Elephant's Ear pepper

User avatar
arnorrian
Reactions:
Posts: 737
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 10:37 pm
Location: Moesia Superior
Contact:

Elephant's Ear pepper

#1

Post: # 2618Unread post arnorrian
Sun Dec 22, 2019 3:17 am

I want to present you a sweet pepper variety that is not much known in the West, but is very important here in Serbia and some neighboring countries. The variety is called Elephant's Ear (Slonovo uvo in Serbian), and is one of the largest (by weight) and meatiest peppers there is.

Image

Image

Image

There are several similar varieties from this region, all used for making ajvar (eye-vahr), a relish very popular in the Balkans. Every fall towns and villages here smell of roasting peppers for making ajvar.

Image

Image

Image
Climate: Cfa
USDA hardiness zone: 7a
Elevation: 140 m

eyegrotom
Reactions:
Posts: 539
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 6:14 pm
Location: So Cal

Re: Elephant's Ear pepper

#2

Post: # 2626Unread post eyegrotom
Sun Dec 22, 2019 7:12 am

That looks good 👍

zendog
Reactions:
Posts: 264
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 2:40 pm
Location: Arlington, VA - zone 7A

Re: Elephant's Ear pepper

#3

Post: # 2628Unread post zendog
Sun Dec 22, 2019 8:03 am

Fabulous looking peppers! I really love growing big peppers and I'm growing 2 that I think might be similar this year, so I would love to have the recipe for that pepper spread.
This is one of the peppers: https://lawrenceproduce.com/collections ... ne-dolmasi

User avatar
arnorrian
Reactions:
Posts: 737
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 10:37 pm
Location: Moesia Superior
Contact:

Re: Elephant's Ear pepper

#4

Post: # 2641Unread post arnorrian
Sun Dec 22, 2019 10:02 am

If that variety is meaty but not watery it should do. Baker Creek has a variety called ajvarski that is ok.

A rough recipe for ajvar is:

Roast 10 large red peppers, then peel the blackened skin, and remove seeds and stem. Bake in an oven one large eggplants until soft, peel the skin and remove the stem. Drain both well. Mince the peppers and eggplants in a hand mincer, or a food processor, with 3-5 cloves of garlic and chili peppers to taste. Place in a large pot and bring to a boil. Stir constantly on low to medium heat until the mixture starts to lose volume due to water boiling off. When in gets visibly more dense add half a cup of hot vegetable oil. Continue to stir until the mixture gets an oily sheen on the surface, and your spatula starts to make the bottom of the pot visible behind it. Add salt and a little bit of white vinegar to taste and mix well.

You can see the video bellow as a reference. It's not in English but you'll get the gist of it. In the video they don't use garlic or chili, and put the oil in the beginning, but that is a regional thing.

Climate: Cfa
USDA hardiness zone: 7a
Elevation: 140 m

User avatar
ddsack
Reactions:
Posts: 771
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 2:26 pm
Location: Northern MN - USA

Re: Elephant's Ear pepper

#5

Post: # 2642Unread post ddsack
Sun Dec 22, 2019 10:07 am

I have grown Elephant's Ear, and they are the correct shape as shown, but yours are HUGE! Mine only get to medium size at best. Are you saving seed from those monster sized ones?

User avatar
AZGardener
Reactions:
Posts: 761
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 9:12 am
Location: Arizona, USA

Re: Elephant's Ear pepper

#6

Post: # 2643Unread post AZGardener
Sun Dec 22, 2019 10:16 am

I'm growing it but mine aren't as large as those pictured. If anyone is looking for a seed source Bunny Hop at Heritage Seed Market has them.
Beautiful photos, thanks for sharing.
USDA Zone 9b, Sunset Zone 13
Average Rainfall 9.5 inches
Climate: Sonoran Desert

User avatar
arnorrian
Reactions:
Posts: 737
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 10:37 pm
Location: Moesia Superior
Contact:

Re: Elephant's Ear pepper

#7

Post: # 2645Unread post arnorrian
Sun Dec 22, 2019 10:21 am

They are grown on a large scale by farmers is some parts of Serbia and sold everywhere in the fall. I haven't grown them, I grow only varieties of vegetable I cannot buy. But the seed is available, two seed producers in my town sell it. Peppers get to 20 cm (8 inches) long, and 150-250 g heavy.
Climate: Cfa
USDA hardiness zone: 7a
Elevation: 140 m

User avatar
goodloe
Reactions:
Posts: 204
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 5:07 am
Location: The SE edge of NE Mississippi

Re: Elephant's Ear pepper

#8

Post: # 2661Unread post goodloe
Sun Dec 22, 2019 1:49 pm

Hey [mention]arnorrian[/mention] ! That surely is an impressive pepper! What are its growth habits? A big plant...full sun...early maturity...heavy producer?? Please tell us more!
I have 2 seasons: Tomato and pepper season, and BAMA Football season!

User avatar
arnorrian
Reactions:
Posts: 737
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 10:37 pm
Location: Moesia Superior
Contact:

Re: Elephant's Ear pepper

#9

Post: # 2664Unread post arnorrian
Sun Dec 22, 2019 2:14 pm

Here is a video from a Serbian agriculture show about the popularity of this variety in Bulgaria. Large quantities of seed are exported there to be grown in the plains of Thrace. The growers in the video say that the yield is up to 50 t/ha, that's 22 US tons per acre in the archaic measurement. You can see the plants and the inside of the pepper at the beginning of the video. This is open-field cultivation.



And here is a video about growing a hybrid variety of the same cultivar in a polytunnel. Yield is up to 200 t/ha.

Climate: Cfa
USDA hardiness zone: 7a
Elevation: 140 m

roper2008
Reactions:
Posts: 74
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2020 5:07 am
Location: Virginia 7b

Re: Elephant's Ear pepper

#10

Post: # 4361Unread post roper2008
Wed Jan 01, 2020 9:04 am

I received seeds to this in a Secret Santa Swap. Guess I'll grow them this year.

MsCowpea
Reactions:
Posts: 870
Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2019 1:01 pm
Location: S Florida USA Zone 10

Re: Elephant's Ear pepper

#11

Post: # 5018Unread post MsCowpea
Sat Jan 04, 2020 9:28 am

🤩🤩🤩 Please tell how you grow them. Start to finish please.
"When we kill off the natural enemies of a pest we inherit their work."
Carl Huffaker

User avatar
Nan6b
Reactions:
Posts: 1545
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 2:58 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: Elephant's Ear pepper

#12

Post: # 5034Unread post Nan6b
Sat Jan 04, 2020 10:25 am

MsCowpea wrote: Sat Jan 04, 2020 9:28 am 🤩🤩🤩 Please tell how you grow them. Start to finish please.
Yes!!! What she said!

User avatar
arnorrian
Reactions:
Posts: 737
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 10:37 pm
Location: Moesia Superior
Contact:

Re: Elephant's Ear pepper

#13

Post: # 5234Unread post arnorrian
Sun Jan 05, 2020 8:12 am

I haven't grown them. This type of pepper is available everywhere here in the fall. And fairly cheep to. This year it was 0.50-0.60 US dollars per kilo (0.25-0.30 US dollars per pound). My garden is very limited, and I grow only things I cannot buy.

Image

Image

Image

Bonus: Oxheart tomato.

Image
Climate: Cfa
USDA hardiness zone: 7a
Elevation: 140 m

User avatar
imp
Account Closed
Reactions:
Posts: 262
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 11:31 am
Location: Wichita Falls, Texas

Re: Elephant's Ear pepper

#14

Post: # 5295Unread post imp
Sun Jan 05, 2020 3:54 pm

You had me at the vido for ajvar, LOL, so ordered the elephant and several other varieties as well. The ajvar recipe looks good, but I also love to can up roasted red peppers for all sorts of things and these look meaty and bigger, hopefully very tasty too, and would take less than smaller peppers. Thanks for the tips and information!!
Together, trees make an ecosystem that tempers the extremes of heat & cold, stores lots of water, & makes a lot of humidity. In this environment, trees can live to be very old. To get to this point, the community must remain intact no matter what.

User avatar
arnorrian
Reactions:
Posts: 737
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 10:37 pm
Location: Moesia Superior
Contact:

Re: Elephant's Ear pepper

#15

Post: # 5328Unread post arnorrian
Sun Jan 05, 2020 7:19 pm

Yes, ajvar is the most important use here, but not the only one. This pepper is also roasted then frozen, and used for sauteing or fried with egg and flour, or pickled, whole or filleted.
Climate: Cfa
USDA hardiness zone: 7a
Elevation: 140 m

User avatar
imp
Account Closed
Reactions:
Posts: 262
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 11:31 am
Location: Wichita Falls, Texas

Re: Elephant's Ear pepper

#16

Post: # 5360Unread post imp
Sun Jan 05, 2020 9:57 pm

I am hoping they get of a good size here in north Texas, with the heat and longer summers. May try to do a tempura batter on them, many red peppers are quite good that way, too. I love roasted peppers in so may ways, LOL, and they are handy to have on hand as well as storing them for the future use by canning them or pickling them.

I even like them finely shredded, raw, in a coleslaw in the summer , peppers, carrots, cabbage, red onions and apples finely shredded make a lovely bright slaw. Topping with home grown toasted pecans when serving for an extra crunch is good too,or putting the slaw on a pork sandwich or taco.
Together, trees make an ecosystem that tempers the extremes of heat & cold, stores lots of water, & makes a lot of humidity. In this environment, trees can live to be very old. To get to this point, the community must remain intact no matter what.

User avatar
worth1
Reactions:
Posts: 14272
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 12:32 pm
Location: 25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas

Re: Elephant's Ear pepper

#17

Post: # 5377Unread post worth1
Mon Jan 06, 2020 5:59 am

Unbelievable.
I could eat a hundred of them.
Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

You can't argue with a closed mind.
You might as well be arguing with a cat.

MsCowpea
Reactions:
Posts: 870
Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2019 1:01 pm
Location: S Florida USA Zone 10

Re: Elephant's Ear pepper

#18

Post: # 7106Unread post MsCowpea
Mon Jan 20, 2020 2:39 pm

Phenomenal farmers market. You are so lucky. Understand why you don’t grow them when you can go there. I felt the same way when I went to farmers markets in Calif.— I could (almost) give up tomato growing they were that great. Even found dry farmed tomatoes in a grocery store in Berkeley, Ca. —best tomato I ever had.
Last edited by MsCowpea on Sat Sep 19, 2020 11:50 am, edited 2 times in total.
"When we kill off the natural enemies of a pest we inherit their work."
Carl Huffaker

User avatar
worth1
Reactions:
Posts: 14272
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 12:32 pm
Location: 25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas

Re: Elephant's Ear pepper

#19

Post: # 7112Unread post worth1
Mon Jan 20, 2020 3:51 pm

MsCowpea wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2020 2:39 pm Phenomenal farmers market. You are so lucky. Understand why you don’t grow them when you can go there. I felt the same way when I went to farmers markets in Calif.— I could give up tomato growing they were that great. Even found dry farmed tomatoes in a grocery store in Berkeley, Ca. —best tomato I ever had.
I used to dry farm all my peppers and tomatoes and they were very good, even yellow pear had flavor.
The soil was perfect for it, not so where I am now.
Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

You can't argue with a closed mind.
You might as well be arguing with a cat.

MsCowpea
Reactions:
Posts: 870
Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2019 1:01 pm
Location: S Florida USA Zone 10

Re: Elephant's Ear pepper

#20

Post: # 7128Unread post MsCowpea
Mon Jan 20, 2020 5:12 pm

Worth, they must have been delicious and even I believe yellow pear would be a different tomato dried farm.
"When we kill off the natural enemies of a pest we inherit their work."
Carl Huffaker

Post Reply

Return to “Sweet Peppers”