Did you know the jalapeño-chilis in our Connie’s Kitchen Jalapeño Ketchup are very special? 

They are the only organic (Bio-Knospe) jalapeños grown here in Switzerland.  Chilis need a lot of sun and hot weather and are normally grown in places like Mexico or Spain, not alpine countries like Switzerland.  But it turns out, there is a place in Switzerland that has a special climate and enough sun to grow chilis.  It is the area of Weggis on Lake Lucerne which they call “Lucerne’s Riviera”.  And it is here that we found, after an exhausting search, Salvador Garibay, the only farmer in Switzerland growing organic jalapeños.   

September to October is picking time for chilis and we were excited to visit Salvador on his farm to taste the latest harvest and check quality and heat levels.  The farm is in an idyllic location overlooking Lake Lucerne on a slope angled just right to catch as much of the sun as possible through the summer.  I’m very jealous of Salvador’s “Office”! 

As you can guess – Chili tasting can be very hot work, so Salvador came prepared with plenty of milk for cooling our mouths and throats.  Each jalapeño plant gets different amounts of water, sun and soil nutrients depending on where it is on the farm.  They therefore produce different sizes of jalapeños, different colours (red or green) and different heat levels.  We took jalapeños from different areas of the farm to test the overall levels. 

And…  OH, MY GOODNESS!   They are HOT!  I think I drank over two litres of milk!  My mouth was still buzzing two hours later.  Jalapeños give what we call a “fresh” heat – more in the nose with a cleansing spiciness that compliments the flavours of the foods it is eaten with.

All a good sign for this season’s crop and this season’s Connie’s Kitchen Jalapeño Ketchup!

Good news is that we only put a very small amount of jalapeños into each Connie’s Kitchen Jalapeño Ketchup bottle.  We want to give you a very mild spicy freshness that you can continue to taste all the way through your meal.  Our Jalapeño Ketchup is blended so that even if you only like very light spicy food it will be perfect for you. 

It's fantastic to work with and support our local Swiss farmers to produce high quality organic ingredients that help us create great tasting ketchups.  It was great to spend time with Salvador at his farm and talk with him in detail about how he cultivates his organic jalapeños, nurturing them for months to flourish in the colder climate of Switzerland.  And very nice to know that the jalapeños I was picking and tasting in Weggis with Salvador will shortly find their way into Connie’s Kitchen Jalapeño Ketchup bottles sold all over Switzerland.