Scotch Bonnet: Known to Shudder Cheeks

On his way to meeting his daughter, Lowe finds himself in an awkward encounter inside the shop of an older Chinese man. He notes “carr[ying] his trembling radiance inside the shop” and being “looked at as if he were a rare bird” (55) alluding to Lowe’s presence as a traveler, someone unknown to the area, and also his unique appearance. Lowe makes his order in “remnant pieces of Hakka he could recall” (55) and expresses a desire to connect with this old shop keeper who reminded him of his Father. A moment of indifference passes and the shopkeeper brings Lowe a plate with scotch bonnet pepper and bread. Scotch bonnet being a signature pepper used for spicing/seasoning in Caribbean communities.

The color of the immature scotch bonnet pepper is green, but the mature pepper has a range of colors from bright yellow, to orange and red. It is often confused for the similar looking Habanero pepper, which is actually a close biological relative of the scotch bonnet pepper. Both are a version deriving from pepper varieties native to the Amazon Basin. The peppers likely made their way to the Caribbean through the relocation of indigenous populations to the West Indie islands. The Scotch bonnet was actually the first Caribbean hot pepper to be known by a specific name in the export market.

The scotch bonnet seems to have significance in this moment as a signature pepper of the West Indies. The pepper, like the presence of the shopkeeper, reminds Lowe of their own culture and experience. This becomes a dissonance for Lowe as this sense of familiarity contrasts with an inability to ever feel comfortable as someone forced to present in the opposite gender and in a way that makes their otherness felt by others. Because of this dissonance, Lowe can no longer engage with the shopkeeper after being seated, even when prompted with conversation by the man who resembles her Father. The moment speaks to Lowe’s struggle to find a sense community and belonging while performing another life, or living life “always through some kind of veil” (245).

 

“Scotch Bonnets Chile Peppers.” Information, Recipes and Facts. Accessed December 13, 2020. https://www.specialtyproduce.com/produce/Scotch_Bonnets_Chile_Peppers_165.php.