Re: [CH] Chile-Heads Digest V7 #272

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Hi C-H's,
Jeff Rose asked:
>Tara kindly posted a recipe for making Tabasco-type sauce.  I've seen similar
>recipes before but I have a couple of questions about the process.
>
>Is "fermentation" the wrong term for this kind of pepper extraction?  This
>implies there are microorganisms present that will metabolize sugars yielding
>ethanol as a by-product.

Yeast cells tolerant of high salt concentration. The end product 
appears to be acetic acid although I do not know the mechanism for 
the oxidation of ethanol. Maybe the yeast does the whole job.

>If the pepper mash is sterile (no microbes), what
>causes the bubbling or whatever it is that's called "fermentation"?

If it is sterile I can think of no reason for it to bubble.

>High salt
>content is also inhibitory to growth of most microorganisms.

Yes it is. Only these special yeasts can survive in it.

>Also, can dried chiles be rehydrated then processed in this way?

Would depend on method of drying. If sun dried, I expect there is a 
good possibility that the yeast cells on the peppers could sporulate 
and survive until rehydrated. Might be a good idea to "seed" the mash 
with some fresh pods too if you try it. The other problem would be 
calculating the correct weight of salt. It is based upon 15-18% of 
the weight of fresh pods.


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                      Regards,               Cameron.

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