Cayenne

Cayenne is a group of long, slender, hot peppers of the species Capsicum annuum. It is mostly dried and ground into powder or flakes – although the spice sold as “cayenne pepper” need not come from cayenne peppers at all.

Species	Capsicum annuum
Heat	25,000–50,000 SHU
Name	traditionally after Cayenne in French Guiana; etymologists derive it from Tupi
Fruit	slim, pointed, slightly twisted; picked green or red
Uses	mainly dried and ground as a spice (powder, flakes)

The name

The University of Florida says the pepper is named after the city of Cayenne in French Guiana. The Online Etymology Dictionary, however, derives the word from Old Tupi kyynha (capsicum), attested in English from 1756, with the spelling later shaped by association with the town. It has many other names too: Guinea spice, cow-horn pepper, bird pepper or simply red pepper.

Pepper or spice?

It helps to tell the cultivar group from the spice. Growers use “cayenne” for long, slim, pointed, slightly twisted hot C. annuum peppers; recommended cultivars include ‚Cayenne Long Red Slim‘ and ‚Arapaho‘, with pods 20–23 cm long. The spice “cayenne pepper”, however, is often defined more broadly: Canada’s food regulations describe it as the dried ripe fruit of Capsicum frutescens, C. baccatum “or other small-fruited species” of Capsicum. So ground cayenne from the shop may not be made from cayenne peppers.

Heat

At 25,000–50,000 SHU, cayenne is about as hot as Tabasco and several times hotter than a jalapeño. See the Scoville scale for comparisons.

In the kitchen

Cayenne is used mainly dried, as ground spice or flakes that add a clean heat to food. Fresh pods can be picked green or red.

Jalapeño · Tabasco · Habanero · History of chilli

Sources

UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions: Peppers by Scoville units
Online Etymology Dictionary: cayenne
University of California, Davis: recommended pepper varieties
UF/IFAS EDIS CV130: Pepper production
Food and Drug Regulations (Canada), B.07.007: Cayenne Pepper