Hot Pepper, Maria Nagy’s Transylvanian (Organic)

Capsicum annuum. Hot. 70 days.

Strong plants produce large cayenne-shaped red hot peppers. A classic heritage type Transylvanian hot pepper that is early to produce fruit and is quick to ripen. Looks like a cayenne but it tastes altogether something different. It is hard to describe, but it has a very rich Transylvanian flavor. The favorite pepper of our friend Harry MacCormack who farmed for 30+ years at Sunbow Farm in Corvallis, Oregon. Dries easily into rich spicy paprika. Great for ristras. Very well suited to adding a medium heat level to stews and for spicing up sausages. Heirloom from Maria Nagy, a seed steward we met near Turda, Transylvania, during our 2008 Seed Seed Ambassadors trip to Romania, the same namesake of our fabulous onion and tomato varieties.

Read more about our Seed Ambassadors trip on our blog.

Seed produced by Avoca in Corvallis, Oregon.

$4.35

In stock

$7.35

In stock

$26.00

In stock

$46.00

In stock

Geographical Origin

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Sow indoors in flats with good potting soil as early as February, but no later than April. Keep warm and well-watered. Up pot seedlings into 4” pots when they have their first two true leaves. Transplant out into the garden after danger of frost has passed, typically late May in western Oregon.

Seed Saving

To save seed, wait until fruit is fully ripe. Remove seeds from fruit and dry. Isolate from other pepper varieties of the same species by at least 500 feet.

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What others are saying

  1. One person found this helpful
    Michael Nicosia

    Michael Nicosia

    What an amazing pepper!!!! Very productive and flavorful. Survived our gnarly Ozark environment with aplomb. We used these peppers to make the best kimchi we’ve ever produced. My wife used to teach in Korea and she was impressed with the color, exquisite taste and right degree of heat of this batch.

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  2. 2 out of 2 people found this helpful
    Lily

    The most common Romanian hot pepper.

    Lily (verified owner)

    Where did you grow this variety? Europe

    I grew up with this pepper in Valahia (south of Transylvania, another geographical region of Romania), not far from Vlad Tepes’s real castle (not the one we keep for tourists; the real one which is in ruins near Targoviste). We just called it “ardei iute” = hot pepper. The pepper has a non-hot cousin which is deep green, a bit smaller, and smoother. My grandfather used to sneak a red-producing plant near the green one in the garden and sure enough they would crosspolinate. When my grandma made a fresh cabbage with dill and polenta dish in the summer, they used to have a fresh pepper with it: grandma green, grandpa red. She knew grandpa was sneaking hot peppers sometimes near her sweet peppers and asked grandpa to taste it first, make sure it’s not hot. Of course he said it’s not hot, so she bit, she spit, she swore, she smiled, all three of us laughing, me most of all. It was a ritual of sorts they did every single summer. Sometimes I wonder if they did it partially for my benefit. I miss them terribly. This is an exquisite pepper, unlike the other hot ones who deliver mostly capsaicin and little to no flavor. It’s highly promiscuous, so in a few years you can grow it less or more hot, depending on its neighbors, but it will preserve its flavor. Thank you for bringing it to the USA!

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