Bishops Crown Chilli

The strangest-looking chilli you can grow. The pod flares into three winged lobes around a central cup, so that it sits on the plant looking like a bishop's mitre, which is where the name comes from. It also goes by Christmas Bell, Joker's Hat and Friar's Hat. It probably began in South America and was carried to Europe by Portuguese traders out of Brazil in the eighteenth century, and it has been grown for looks as much as for cooking ever since.

The heat is the useful part. It runs 5,000 to 30,000 Scoville units and it sits almost entirely in the central core and seeds, leaving the three wings mild and sweet. That gives you two chillies in one pod. Cut the wings off for something the whole table can eat, or include the core when you want the bite. The flavour is sweet, fruity and tangy, best once the pods have gone from green to glossy red.

The plant is large and inclined to sprawl, around a metre and heavy with 30 to 50 crowns by late season, so give it room and a cane. Dried pods keep the shape, which makes them worth hanging up.