Perfect Peppers
Thursday, Aug 28, 2008
Pimentos, aka peppers or capsicums or chilis or paprika (although the later description usually referred to the powdered form), are readily available in Australian specialist markets and fruit and veg retailers but no one yet seems to have cottoned on to the most delicious variety of all,
Pimientos de Padron, named after an area near Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, a north western region of Spain. Peppers, along with the potato and numerous varieties of corn, were brought back to Spain from Mexico, Peru and other South American colonies by returning missionaries and by those Spaniards who made their fortunes in the New World. Initially grown only in Padron, where they are still widely cultivated today, they are now available all over the Iberian peninsula.
Imagine an emerald green pepper roughly the size of your thumb. It’s botanical name is C.
annuum, the common bell pepper, but in its immature green form before it turns red and gets hotter. Picked when the bush is just under a metre high and with a low content of
capsaicin (methyl vanillyl nonenamide), the chemical that in most forms of chili produces a strong burning sensation in the mouth and an acidic effect in the tummy. But as any aficionado of the Padron variety will tell you the chances of encountering a hottie is about a hundred to one.
The chief method of serving the Pimiento de Padron is as follows. The fresh washed peppers are simply tossed whole for a minute or two in hot olive oil. Removed, they are drained, sprinkled with coarse salt and served either as an entrée or a component of a tapas selection. Given that so many exotic fruits and vegetables are now on offer even in the vegetable sections of your average supermarket, it’s surprising that enterprising growers, amateur or professional, haven’t cottoned on to this remarkable variety. Perhaps the reason is that harvesting them is a labour intensive business. In early summer one can see parties – mostly comprising women – hand-picking the little blighters, bundling them into aprons and eventually into crates for transport to market.
A traditional method may not have appeal to farmers accustomed to mechanical harvesting, but there is no reason for gardeners not to plant a bush or two in their veggie patch. It’s a great way to one-up fellow home gardeners. But first you must get your hands on some seed.
Pimiento de Padron
- Posted By: Leo at Large at 4.28PM
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