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Pimientos de Padrón is a Spanish dish of fried peppers with sea salt. Most of the peppers are sweet, but occasionally you come across a hot one.
I spent much of April and May 2009 traveling in Spain and Portugal, and still dream about the food: Jamón ibérico, 5-year-aged Manchego, porco Alentejana (pork and clams)... When I came across these peppers at the farmers market, I immediately thought of recreating pimientos de Padrón.
Even without true Padrón peppers, you can prepare this dish at home. Compare the pictures of my peppers with those from a restaurant in Lisbon, Portugal.
I spent much of April and May 2009 traveling in Spain and Portugal, and still dream about the food: Jamón ibérico, 5-year-aged Manchego, porco Alentejana (pork and clams)... When I came across these peppers at the farmers market, I immediately thought of recreating pimientos de Padrón.
Even without true Padrón peppers, you can prepare this dish at home. Compare the pictures of my peppers with those from a restaurant in Lisbon, Portugal.
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These are Friariello Barese peppers from Lagier Ranches at our local farmers market in Oakland, CA. They aren't the exact variety you'll find in Spain and Portugal, but are an Italian variety that is close enough. More on these peppers from Vegetables of Interest.
Unlike true Padron peppers, apparently none of these will be hot. Part of the fun of Pimientos de Padrón is coming across a hot one, but these will still taste great.
Wash and dry the peppers.
Unlike true Padron peppers, apparently none of these will be hot. Part of the fun of Pimientos de Padrón is coming across a hot one, but these will still taste great.
Wash and dry the peppers.
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And my friend reports that she found the actual pimientos de padron at the Union Square greenmarket last weekend. Not many spicy ones though.
As I said though, I'm told by people here that this is something that has changed, really very recently in maybe the last five or ten years. Of course my demographic pool is relatively small but includes many people in the bar trade ;) and it does appear to be a genuine phenomenon. Why, I have no idea.
That means that you can have an ugly surprise when you pick a hot peppers.
We were eating at a restaurant whe my sister was 5 years old. She picked a hot pepper, and she hasn't eaten more Padrón peppers XD.
You can cook this recipe with other tipe of peppers, but it won't be pimientos del Padrón, it will be simply fried peppers.
(A note to vegetarians--be careful relying on accounts equating "ensalada mixta" with various salads of mixed greens and vegetables. See, e.g., spanishfood.about.com/b/2007/05/07/ensalada-mixta.htm.)
(A more general note: I am aware of the fraught history of ham and Spanish cuisine. See generally Toby Green, Inquisition: The Reign of Fear 225-26 (2007) (describing spread of Inquisition-inspired practices of adding ham to dishes and displaying ham in homes and businesses) . I wish it could go without saying that I neither endorse these historical practices nor mean to imply that current culture is necessarily "tainted." But enough caveating! :D )
There are websites which sell them but it really depends on how good your spanish is. I'll tell you what...I plan to grow some myself and am going to ask a relative of mine who lives in galicia to send me a load of seeds. If you really find it difficult to get a hold of some or if you want the original ones and not some imitation sold on the net, then i can always send some to you. just let me know and i should be able to get some to you before spring (depending on your location of course).
You could maybe use home-grown peppers for the will-my-mouth-burn-this-time sensation - our banana peppers must be sleeping around or something, because every year a few hot ones sneak in with the rest. You can't even tell the hot ones by which color they are!
L