Assorted Peppers, Hungarian Wax Peppers, Green Cayenne, Jalepeno

In Albums: peppers produce

A basket of assorted hot peppers, orange, yellow, red, dark green and light green, and a sign reading: Hot peppers, 20 cents each

Jul 30th, 2011, by Alex Zorach

This photo shows an assortment of hot peppers for sale at a stand at the Clark Park Farmer's Market in West Philadelphia.

This mix shows Hungarian Wax Peppers at three stages of ripness: the pale yellow-green, fully unripe peppers (a few showing the beginnings of a tinge of orange on one side), partly ripe ones (the two bright orange peppers on the left) and one fully ripe one, the intense red pepper behind them. Among Hungarian wax peppers, I strongly prefer the fully ripe ones: they have a very intense aroma, reminiscent of paprika (after all, this is the pepper that paprika is made from), and have a very rich, deep quality that is very different from the lighter, fruity sweetness that many red peppers (hot or sweet) have.

This photo also shows green cayenne peppers, and a few Jalapenos, which look very dark in color by comparison (although they would look more medium-green if placed side-by-side with a Poblano or Chilaca pepper).

If you want to see them side-by-side, I bought three Hungarian wax peppers of varying ripeness and photographed them when I got home.