麻豆社

The Beaver Dam pepper came from the town of Apatin, once part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, now Serbia. In 1912, as life in the region became less secure in the build up to World War One, a young government worker called Joe Hussli made his escape. When he boarded a ship bound for America he carried a small packet of seeds in his shirt pocket for a pepper with a unique flavour. His 9000 mile journey took him and the seeds to the town of Beaver Dam, 150 miles north of Chicago. There the pepper became a local speciality, but in the 1950s new varieties were introduced that were easier to grow. The Beaver Dam pepper slowly disappeared and the flavour was forgotten. Food producer Lee Greene tells Dan Saladino why she was determined to reintroduce this lost pepper to the people of Beaver Dam.