Capsicum annuum.

The universal hot pepper — the one whose brilliant red powder features in every kitchen in the world, from Louisiana Cajun gumbo to Indian curry, through the hot sauces of the African continent, North African harissa and the eternal bottle of hot sauce on the working-class tables of half the planet. The name comes from Cayenne, the port and capital of French Guiana on the northeast coast of South America, which was in the 17th and 18th centuries one of the great export points of this pepper variety toward Europe — but like all peppers of the Capsicum genus, its true origin lies further west, in Central America and Mexico, where Capsicum annuum was domesticated by Mesoamerican peoples 8,000 to 9,000 years ago, long before the Aztecs. The Spanish conquistadors and Portuguese navigators carried out a dazzling global diffusion from the 16th century onward, and in less than a century cayenne had reached India, China and Africa.

A small historical curiosity: it was while working on Hungarian paprika — the mild variety of the same Capsicum annuum — that the biochemist Albert Szent-Györgyi isolated vitamin C in 1928, which earned him the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1937. Peppers are remarkably rich in it.

Long, narrow, slightly curved fruits, 12 to 15 cm long by 1 to 1.5 cm across, ripening from green to glossy deep red. Classic medium-strong heat: 30,000 to 50,000 units on the Scoville scale (clearly hotter than jalapeño, which peaks around 8,000 units). Straight, frank flavour, without fruity complexity — it's pure heat, made to structure dishes and warm the table.

Countless uses, but the great traditional employment remains drying — cayenne lends itself remarkably well to dehydration thanks to its fine flesh and thin skin: hang ripe fruits in strings in open air in an airy spot, or dehydrate them at 50 °C, then grind in a coffee mill for the famous homemade cayenne powder (kept in an opaque airtight jar, it holds its strength for about a year).

Fresh, this pepper is chopped into spicy tomato sauces, meat marinades, all'arrabbiata pasta, or slowly confit in oil to flavour regular kitchen use. To moderate the heat of a fruit, remove the seeds and the inner white membranes (the placenta), which concentrate the majority of capsaicin, the molecule responsible for the burning sensation.

Grower's tip: Like all peppers, cayenne demands a long warm season and an early indoor start. Sow indoors 8 to 10 weeks before last frost, at 25-28 °C on a heat mat (pepper germination is slow and finicky without bottom heat). Transplant once nights are stable above 12 °C — in Québec, early to mid-June. Give it the warmest spot in the garden, ideally against a south wall that reflects heat. Harvest at full red maturity for maximum flavour and storage life. Fruit heat increases noticeably if the plant undergoes a little water stress — in Québec climate, a light mid-summer under-watering produces hotter peppers. For seed saving, beware: all Capsicum annuum (sweet peppers, jalapeños, cayennes) cross easily with each other — isolate or bag the flowers to avoid surprise hybrids the following year.

• Open-pollinated. Largely self-fertile, but crossings possible with other Capsicum annuum nearby — isolate or bag flowers for seed saving.
• Height: 60 to 90 cm.
• Maturity: 70 to 80 days after transplant for the red fruits.
• Exposure: full sun, warmth.
• Rich, well-drained, warm soil. Space plants 40 to 50 cm apart.
• Indoor start 8 to 10 weeks before last frost. Transplant once all risk of frost is past (early to mid-June in Québec).