Not dill here...obviously...

Italian Gourmet was produced by Park Seed and has been out of production for many years.

If you do find seed, chances are it's saved seed (not from the hybrid source) or it's old seed.

That was a long time ago. At the time it was a Park's exclusive. This group lists it http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/pepper-italian-gourmet-hybrid-capsicum-annuum-italian-gourmet-hybrid-old-time-italian-pepper-zing-on-vigorous-hybrid-plants-7-inch-green-peppers-are-thin-skinned-and-full-flavored. It is a hybrid and may have been discontinued. I grow Italia which fits the same niche.

Here is a link that might be useful: Italian gourmet pepper

Sounds a lot like my favorite Italian pepper: Giant Marconi. Very prolific and tasty fresh or grilled.

Thanks so much folks! Yeah, Farmerdill, that old thread was circa 2004, I think....... Couldn't find the seeds on Parks website, so I'm sure they're not available....

Have a friend with seeds from plants he grew this year, but it's my understanding the plant does not set seed, flowers are sterile, or plants will not come true from seed. Just the fact it's a hybrid tells me the seeds he has won't grow true.

If your friend has been growing and saving seeds from the peppers, there is a chance they might grow true. The seeds saved from a first year hybrid (F1) will probably not all come true but some might and if your friends has continually saved seeds over a few seasons then it is theoretically possible that he has stabilized the traits.

Rodney

Concur: If you don't mind a little variablity, F2 , F3 seeds usually do ok. They will not be identical to the F1 but usually grow fine. On the other hand there are plenty of varieties both hybrid and OP Bull Horn peppers that are sufficiently similar. Park's has a habit of buying seed from smaller Asian companies and renaming them so that particular one may be available under another name. As stated before I grow Italia, but Carmen is just as good. OP's may not be as productive but Corno di Toros, Marconis, Jimmy Nardello will satisfy most non production growers. Burpee has an exclusive named the Godfather which has the same physical description as Italian Gourmet. Planet is another hybrid that is a bit longer in shape and competes with the hybrid Giant Marconi. Lots more out there.

Hmmmmm! The friend I made reference to got his plants from an entomoligst friend that has greenhouse grown these plants for the past three years. That said, Rodney may be on to something! I'm clueless about the science of plant reproduction, so I didn't want to attempt to propagate these seeds if they weren't likely to grow true.....

As farmerdill mentioned, there are a great number of facsimiles out there, but my friend has his heart set on growing this one, so I'll start some for him in the spring....

Go to wildgardenseed.com and check out Stocky Red Roaster. and Karma. They have excellent flavor and very good production and are already open pollinated so you can save seed.