During the research and development phase of the current drinking issue, I dutifully sampled the best that Lombard and 82nd's deep fryers had to offer. While I had any number of good mozzarella sticks and onion rings, my biggest gripe came with quality of jalepeno poppers. It's like really? That's all the cheese you can fit in there? That's all the Scoville Heat Units you can muster up? Portland popper-heads, is this the best we can do?
Well folks, looks like it's taken the New Mexico State University chile pepper breeding program to save our sorry asses again. From the press release:
The New Mexico State University chile pepper breeding program recently announced the release of a large-size jalapeño pepper dubbed 'NuMex Jalmundo'. According to Paul Bosland, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at NMSU and co-founder of the nonprofit Chile Pepper Institute, the name Jalmundo is a contraction of jalapeño and the Spanish word for world (mundo), implying that it is as big as the world....A new consumer favorite is the category of large jalapeños used for making poppers, breaded and deep-fried jalapeños stuffed with cheese that are popular appetizers throughout the country. "Fruits of 'NuMex Jalmundo' are perfect for use as poppers", noted Bosland. The new jalapeno should please most popper enthusiasts; with a heat level of 17,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), 'NuMex Jalmundo' is considered to be medium hot.
