Serrano Chilli

Get ready to meet a pepper with deep roots and a fiery spirit! The Serrano chilli pepper isn't a modern cross-breed created in a lab; it's a cherished landrace variety with a rich history. Hailing from the mountainous regions of Puebla and Hidalgo in Mexico, its name "Serrano" literally means "from the mountains." For centuries, this pepper has been a cornerstone of Mexican cuisine, developing its signature flavour and heat through generations of cultivation in its native soil.

The Serrano is the dependable and popular friend in the chilli pepper family. It's a handsome, bullet-shaped pod, typically growing between 5 to 10 cm long. It has smooth, firm skin that starts a vibrant, glossy green and ripens into a brilliant scarlet red, though it can also mature to shades of brown, orange, or yellow. Unlike its wrinkly cousins, the Serrano has a smooth, sleek look.

Don't let its commonness fool you; the Serrano packs a delicious punch. It has a bright, fresh, and slightly grassy flavour when green, which develops a subtle sweetness as it ripens to red. But let's talk about the heat! The Serrano delivers a clean, sharp, and delightful kick, typically landing between 10,000 and 23,000 on the Scoville Heat Scale. This makes it hotter than its popular cousin, the Jalapeño, offering a noticeable but enjoyable burn that doesn't linger for too long.

This perfect heat level makes the Serrano incredibly versatile. It's the go-to pepper for authentic pico de gallo, giving it that signature fresh heat. Sliced thin, it adds a zesty crunch to tacos, soups, and salads. Its fleshy walls also make it fantastic for creating flavourful, medium-heat hot sauces and salsas that are bursting with fresh, fiery flavour.

The Serrano pepper grows on a sturdy and productive plant that belongs to the Capsicum annuum species, which is the most common and widely cultivated species of chilli pepper. The plant itself is a lovely garden addition, typically growing into a small, bushy shrub about 0.5 to 1.5 meters tall. A unique feature of the Serrano plant is its fuzzy or hairy leaves and stems (pubescence), which sets it apart from many other smooth-leaved pepper plants.

Here’s a fun tidbit about this mountain pepper: while most peppers are harvested by snipping them off the plant, Serranos have a tendency to be "brittle." This means the pods can often be plucked cleanly from the plant with just a gentle tug, leaving the little cap and stem behind! This, along with its fuzzy leaves, gives the Serrano plant a unique character all its own. For a reliable, flavourful, and perfectly spicy kick, the Serrano is a true champion of the chilli world!

All plants are grown on our farm in Norfolk, UK and are grown in an open pollinated area.