RE: [CH] An Interesting Chile
John Sphar (chilehead@pacbell.net)
Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:13:16 -0800
Luckily I live close to the grower who was the first commercial gardner of
the pimiento de padron. He lives and grows in East Palo Alo, CA, gets his
seedlings from FL from what I understand. His name is David Winsburg of
Happy Quail Farms. You can find him at farmers markets arounf the bay area.
But now, after six years of commercial production they are grown elsewhere
(like Yolo County) and can be found in Whole Foods. I piucked up some seeds
and was successful last season. They remind me very much of the Japanese
Shishito pepper, which can also be used as a tapas, but he Shishito is
longer.
John S.
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-chile-heads@globalgarden.com
[mailto:owner-chile-heads@globalgarden.com] On Behalf Of Bill & Linda Moats
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 2:34 PM
To: Chile Heads
Subject: [CH] An Interesting Chile
As the seed catalogs come in I thought I might share a chile I grew last
year, Pimiento de Padron. A woman from California wrote that she enjoyed the
chile in tapas in Spain but couldn't find it at home. Eventually she found
it at a farmer's market and was thrilled. Last year for the first time I saw
it at Tomato Growers Supply and ordered it.
It grew well with a lot of approx. 3 inch chiles. Before cooking it I didn't
really get why the Spanish like it so much but I found out. It is sauteed in
olive oil maybe with garlic. It is thin walled and thin skinned so it cooks
quickly just so the skin blisters and it softens and there is no need peel
the skin. It has a very good taste and is highly variable in heat, some are
hot and some are not.
Bill
Dreaming of another Chile Season in NE Oregon