Capsicum annuum 'Anaheim'

Anaheim is a bushy, upright chilli variety that can grow upto 60cm (2ft) and is a prolific bearer of long tapered 2 celled green fruit which mature from green to red over 77 days. The pods have a mildly pungency and a slightly sweet flavour. The pods can be used green or red, but are hotter when red. Red chiles are sometimes left on the bush until they turning leathery, then dried in the sun to later be ground into powder and sold as Chile Colorado.

It is believed that this pepper was originally brought from Mexico to New Mexico around 1597. Almost 300 years later, a rancher from California took some seeds from New Mexico to Oxnard and started growing the first cultivar, known as the Anaheim. It was named for the city he later built a pepper cannery in. Many other cultivars now exist. In New Mexico harvest festivals the plentiful chillies are made into chilli ristras, now a New Mexican symbol. A ristra is a string of chiles which is hung to dry. The dried chillies are then used during the rest of the year while making an attractive decoration in the meantime. Several years ago, at the National Pepper Conference, scientists recommended that this chile be universally known as the 'long green/red chile', but New Mexican growers and producers did not agree. They insisted it be called the New Mexican Chile and went so far as to get the name designated in the Congressional Record in Washington, D.C.