Cuisine from Spain 12 - Almejas a la Marinera and Pimientos del Padron

[Ben]

If clams are your thing then this is your recipe! And if they're not, then you always have the Pimientos del Padron!

Full recipes here

[Edith]

Originally Posted by Ben

If clams are your thing then this is your recipe! And if they're not, then you always have the Pimientos del Padron!

That sounds delicious, perhaps I will even try the clams the next time I'm in Spain!

As far as the pimientos del padrón are concerned, I might be able to find them in an Asian or Turkish store. Not in an ordinary Dutch supermarket, though. :-(

In New Mexico, which is the heartland of pimiento (chile pepper) in the U.S., they would probably call these peppers chiles anchos or poblanos. Here's a list of chile peppers from around the world which includes mild ones as well as the fiercely hot habanero:

http://www.foodsubs.com/Chilefre.html

And here is the chile ancho or poblano. Would you agree this looks like the pimiento del padrón? According to the information provided on the site, it's degree of hotness is mild. Jalapeño is much hotter.

[Marina]

It is very possible that they look very similar in shape and size (I'm guessing about this one because I don't have a size reference next to the pepper), but the color definetely lighter and they look thiner or softer. This is the best pic I could find of them raw.

[greytop]

Marina - thanks for pushing me into buying & cooking some pimientos del padrón. Delicious, especially the hot ones, so far about 1 in 6!
The one in the middle is from a plant on my terrace which I think is a scotch bonnet pepper. It tasted sweeter than the padrónes. They eventually go red.

[Edith]

Originally Posted by greytop

Marina - thanks for pushing me into buying & cooking some pimientos del padrón. Delicious, especially the hot ones, so far about 1 in 6!
The one in the middle is from a plant on my terrace which I think is a scotch bonnet pepper. It tasted sweeter than the padrónes. They eventually go red.

These ones do look like the chiles anchos I tasted in New Mexico and which are so famous over there. Perhaps they change color during the frying process?

Marina, yours look more like Anaheim. There are so many different kinds of chiles in the world, it's amazing!

Anaheim

[Brian]

Poblanos that you would buy here in the US would consistently have a picante bite to them, certainly too much to eat an entire plate. One might spend the next 3 days in pure agony!

[Brian]

Thank you, Marina and Ben, for another excellent podcast!

I'm not much of a clam-eater, either, Ben, for what it's worth. I still get a kick out of hearing Marina goading you into eating one.

[Edith]

Originally Posted by Brian

Poblanos that you would buy here in the US would consistently have a picante bite to them, certainly too much to eat an entire plate. One might spend the next 3 days in pure agony!

The people of New Mexico seem to have evolved a special inner lining in their intestines which protects them from the side effects of eating all those chiles.

[greytop]

Originally Posted by Edith

The people of New Mexico seem to have evolved a special inner lining in their intestines which protects them from the side effects of eating all those chiles.

It's never been the lining of the intestines that caused me a problem. More their effect on their surroundings on re-emergence.

[Marina]

Originally Posted by Edith

These ones do look like the chiles anchos I tasted in New Mexico and which are so famous over there. Perhaps they change color during the frying process?

On one hand the picture that I posted was far too bright, and on the other one padrón peppers definitely get darker while they are fryed.


Greytop, your peppers look fantastic!!!
I'm amazed that you've had time to buy and cook padrón peppers, we only published the podcast yesterday!!!

I'm also very impresed that you have gronwn your own peppers in your balcony, it is possible that the scotch bonnet pepper might be a mild alternative for this recipe for those that can not find padron ones in their area.

[greytop]

Originally Posted by Marina

Greytop, your peppers look fantastic!!!
I'm amazed that you've had time to buy and cook padrón peppers, we only published the podcast yesterday!!!

I can move fast if my stomach is involved!

[Marina]

me too!!!

[greytop]

Couple of sites that have pictures and info on peppers.

This one in South Devon, UK

This one has 110 different seed varieties on offer

And this one in Hampshire seems to grow and sell only pimientos del patron

Enjoy!

PS I have no commercial or other involvment with these businesses

[Edith]

Greytop, did you really eat the home-grown scotch bonnet in the middle? I mean, they are super-hot! I tried them in the Yucatán, where they are very popular.

<----

Scotch bonnet chile Notes: This chile is almost indistinguishable from the habanero, except that it's a bit smaller. It's popular in the Caribbean. Substitutes: habañero chile OR Serrano chilies (use twice as many) OR jalapeno peppers (use twice as many)

[greytop]

Originally Posted by Edith

Greytop, did you really eat the home-grown scotch bonnet in the middle? I mean, they are super-hot! I tried them in the Yucatán, where they are very popular.

I could be wrong as I got the seeds from a pepper, not a packet! They are definitely not super hot, a bit like the p. del padrón with some having more heat than others (specially around the seed end).
They certainly look like scotch bonnets but are more likely a sweet variety.
They are ripening as I type (got 3 red ones today - see pic) and the cut one is definitely hot although not deadly.

[Edith]

There are so many different kinds of peppers in the world and on the outside, it's always difficult to tell whether they will be hot or not!

Growing peppers on your own balcony, that is really cool. I hope you will reap a good 'harvest'.

[ValenciaSon]

I just heard the podcast. I never tried pimientos del padron but almejas a la marinera, mmmm! In my family that's like heroin! We love! I am curious over the pimientos del padron. Another nice podcast.

[guapo]

just got back from a week long trip around the País Vasco and of course I brought some pimientos home with me. Here is a close up picture

pimientos.jpg

Looking forward to cooking these later.....

[guapo]

just got around to listening, great stuff, will be cooking my recently acquired pimientos stash tonight

I have to say that I have never been able to find pimientos de Padrón in England. Though the website that greytop mentions look promising

Originally Posted by greytop

And this one in Hampshire seems to grow and sell only pimientos del patron

Not sure if this was the phrase that Ben was searching for:

La vida es como los pimientos de Padrón, a veces pica... y a veces no.

(Life is like pimientos de Padrón, sometimes it burns... other times not)

I don't know where it came from originally but it is on the cover to the DVD for the film "Tapas"

[Marina]

Hola Guapo,

What a coincidence! I also bought the basque Guernica peppers to take a pic and post it in this thread, but you did it first

This peppers look more similar to the poblanos that Edith posted than the padron peppers. They are indeed thicker and darker than padrón ones and they are not hot despite having a depper taste to pepper than non-hot Padrones. They also take longer to cook because of their thicknes.

Que aproveche Guapo!!!