Turning up the Heat in Zanzibar

The story goes that chillies, originally grown in Mexico, were introduced to Europe after Christopher Columbus encountered them in the Caribbean. Following Columbus’ second voyage to the West Indies in the late 1400s, the plant was taken to Spain by one of his crew members. The spice was then introduced to other parts of the world after it was shared among international traders.

It was in Italy that Giuseppe Palaia, Chuini Zanzibar Beach Lodge’s Manager, came to experience the potent pepper. Quite amazingly, Giuseppe tried his first chilli at only two years old and it was love at first bite. He was born in the southern region of Italy, an area known for its chilli production thanks to its ideal climate, perhaps giving him some kind of upper hand when it came to being able to withstand the heat.

Over the years, Giuseppe’s fascination with the plant only increased and today, he eats fresh chilli or chilli pesto with everything, adding a bite to all dishes. He is also passionate about growing chillies and has earned a reputation in Zanzibar, where he now resides, as the “chilli maestro”.
In fact, Giuseppe grows quite a number of different chillies on the island. He explains that these plants thrive in temperatures between 26 to 28 degrees Celsius, making Zanzibar the perfect spot for their production (read more about The Spice Island here). The types of chillies that Giuseppe grow are, of course, the strongest in the world, indicated by the respective Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) measurements below:

Chilli Plant	SHU
Carolina Reaper Red	2 200 000
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion Chocolate	2 000 000
Brown Bhutlah Capsicum Chinense	1 800 000
Trinidad Butch Taylor	1 500 000

 

Soon, Giuseppe will be adding the following to his collection, too:

Chilli Plant	SHU
Bhut Jolokia Red Capsicum Chinense	1 000 000
7 Pod Yellow Brain Strain Capsicum Chinense	800 000

Bringing it back to the kitchen, Giuseppe shares that his favourite dish which includes chilli is Pizza Diavola. To make this delicious (spicy) dish, you’ll need the following:

• 1 Pizza dough ball
• 200 g Tomato passata
• 100 g Spicy salami
• 70 g Mozzarella cheese
• 2 Fresh chilies (Unless you want to step it up a notch like Giuseppe who uses 5 or 6 chillies in this recipe)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt

Roll out the dough, top with these ingredients and bake as per your preferred method. If you’re not quite as brave as Giuseppe, we recommend enjoying this pizza with a glass of milk at hand!