The Antohi Romanian peppers come with an interesting history that you can learn and share with your neighbors, friends, and family. Also known as Jan Antohi peppers or Eastern European frying pepper, the Romanian heirloom pepper was brought by the Romanian acrobat in 1991 who defected to the USA. Rumor has it that many Romanian circus performers fled to the United States to escape the harsh conditions under the rule of the Soviet Union. It is said that Antohi missed his mother’s cooking (don’t we all?) and visited his mother after the fall of the Soviet Union. Along with the chance to see his mother, he got to bring the heirloom peppers back to the United States to grow and use for his cooking. Because of Antohi, we can grow these fascinating peppers today!

Antohi Romanian pepper plants are extremely prolific with early and heavy harvests, and it has great branch strength. Peppers will grow to 4" long and ripen from light cream, pale yellow, orange, to finally a dark red color. These pods are smooth, tapered, and narrow, and their thick flesh and sweet flavor are highly favored, and they are one of the best frying peppers because their sweetness is enhanced by cooking.

The heirloom variety is crisp with a mild, sweet, fruity flavor, and its smooth and taut skin makes it perfect to cook for a variety of culinary uses. One way you can cook these sweet Romanian peppers is by slicing them half and removing the seeds before pan-frying them in olive oil. This preparation brings out the sweet flavor! You can cook, roast, bake, or fry the peppers, or add as toppings to sandwiches, salads, or pasta. There are many ways to cook with this pepper, and we enjoy growing this tremendous variety!

Browse through more related seed collections: Mild Pepper Seeds, Sweet Pepper Seeds, Heirloom Pepper Seeds

Growing from Seed 101