Purveyors and Markets

Minorcan Datil Pepper Products

The local Datil pepper, found here in northeast Florida, plays a large role in the authentic food scene in Saint Augustine. A jelly maker brought the peppers here from Cuba in the 1880’s and the Minorcan community embraced the small but powerful pepper in their spicy cooking.

Marcia McQuaig began to make Datil pepper mustard for fun. Her homemade Datil pepper mustard was a favorite Christmas present she gave to her friends. Lonnie Pomar, owner of the local O’Steen’s Restaurant, suggested that the mustard was so good she should bottle it. So she began. That was seventeen years ago.

Today she runs her Datil pepper business out of a small out-building next to her house in rural Saint Johns County. Over the years she has experimented with many recipes (her husband even joined in) and now has a nice variety of Datil pepper products, including salsa, relish, mustard, jams, and jellies. But, her Datil pepper hot sauce is the best seller. Her Christmas present of long ago, Minorcan Datil Pepper Mustard was a 2004 Bronze metal winner at the Napa Valley Mustard Festival World-Wide Mustard Competition.

Four farmers grow all of the Datil peppers locally. She has a co-packer and bottler in Palatka who makes Marcia’s recipes. She creates holiday and special occasion baskets and boxes. Look for Minorcan Datil Pepper products in many shops throughout St. Augustine.

Contact:

5057 Silo Road
Saint Augustine, FL 32092

904-522-0059
877-4-DATILS

Email: minorcandatil@comcast.net

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