CONSERVATION

distinctively American foods. “It’s hot, but it’s not too hot. You
know, it’s not so hot that it overpowers, but it would if you
used too many.” At roughly 2 inches and yellow-orange in
color, its heat is deceptive. Its fruitier tropical flavor is the kind
that will snag you at the back of the throat when you’re least
expecting it. It’s Scoville strength rates at 350,000, putting it
in nearly the same range as the Habanero or Scotch Bonnet.
Chef Bearl feels that once people are introduced to it, the
Datil pepper definitely sells itself. Although it is related to the
fiery Habanero, the Datil sells itself with its fragrances and
flavors of tropical fruits. “We did a meat project for a couple
years and we started making sausages and things and were
putting this pepper in the sausage. And by God did we have a
(unique) product.”
Bearl, the former director of the Culinary Arts program
at First Coast Technical College in St. Augustine, Florida, has
been passionate about the Datil peppers for roughly fifteen
years. “If you live in St. Augustine you can’t not hear about
the Datil.”
In the 1980s, the seeds were virtually unavailable outside of
St. Augustine, and few heirloom seed savers across the country
had ever heard of the variety; in fact, the Datil’s cousin, the
Habanero, had yet to become a hit in the U.S. Chris Way of
Barnacle Bill’s restaurants in St. Augustine began to sell the first
commercial Datil pepper hot sauce in 1981, but at that time, you
could count the number of small-scale growers of these peppers
on one hand.
Then, eight years ago, Bearl saw an opportunity to use
the Datil to help connect the growers and consumers in his
community. Although locals were already enthusiastic about
the pepper and took pride in it, few had access to enough plants
to grow for themselves or to sell to the budding Datil pepper
microenterprises. He suggested to the college’s horticultural
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