Peppadew Pepper Heat, Under 650 SHU in a Sweet Brine

Is Peppadew a pepper or a brand?

A brand. PEPPADEW is a registered trademark of Peppadew International (Pty) Ltd, and the pepper inside the jar is what the company calls the piquante pepper¹. The maker identifies it scientifically as Capsicum baccatum¹, the species of the Peruvian ajíes, not the C. annuum of most sweet peppers.

On a US shelf you'll also see the name "Juanita" on the label: Peppadew USA sells its mild jar as Sweet & Spicy Juanita Piquante Peppers⁶. The company doesn't explain the name on the pages we read, so treat it as a US product name, not a separate variety.

Why does that matter to you? Because "Peppadew" on a menu or in a recipe means this branded, hand-cored, sweet-pickled pepper. Another company's jar of sweet pickled round peppers may be close, but it isn't the same product, and the maker says plainly that some cherry peppers get called "peppadews" by mistake¹.

How much heat does a Peppadew carry?

Very little. The maker gives capsaicin at 280 SHU and total capsaicinoids under 650 SHU, and says the peppers have a mild heat but aren't hot peppers¹.

Against UF/IFAS's average jalapeño of about 5,000 SHU⁷, 650 SHU is roughly an eighth, and 280 SHU about an eighteenth. A whole Peppadew carries less heat than a thin slice of jalapeño, so you can serve a bowl of them to almost anyone. A poblano, at 1,000 to 2,000 SHU⁷, sits above it.

If you want more bite, the hot jar exists for that. The maker's hot whole peppers list the same ingredients plus chilli extract, and describe a moderate heat instead of a mild one⁸. Its heat comes from that added extract, not from a hotter pepper.

What do you get in a jar of Peppadew?

Mostly brine, with a lot of sugar. The maker's 400 g mild jar lists piquante peppers at 41 %, then water, sugar, spirit vinegar, salt, citric and ascorbic acid as antioxidants, and calcium chloride as a firming agent⁵.

All of the carbohydrate is sugar: 18.9 g in every 100 g of drained peppers⁵, close to a fifth of the weight. That's what makes them taste like candy next to an olive. If you're counting sugar, a 50 g serving of about a handful gives you roughly 9.5 g.

What does a handful add to your plate?

Here's the label worked out for the amounts you'd actually eat, from the maker's figures per 100 g drained⁵:

So they're light on calories and salt for a pickle, but the sugar adds up fast if you snack from the jar. Treat them like a sweet relish rather than a vegetable side, and you'll judge the portion right.

The calcium chloride is why they stay crunchy. The maker calls the result a firm and crunchy pickled pepper⁹, and the firming agent is the reason a Peppadew holds its shape when you stuff it, where a soft roasted pepper would split.

Where did the Peppadew come from?

From South Africa in the 1990s, though the sources disagree on the exact year. Here's the story as each source tells it:

1. 1993

   The plant turns up

   Brand South Africa reports that farmer Johan Steenkamp found the plant on holiday in the Western Cape.³

2. Mid-1990s

   The company's version

   The maker says its founder discovered the piquante pepper in the mid-90s and identified it as a new variety.¹²

3. Early years

   A small factory in Limpopo

   Production started in a modest facility in the hills of Limpopo province.²

4. 2009

   The US push

   Brand South Africa describes growing around Tzaneen, a factory employing more than 200 people and a US marketing partner.³

5. Today

   Nkowankowa

   Peppadew USA names its facility at Nkowankowa, South Africa, and labels its jars Produce of South Africa.⁴⁶

The company's own sites don't agree with each other on its age either: the South African site says it started over 25 years ago, the US site over 30²⁴. Either way, it's a young pepper as peppers go, and every jar you buy still comes from the same corner of Limpopo.

How does a piquante pepper become a Peppadew?

By hand, mostly. The maker describes the steps on its own pages¹⁵:

1. 1

   Pick by hand

   Workers pick the ripe red piquante peppers by hand.¹

2. 2

   Core and deseed by hand

   Each pepper is de-cored and deseeded by hand, which leaves the hollow you stuff.¹⁵

3. 3

   Pickle in the sweet brine

   The peppers go into the maker's sweet and tangy brine of water, sugar, spirit vinegar and salt.¹⁵

4. 4

   No added preservatives

   The maker says it adds no preservatives, which it says would leave an aftertaste; citric and ascorbic acid appear as antioxidants.¹⁵

That hand coring is the detail worth paying for. It means the pepper you take from the jar is already empty, with no seeds to scrape and no core to cut, so filling a tray of them takes you minutes.

Why isn't a pickled cherry pepper a Peppadew?

Because it's a different pepper, often a different species, and nobody cored it for you. The maker says cherry peppers are more widely available and grow in more places than piquante peppers, and that some people wrongly call certain cherry peppers "peppadews"¹.

Peppadew

Pickled cherry pepper

• Piquante pepper, C. baccatum¹PepperA round cherry type, usually C. annuum
• Under 650 SHU¹HeatSweet types have none; hot types bite harder
• Cored and deseeded by hand¹PrepOften whole or sliced, seeds in
• Sweet and tangy, 18.9 g sugar per 100 g⁵BrineUsually sour rather than sweet

Sweet cherry peppers make the closest swap by shape, but they need sugar to taste right. The Peppadew swap list works out how much to add for each alternative, and the cherry pepper has its own entry with the sweet and hot types.

How do you serve and stuff Peppadews?

Straight from the jar, or filled. The maker says each pepper is cored by hand, which makes them perfect for stuffing⁵.

• Stuffed with soft cheese. Drain the peppers on paper towels first, then pipe or spoon in cream cheese or goat's cheese; a dry pepper holds the filling better.
• On a pizza or flatbread. Halve them and scatter them on after baking, so the sugar doesn't scorch.
• In a salad or grain bowl. Slice them into rings for sweet, sharp bites against bitter leaves.
• Chopped into a sauce. The maker sells a chopped jar⁹; a spoonful lifts a cream sauce or a dressing.

Keep the brine when the jar is empty. It's sweet, sharp and pepper-flavored, and a spoonful in a vinaigrette or a marinade does the job of sugar and vinegar at once.

Should you buy the mild jar or the hot jar?

Buy mild for stuffing and for anyone wary of heat; buy hot when the peppers are the only spicy thing on the plate. Both jars carry the same sugar, salt and calories per 100 g; the hot one simply adds chilli extract for a moderate heat⁸.

That added extract changes how you use them. A mild Peppadew stuffed with soft cheese reads as sweet and creamy, so it suits a children's table or a buffet. A hot one stuffed the same way gives you a sweet bite with a kick at the end, which works with salty cured meat or a cold beer. If you can only keep one jar in the fridge, the mild one covers more dishes, and you can add heat with a few flakes of chili on top.

Can you grow your own Peppadew peppers?

Not as Peppadews: the name is a trademark and the company sells peppers, not plants, on the pages we read¹. What you can grow is the same species. C. baccatum also gives you the Peruvian ají amarillo, so a seed catalog's baccatum section is where you'd look for a round, mild-to-medium pod to pickle yourself.

If you try, pick your pods fully red, core them, and pickle them in a tested sweet brine. You won't match the maker's recipe, and the heat of your homegrown pods may run higher, so taste one before you fill a tray. Still, a homemade jar of round red peppers with sugar in the brine gives you the same sweet, sharp bite on a cheese board.

What goes wrong with an open jar of Peppadews?

Most problems come from the fridge, the brine or the heat you expected.

Your next step: if you want a pepper in the same spirit that you can grow yourself, browse the mild peppers in the index, every one of them under 2,500 SHU and many sweet enough to stuff. For tapas, the Spanish piquillo is the other jarred red pepper worth keeping next to your Peppadews.