Collection: Curacao

On Curaçao, growers and home gardeners cultivate West Indian hot peppers including Scotch bonnet, Caribbean red, and Surinamese-type Madame Jeanette, collectively used in local “Madame Jeanette”–style heat. These Capsicum chinense varieties underpin the island’s pika (hot sauces) and sambals.

Pika di papaya—made from Madame Jeanette or Scotch bonnet, green papaya, onions, and vinegar—is a signature Curaçaoan condiment served with stoba (goat stew), fried fish, funchi (cornmeal), and kabritu (goat) dishes. Peppers also season keshi yena (stuffed cheese) and seafood plates. Small producers bottle Scotch bonnet/Madame Jeanette–based sauces and papaya-pepper relishes marketed to tourists and exported to the European Netherlands.

While not unique as cultivars, these regional hot peppers are essential to Curaçao’s Creole–Dutch fusion cuisine and a visible part of the island’s food branding.