Authentic MoA (Ministry of Agriculture) seed produced by Richie Ramsay (staff horticulturist at Baker Creek) on his farm in Jamaica.
 
Similar to habaneros in size, Scotch Bonnets are squatter and have more prominent gnarled ridges than habaneros. Pods are smooth and waxy to the touch with thick flesh that mature from green, to yellow to orange, and then red = being used at all color stages. Intense heat with an exceptionally tropical-fruity taste which some people say is reminiscent of apricots, apples and cherries and even pineapple.
 
Scotch Bonnet peppers can be traced to the Amazon basin, or Brazil. It is here where a subgroup of the Arawakan tribes, the Taino people, first encountered this fruity and fiery pepper. The Taino eventually traveled from present-day Venezuela to the Greater Antilles, transporting plants with them, including the Scotch Bonnet pepper. Unfortunately, the Taino people were wiped out due to disease, enslavement, and massacre but their food and culture remained. Today, Jamaica is the main exporter of Scotch Bonnet Peppers.
 
It is used daily in Jamaican cuisine where it is an essential ingredient in Jamaican jerk chicken, seafood, ceviche, soups, stews, curries, or rice and peas. The fruity favor pairs exceedingly well in mango or papaya salsas. It is a critical ingredient for the vinegar sauce in Jamaican Escovitch (escabeche).
 
(Photo credit (pods): Baker Creek)