Caution Fire!
Peppers such as cherry, banana & jalapeno, among many others, leave a warm burning sensation, a tingle on your tongue. They deliver a pleasure-pain sensation.
(habaneros and jalapenos - caution fire)
They are actually considered a fruit and are part of the nightshade family. Many peppers have a mild sweet flavor (like red bell peppers) but in others it’s their seeds and white veins that cause a fiery sensation in your mouth. This is caused by capsaicin, which is a chemical compound that stimulates nerve endings in the skin (measured in scoville heat units). Sometimes it may even cause skin irritation when handling fresh peppers; certainly don't touch your eyes when you’re cooking with peppers as this leads to severe burning.
(spicy pepper bush - beautiful to look at)
Tips to put the fire out
How many times have you bitten into a spicy dish, downed a glass of water only to feel completely unrelieved?! Water does not put out this kind of fire. Instead reach for milk or yoghurt (not the fat free kind), which are the best handy antidotes to overheating with hot peppers, because the fat in the dairy dilutes the capsaicin. That explains why many Mexican culinary combinations come with a dab of sour cream and in Indian cuisine may dishes are accompanied by yoghurt dip, called raita. Coconut milk in Asian cuisine has the same heat-calming effect.
Russian Roulette
I’ve done a lot of pepper cooking in the past two weeks and two kinds are a hot seasonal ticket right now – shishito and pimentos de patron peppers. They are both small - only finger or thumb sized, thin walled and bright green colored. A really simple "recipe" is to pan fry them and give them a decent sprinkle of your favorite sea salt. These little guys are fun to eat since every once in a while they are mildly hot and give you a sexy flavor – that tingle on the sides of your tongue - it's the Russian roulette of spicy pepper.
Every year the Galician village Herbon holds a festival celebrating pimentos de patron in the month of August. So, our timing is right.
(pimento de patron with first of the season butternut squash)
Pimento de Patron Snack
(recipe yields a snack for 2-4 people)
30 pieces pimento de patron
1/4 cup vegetable oil such as canola or grape seed oil
sea salt, to taste (I like French fleur de sel)
1. Rinse peppers with water then dry on kitchen paper towel.
2. Heat oil in a pot (1-gallon sized) on high heat setting then add peppers (the oil should be very hot but not smoking). Brown peppers 3-4 minutes. At this point peppers start to blister, stir with a wooden spoon 2-3 times during cooking process.
3. Transfer browned peppers to a kitchen paper towel (this will dry off excessive oil) then sprinkle generously with salt.
(shrimp seafood sausage with confetti pepper succotash and black elderberries)
