Pepper Institute identified the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion as being the hottest chilli in the world, it was never certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. The previous official record holder prior to the Carolina Reaper was the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T, which was propagated in the United States by Butch Taylor, founder of Zydeco Hot Sauce, and rated at 1,463,700 Scoville Heat Units (SHU). It held the title of world's hottest chilli from the 3rd March 2011 until the 7th August 2013, when it was surpassed by the Carolina Reaper, also known as 'HP22B', which was rated at 1,569,300 SHU. The Carolina Reaper was developed by American plant breeder Ed Currie, the founder and owner of PuckerButt Pepper Company in Fort Mills, South Carolina. It is said to be a cross between a Pakistani Naga and a Red Habanero from the Caribbean island of St. Vincent. The Carolina Reaper was tested again four years later, and on the 11th August 2017 it broke its own record, with an average heat level of 1,641,000 SHU and with peak levels measured at over 2,200,000 SHU.
Stress factors caused from growing conditions, environment and attack from predatory insects can all contribute towards chilli plants producing higher levels of capsaicin. The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion is recognised as being one of the hottest chillies in the world, but beneath its ferociously painful sting lays a delicious tropical fruitiness. Although the heat level of this tropical wonder has now been surpassed by the Carolina Reaper, the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion is still on equal par with it, in my opinion. Having cooked with both varieties many times, I've never been able to detect any difference between the two in terms of heat. With both varieties having average heat levels measured at over one million SHU and peak levels measured at over two million SHU, it's my personal opinion that both varieties have the same genetic potential. When growing superhot chillies at home, most people will only achieve average heat levels, but the potential is still there for the plants to produce much hotter pods. Stress factors, such as water stress, fertiliser stress, growing conditions, environmental issues and attack from predatory insects or mites, can all contribute towards chilli plants producing higher levels of capsaicin.
The plants typically grow to about four feet in height and produce very good yields of squat, wrinkled, Scotch Bonnet-shaped chillies which start lime green and ripen through orange and then to fiery red. About two weeks before the ripening process begins they turn a darker shade of green and the average chilli grows to about golf ball size and has the typical pimply skin texture (rough exocarp) that one would expect from a superhot variety. Trinidad Moruga Scorpion chillies have a very strong citrus-like aroma and a very strong fruity flavour and are great for adding extra fire to hot sauces and for keeping wild elephants away from crops. Seriously, these wickedly hot volcanic fireballs are no joke and you need to be VERY careful when cooking with them!
The true origins of the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion are somewhat obscure. Some people believe that it was developed by a Trinidadian man named Wahid Ogeer, a self-taught farmer who operates a 25-acre farm at Chickland Caparo Road in Freeport, which is approximately 40 miles away by car from the village of Moruga. Other people believe it to be quiet an old landrace variety from Moruga and surrounding areas, such as St. Marys, Fifth Company, Rock River and Indian Walk. Although Wahid Ogeer is credited for developing the yellow variant of the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, it's not very clear as to whether or not he developed the original red variant. However, new information has come to light suggesting that the original red variant may have been developed around 2010 by two Trinidadian brothers called Nigel and Russell Rooplal. Either way, according to Wikipedia, the developer of the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion (whoever that really is) made US$10,000 in two days from selling seeds.
Here is where things get slightly confusing. Despite the fact many sources describe the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion as being a landrace variety from Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) doesn't recognise it as such. However, there is a landrace variety from Trinidad and Tobago called 'Scorpion', but it's not the same variety as the 'Moruga Scorpion'. There are two well known superhot landrace varieties from Trinidad and Tobago. One is called '7-Pot', sometimes spelt '7-Pod', and the other is called 'Scorpion'. Just to clarify, when referring to 'superhot', I'm referring to what we in the West would call a superhot variety. It would seem that some people in Trinidad and Tobago also refer to Scotch Bonnets and Habaneros as superhot varieties, whereas we in the West typically don't.
Listed by CARDI as having a pungency of 2 million Scoville Heat Units, the genuine Scorpion landrace is a ferociously hot chilli and one that we in the West would definitely call a superhot variety! Genuine Scorpion chillies are elongated in shape and have a hook-like tail and rough exocarp (outer skin), whereas the Moruga Scorpion can be described as having a somewhat squat, Scotch Bonnet-like shape. Both varieties start light green and ripen through orange and then to blood red. According to CARDI, the 'Trinidad Scorpion' is often wrongfully labelled as 'Trinidad Moruga Scorpion'. In my opinion, the phenotype of the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion more closely resembles that of the genuine CARDI 7-Pot landrace, which as of writing this is currently unavailable in their hot pepper seed catalogue. A CARDI employee by the name of Herman Adams once told me that there was no such pepper by the name of Moruga Scorpion. According to him, commercial operators have been observed to arbitrarily rename the hot pepper landraces and market seeds under different names, leading to much confusion.
In 2013, a travel blogger published a post about how he'd gone in search of the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion whilst visiting the village of Moruga. Titled "In Search of the Elusive Trinidad Moruga Scorpion", he was told by a hot pepper farmer from the region with over 30 years experience growing hot peppers that there was no such pepper by the name of Moruga Scorpion. Even more bizarrely, there are some people who claim that the Moruga Scorpion doesn't come from Trinidad at all, but that it was developed by the Chilli Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University. Several years before the Moruga Scorpion was ever a thing I remember reading on an internet forum how the Chilli Pepper Institute was supposedly in the process of developing its own scorpion pepper, so perhaps that's where this theory originated from.
To make things even more confusing, the 'Trinidad Moruga Scorpion' should not be confused with another variety called 'Moruga Red', which is a landrace variety from Trinidad and Tobago. The Moruga Red is a Scotch Bonnet-type, and even though CARDI sometimes refer to it as being superhot, it's not what we in the West would call a superhot variety. Moruga Red chillies are blocky-shaped with three or four distinct lobes and they start green and ripen through orange and then to blood red. They have a smooth exocarp, and according to CARDI the pungency level of the Moruga Red can be as high as 500,000 SHU. The Moruga Red is marketed by CARDI as being an ideal chilli for use in the production of jellies, chutneys and jerk seasonings, and for making chilli flakes, pepper mash and hot sauces. A yellow variant also exists and is called Moruga Yellow.
Nowadays, the general consensus amongst growers is that the chilli we call Moruga Scorpion in the West shares the same genetic lineage as the other Trinidadian superhots and that it originates from Trinidad and Tobago — the home of the two original superhot landrace varieties, Seven Pod and Scorpion. As previously mentioned, the phenotype of the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion more closely resembles that of the CARDI landrace 7-Pot, in my opinion. Back in the day, some chilli growers speculated that the Moruga Scorpion was just a 7-Pot being marketed under a different name. Another superhot variety with a similar phenotype is the 7-Pot Brain Strain, a variety developed through selective breeding by David Capiello. This variety shares much of its genetics with the Moruga Scorpion and first came on the scene in 2008, about four years before the Moruga Scorpion took the global spotlight in 2012. After these two varieties became publicly recognised some growers even speculated that it was the same variety being marketed under two different names. However, nowadays they are both considered as separate varieties.
What may have added to the confusion regarding the origins of the Moruga Scorpion was that due to it being so very heavily publicised in the West it became more synonymous with the United States than it did with its country of origin, Trinidad. This was no doubt due to it being tested in the USA by New Mexico State University's Chile Pepper Institute (CPI). While Western journalists were busy publishing articles about the latest world's hottest chilli, it seemed as if Trinidad and Tobago wanted nothing to do with it and that they were happy to just hand over all fame and recognition to the United States. However, given that CARDI doesn't recognise any landrace variety by the name of Moruga Scorpion from anywhere in Trinidad, as far as they were concerned there was no such chilli by that name.
Something else worth mentioning is that back in the early 2000s, when superhot chillies really took off and became a big thing in the West, varieties with the label 'Trinidad' in their names became best sellers because people typically associated it with superhots, almost to the point where it sometimes seemed as if the label had been re-branded. However, you can't claim that any of them had been disassociated with 'Trinidad' per se because that label existed in their names, and in the case of Moruga Scorpion, not only was it often referred to as Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, but it just so happens to be named after a small village in Southern Trinidad called Moruga, which I only found out about several years later. In fact, when it first entered the spotlight some people were misspelling the name and labelling it as Morouga, which apparently was a mistake on the behalf of a seed seller who suffers from dyslexia.
You'd think that all of the media hype would have turned the village of Moruga into a popular place, but if you ever did a Google search for the term 'Moruga' it just returned page after page of results linking to news articles about the new world's hottest chilli and there was never any mention of the actual village where the variety is said to come from. It wasn't until several years later that I learnt there even was a place by the name of Moruga. Changing the search term to something like 'Moruga region' or 'Moruga district' didn't reveal much more either, except a couple of photos showing a statue of Christopher Columbus and a photo from the Moruga Museum showing an antique wooden commode complete with basin, almost like it was a mockery to those who went looking or a dire warning to anyone who dares to eat too many superhot chillies from the region!
When superhots started becoming popular in the West there were new varieties showing up all the time, each with a different story to tell, and in some cases this led to confusion surrounding certain varieties and their original seed sources. Superhots became so popular that there were even people making phone calls to CARDI enquiring about information on the original superhot landrace varieties and trying to get hold of seeds. The early 2000s marked the beginning of the birth pangs that eventually gave rise to all of the superhot varieties that chilli-heads around the world have now come to know and love. When I grew Moruga Scorpion for the first time in 2012 I was told by the person who sent me the seeds that it was a cross between Trinidad Scorpion and Trinidad Red Congo. For those who don't know, Congo peppers belong to the C. chinense species and are similar to Habaneros, except they are known to get quite large. They come in colours brown, red and yellow and are normally associated with the country of Trinidad.
Many of the superhots in existence today carry the genetics of the original Trinidadian superhots. Just because CARDI, a well respected agricultural research organisation with its headquarters in Trinidad and Tobago, doesn't officially recognise the Moruga Scorpion as a landrace variety it does not mean that the Moruga Scorpion doesn't exist. We know it exists. However, as far as they are concerned, it doesn't exist in an official capacity. Fair enough. There are chilli enthusiasts all over the world developing new varieties all the time through hybridisation and selection, so why should Trinidad be any exception? If the person or people (Trinidadian or otherwise) who named the Moruga Scorpion hadn't chosen to use the labels 'Trinidad', 'Moruga' and 'Scorpion' in its name then CARDI wouldn't have had any need to defend the names and origins of two Trinidadian landrace varieties called 'Trinidad Scorpion' and 'Moruga Red', both of which have been in existence for a long time. Had this not have happened then nobody would have ever questioned the true origins of the variety we now call Moruga Scorpion. It was an innocent mistake to make but one that led to a lot of confusion.
Page published on: 18th June 2020
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, also known as 'Trinidad Scorpion Moruga', 'Trinidad Scorpion Moruga Blend' and 'Moruga Scorpion', but sometimes wrongly labelled as 'Trinidad Scorpion' and 'Moruga Red' (see below), is one of the hottest chillies in the world and originates from the Trinidadian village of Moruga, which is situated in Victoria County and lies on the Central south coast of Trinidad at the western end of the Trinity Hills. The village of Moruga, which is located in the Princes Town region, is believed to be the area where Christopher Columbus landed when he discovered Trinidad for the first time during his third voyage to the Americas (1498–1500). The original name for the island in the Arawakan language was 'Iëre', meaning 'Land of the Hummingbird', but in 1498 Christopher Columbus renamed it to 'La Isla de la Trinidad', which means 'The Island of the Trinity' in English, reflecting his special devotion to the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity.
In 2011, New Mexico State University's Chile Pepper Institute (CPI) performed a study to establish the heat levels of several high-heat chilli pepper (Capsicum chinense) varieties (Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, Bhut Jolokia, Trinidad Scorpion, Douglah Trinidad Chocolate and Trinidad 7-Pot Jonah) to determine which variety had the highest average measured heat level and the relatedness of the chilli peppers using molecular analysis. The analysis revealed that Trinidad Moruga Scorpion had the highest average heat level, measuring 1,207,764 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), with two plants exceeding 2 million SHU (2,009,231 and 2,006,598 SHU), making it the first ever chilli to surpass the 2 million Scoville mark. In February 2012, the Chile Pepper Institute identified it as the hottest chilli in the world, and it held the title for 18 months before eventually being replaced by the Carolina Reaper on the 7th August 2013.
Although the Chile Pepper Institute identified the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion as being the hottest chilli in the world, it was never certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. The previous official record holder prior to the Carolina Reaper was the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T, which was propagated in the United States by Butch Taylor, founder of Zydeco Hot Sauce, and rated at 1,463,700 Scoville Heat Units (SHU). It held the title of world's hottest chilli from the 3rd March 2011 until the 7th August 2013, when it was surpassed by the Carolina Reaper, also known as 'HP22B', which was rated at 1,569,300 SHU. The Carolina Reaper was developed by American plant breeder Ed Currie, the founder and owner of PuckerButt Pepper Company in Fort Mills, South Carolina. It is said to be a cross between a Pakistani Naga and a Red Habanero from the Caribbean island of St. Vincent. The Carolina Reaper was tested again four years later, and on the 11th August 2017 it broke its own record, with an average heat level of 1,641,000 SHU and with peak levels measured at over 2,200,000 SHU.
Stress factors caused from growing conditions, environment and attack from predatory insects can all contribute towards chilli plants producing higher levels of capsaicin. The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion is recognised as being one of the hottest chillies in the world, but beneath its ferociously painful sting lays a delicious tropical fruitiness. Although the heat level of this tropical wonder has now been surpassed by the Carolina Reaper, the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion is still on equal par with it, in my opinion. Having cooked with both varieties many times, I've never been able to detect any difference between the two in terms of heat. With both varieties having average heat levels measured at over one million SHU and peak levels measured at over two million SHU, it's my personal opinion that both varieties have the same genetic potential. When growing superhot chillies at home, most people will only achieve average heat levels, but the potential is still there for the plants to produce much hotter pods. Stress factors, such as water stress, fertiliser stress, growing conditions, environmental issues and attack from predatory insects or mites, can all contribute towards chilli plants producing higher levels of capsaicin.
 |
| Trinidad Moruga Scorpion - 28th October 2024 |
The plants typically grow to about four feet in height and produce very good yields of squat, wrinkled, Scotch Bonnet-shaped chillies which start lime green and ripen through orange and then to fiery red. About two weeks before the ripening process begins they turn a darker shade of green and the average chilli grows to about golf ball size and has the typical pimply skin texture (rough exocarp) that one would expect from a superhot variety. Trinidad Moruga Scorpion chillies have a very strong citrus-like aroma and a very strong fruity flavour and are great for adding extra fire to hot sauces and for keeping wild elephants away from crops. Seriously, these wickedly hot volcanic fireballs are no joke and you need to be VERY careful when cooking with them!
The True Origins of the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion
The true origins of the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion are somewhat obscure. Some people believe that it was developed by a Trinidadian man named Wahid Ogeer, a self-taught farmer who operates a 25-acre farm at Chickland Caparo Road in Freeport, which is approximately 40 miles away by car from the village of Moruga. Other people believe it to be quiet an old landrace variety from Moruga and surrounding areas, such as St. Marys, Fifth Company, Rock River and Indian Walk. Although Wahid Ogeer is credited for developing the yellow variant of the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, it's not very clear as to whether or not he developed the original red variant. However, new information has come to light suggesting that the original red variant may have been developed around 2010 by two Trinidadian brothers called Nigel and Russell Rooplal. Either way, according to Wikipedia, the developer of the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion (whoever that really is) made US$10,000 in two days from selling seeds.
Here is where things get slightly confusing. Despite the fact many sources describe the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion as being a landrace variety from Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) doesn't recognise it as such. However, there is a landrace variety from Trinidad and Tobago called 'Scorpion', but it's not the same variety as the 'Moruga Scorpion'. There are two well known superhot landrace varieties from Trinidad and Tobago. One is called '7-Pot', sometimes spelt '7-Pod', and the other is called 'Scorpion'. Just to clarify, when referring to 'superhot', I'm referring to what we in the West would call a superhot variety. It would seem that some people in Trinidad and Tobago also refer to Scotch Bonnets and Habaneros as superhot varieties, whereas we in the West typically don't.
 |
| Landrace: Scorpion Source: CARDI 2008 - A Catalogue of the Commercial Hot Pepper Landraces of Trinidad and Tobago |
 |
| Landrace: Scorpion Source: CARDI 2014 - Genuine Caribbean Hot Pepper Seed Produced and Sold By CARDI |
 |
| Landrace: Seven Pod Source: CARDI 2008 - A Catalogue of the Commercial Hot Pepper Landraces of Trinidad and Tobago |
Listed by CARDI as having a pungency of 2 million Scoville Heat Units, the genuine Scorpion landrace is a ferociously hot chilli and one that we in the West would definitely call a superhot variety! Genuine Scorpion chillies are elongated in shape and have a hook-like tail and rough exocarp (outer skin), whereas the Moruga Scorpion can be described as having a somewhat squat, Scotch Bonnet-like shape. Both varieties start light green and ripen through orange and then to blood red. According to CARDI, the 'Trinidad Scorpion' is often wrongfully labelled as 'Trinidad Moruga Scorpion'. In my opinion, the phenotype of the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion more closely resembles that of the genuine CARDI 7-Pot landrace, which as of writing this is currently unavailable in their hot pepper seed catalogue. A CARDI employee by the name of Herman Adams once told me that there was no such pepper by the name of Moruga Scorpion. According to him, commercial operators have been observed to arbitrarily rename the hot pepper landraces and market seeds under different names, leading to much confusion.
In 2013, a travel blogger published a post about how he'd gone in search of the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion whilst visiting the village of Moruga. Titled "In Search of the Elusive Trinidad Moruga Scorpion", he was told by a hot pepper farmer from the region with over 30 years experience growing hot peppers that there was no such pepper by the name of Moruga Scorpion. Even more bizarrely, there are some people who claim that the Moruga Scorpion doesn't come from Trinidad at all, but that it was developed by the Chilli Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University. Several years before the Moruga Scorpion was ever a thing I remember reading on an internet forum how the Chilli Pepper Institute was supposedly in the process of developing its own scorpion pepper, so perhaps that's where this theory originated from.
To make things even more confusing, the 'Trinidad Moruga Scorpion' should not be confused with another variety called 'Moruga Red', which is a landrace variety from Trinidad and Tobago. The Moruga Red is a Scotch Bonnet-type, and even though CARDI sometimes refer to it as being superhot, it's not what we in the West would call a superhot variety. Moruga Red chillies are blocky-shaped with three or four distinct lobes and they start green and ripen through orange and then to blood red. They have a smooth exocarp, and according to CARDI the pungency level of the Moruga Red can be as high as 500,000 SHU. The Moruga Red is marketed by CARDI as being an ideal chilli for use in the production of jellies, chutneys and jerk seasonings, and for making chilli flakes, pepper mash and hot sauces. A yellow variant also exists and is called Moruga Yellow.
 |
| Landrace: Moruga Red Source: CARDI 2008 - A Catalogue of the Commercial Hot Pepper Landraces of Trinidad and Tobago |
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| Landrace: Moruga Red Source: CARDI 2014 - Genuine Caribbean Hot Pepper Seed Produced and Sold By CARDI |
 |
| Landrace: Moruga Yellow Source: CARDI 2008 - A Catalogue of the Commercial Hot Pepper Landraces of Trinidad and Tobago |
Nowadays, the general consensus amongst growers is that the chilli we call Moruga Scorpion in the West shares the same genetic lineage as the other Trinidadian superhots and that it originates from Trinidad and Tobago — the home of the two original superhot landrace varieties, Seven Pod and Scorpion. As previously mentioned, the phenotype of the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion more closely resembles that of the CARDI landrace 7-Pot, in my opinion. Back in the day, some chilli growers speculated that the Moruga Scorpion was just a 7-Pot being marketed under a different name. Another superhot variety with a similar phenotype is the 7-Pot Brain Strain, a variety developed through selective breeding by David Capiello. This variety shares much of its genetics with the Moruga Scorpion and first came on the scene in 2008, about four years before the Moruga Scorpion took the global spotlight in 2012. After these two varieties became publicly recognised some growers even speculated that it was the same variety being marketed under two different names. However, nowadays they are both considered as separate varieties.
What may have added to the confusion regarding the origins of the Moruga Scorpion was that due to it being so very heavily publicised in the West it became more synonymous with the United States than it did with its country of origin, Trinidad. This was no doubt due to it being tested in the USA by New Mexico State University's Chile Pepper Institute (CPI). While Western journalists were busy publishing articles about the latest world's hottest chilli, it seemed as if Trinidad and Tobago wanted nothing to do with it and that they were happy to just hand over all fame and recognition to the United States. However, given that CARDI doesn't recognise any landrace variety by the name of Moruga Scorpion from anywhere in Trinidad, as far as they were concerned there was no such chilli by that name.
Something else worth mentioning is that back in the early 2000s, when superhot chillies really took off and became a big thing in the West, varieties with the label 'Trinidad' in their names became best sellers because people typically associated it with superhots, almost to the point where it sometimes seemed as if the label had been re-branded. However, you can't claim that any of them had been disassociated with 'Trinidad' per se because that label existed in their names, and in the case of Moruga Scorpion, not only was it often referred to as Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, but it just so happens to be named after a small village in Southern Trinidad called Moruga, which I only found out about several years later. In fact, when it first entered the spotlight some people were misspelling the name and labelling it as Morouga, which apparently was a mistake on the behalf of a seed seller who suffers from dyslexia.
You'd think that all of the media hype would have turned the village of Moruga into a popular place, but if you ever did a Google search for the term 'Moruga' it just returned page after page of results linking to news articles about the new world's hottest chilli and there was never any mention of the actual village where the variety is said to come from. It wasn't until several years later that I learnt there even was a place by the name of Moruga. Changing the search term to something like 'Moruga region' or 'Moruga district' didn't reveal much more either, except a couple of photos showing a statue of Christopher Columbus and a photo from the Moruga Museum showing an antique wooden commode complete with basin, almost like it was a mockery to those who went looking or a dire warning to anyone who dares to eat too many superhot chillies from the region!
When superhots started becoming popular in the West there were new varieties showing up all the time, each with a different story to tell, and in some cases this led to confusion surrounding certain varieties and their original seed sources. Superhots became so popular that there were even people making phone calls to CARDI enquiring about information on the original superhot landrace varieties and trying to get hold of seeds. The early 2000s marked the beginning of the birth pangs that eventually gave rise to all of the superhot varieties that chilli-heads around the world have now come to know and love. When I grew Moruga Scorpion for the first time in 2012 I was told by the person who sent me the seeds that it was a cross between Trinidad Scorpion and Trinidad Red Congo. For those who don't know, Congo peppers belong to the C. chinense species and are similar to Habaneros, except they are known to get quite large. They come in colours brown, red and yellow and are normally associated with the country of Trinidad.
Many of the superhots in existence today carry the genetics of the original Trinidadian superhots. Just because CARDI, a well respected agricultural research organisation with its headquarters in Trinidad and Tobago, doesn't officially recognise the Moruga Scorpion as a landrace variety it does not mean that the Moruga Scorpion doesn't exist. We know it exists. However, as far as they are concerned, it doesn't exist in an official capacity. Fair enough. There are chilli enthusiasts all over the world developing new varieties all the time through hybridisation and selection, so why should Trinidad be any exception? If the person or people (Trinidadian or otherwise) who named the Moruga Scorpion hadn't chosen to use the labels 'Trinidad', 'Moruga' and 'Scorpion' in its name then CARDI wouldn't have had any need to defend the names and origins of two Trinidadian landrace varieties called 'Trinidad Scorpion' and 'Moruga Red', both of which have been in existence for a long time. Had this not have happened then nobody would have ever questioned the true origins of the variety we now call Moruga Scorpion. It was an innocent mistake to make but one that led to a lot of confusion.
Page published on: 18th June 2020
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| Trinidad Moruga Scorpion - 26th May 2018 |
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| Trinidad Moruga Scorpion - 9th August 2018 |
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| Trinidad Moruga Scorpion - 5th September 2018 |
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| Trinidad Moruga Scorpion - 19th September 2018 |
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| Trinidad Moruga Scorpion - 17th October 2024 |
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| Trinidad Moruga Scorpion - 21st July 2018 |
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| Trinidad Moruga Scorpion - 1st August 2018 |
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| Trinidad Moruga Scorpion - 13th August 2018 |
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| Trinidad Moruga Scorpion - 22nd August 2018 |
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| Trinidad Moruga Scorpion - 22nd August 2018 |
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| Trinidad Moruga Scorpion - 23rd August 2018 |
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| Trinidad Moruga Scorpion - 5th September 2018 |
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| Trinidad Moruga Scorpion - 23rd September 2018 |
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| Trinidad Moruga Scorpion - 6th October 2018 |