The sweet-hot signature pepper of St. Augustine, Florida — habanero-level heat with an unusual fruity sweetness. A regional heirloom carried into Black Florida cooking through datil hot sauce, boiled peanuts, and pilau.
The datil pepper anchors a regional Black Florida foodway — datil hot sauce on fried mullet, datil-pepper boiled peanuts, and Minorcan-Black pilau in and around St. Augustine, where Black, Minorcan, and Gullah-Geechee foodways braided together.
The datil is a Capsicum chinense, sharing the high-capsaicin profile of habaneros, delivering TRPV1-driven vasodilation, metabolic and anti-inflammatory benefit, and a strong vitamin C and carotenoid load. Its distinctive sweetness comes alongside the heat, making it an easy daily seasoning that supports vascular health in Florida's Black coastal communities where it became a staple sauce.
Blend into the classic datil hot sauce with tomato, sugar, and vinegar, or mince fresh into seafood seasoning. Pairs naturally with the seafood and pilau of Black Florida cooking.
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