Re: [CH] Tofu, Lentils and More
Brent Thompson (brent@hplbct.hpl.hp.com)
Wed, 14 Oct 1998 10:03:45 -0700
> Anyone else here a hardcore CH but can't stand plain green and red
> peppers? Why do you suppose we're like that?
There is some major flavor component of Bell Peppers, also present as a
major component of jalapenos, which accounts for why many of us dislike
those two types of chiles -- though it's been a few years now since this
has been regularly mentioned on chile-heads list. (I don't know the name
of this compound, but I'd read a report I'm summarizing here, so I'm sure
its precise chemical identify would be relatively easy to locate by anyone
interested to find it.)
Cooking seems to significantly diminish the effects of this flavor
component, so cooked jalapenos, and even sometimes cooked bell peppers,
taste ok. Of course, varietal differences must exist, which may be why
some raw jalapenos are almost not objectionable at all, and even some raw
bell peppers are tolerable.
Fortunately for us, though, there are plenty of chile varieties to
substitute for either jalapeno or bell pepper which do taste wonderful.
(Serranos for the former, and various "Italian/Greek/Hungarian/Romanian"
peppers for the latter, are the most similar obvious substitutions that
spring to mind).
--- Brent