Padron Chile Peppers
Inventory, lb : 0
This item was last sold on : 10/14/09
Grower
Seasons/Availability
Padron Chile Pepper season is mid-June through September.
Current Facts
At the going rate, pimientos de padron are not an everyday vegetable. They are at a laborious disadvantage. The peppers are so small (about 80-100 per pound) that it takes two people almost two days to pick 300 pounds.
Description/Taste
Petit Padron chile peppers are slightly crinkled and grooved, have a semi-matte finished deep green skin and generally measures about two inches long. When small and immature, this chile pepper offers a crisp and mildly sweet pepper flavor. The larger the Padron chile pepper, the spicier the flavor, which incidentally makes it much less enjoyable to eat. Its formal name is "Pimiento de Padrón".
Applications
Best eaten as an appetizer, the padron is easily honored with a little extra heat for blistering, some good olive oil and sea salt to finish.
Ethnic/Cultural Info
A very popular chile pepper in Spain, Padron chilies are traditionally served as a tapa specialty. The pepper's cultivating origins lay in Herbón, whose monastery was where Franciscans apparently first tried growing the pepper seeds they’d brought back from the New World in the 18th century.
Geography/History
David Winsberg, of Happy Quail Farms in East Palo Alto, first introduced California to Padróns after a friend brought him a few packets of seeds from Spain. After trial and error and some informative education, he realized this new world pepper is best eaten in its pubescent stage or it develops a mighty fiery bite.
Featured Recipes
Recipes that include Padron Chile Peppers. One
is easiest, three is harder.
