Ever wonder why you have trouble reproducing that amazing dish featuring chili peppers that you had elsewhere? Ever wonder why there is such a proliferation of different kinds of peppers both spicy and sweet and everything in between?
The answer is actually quite complex.
Peppers which definitely came from South America are rather complex objects. They are incredibly sensitive to what the French might call terroir.
The soil matters; the amount of sunlight matters; the temperature of the warm day versus the cool night matters a lot. In short, they are rather fickle little things.
Take the same strain and plant it in two different places — warm Louisana as opposed to cooler Oregon, just to take two places at random and you will get diametrically opposing results from the same plant. Even the same strain in the same location will differ from year to year because the weather is variable.
That's just one of the problems.
They've also had a solid five centuries to spread all over the world. The different sub-species were pushed not only by natural selection but also cultural selection into the hundreds of varieties all over the globe. (Contrast with oranges which are completely ancient but there aren't that many sub-species of oranges out there even with all the human-controlled cross-pollination.)
This is the reason that some of the magnificent dishes of Sri Lanka really cannot be reproduced elsewhere. Even if you got the seeds, you don't have the weather.
It's the same reason that Hungary keeps a really tight lid on one of its products — Hungarian paprika. You will get arrested if you try to steal the seeds and smuggle them out. They did smuggle them successfully and tried to reproduce them in Oregon. All the efforts failed. The climates might be "similar" but they are not similar enough. The soil certainly isn't.
The same goes for the different varieties of Spanish paprika.
The story of Tabasco which is a product of Louisiana follows the same pattern. They've had a limited amount of success reproducing it in Mexico but it wasn't easy. (The story of Tabasco is rather fascinating since it has all the elements of a financial thriller — competitors, corruption, patent laws, politicians, bankruptcy, questionable tactics, possible illegality, etc.)
All to protect a brand that, truth be said, the CC is kinda fond of.
It's actually rather hard to get the truly great peppers of Peru. Even in New York. Only the dozen or two of so most-commonly used peppers actually proliferate. The most common ones are probably more "robust" than the other strains.
What it does mean though that if you want to eat truly great peppers, you'll just have to go to the source.
It's good to reminded from time to time that travel matters and that "variety truly is the spice of life."
Showing posts with label paprika. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paprika. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Saturday, August 22, 2015
Huevos Rotos
After the insane tapas party, the CC needed to make something basic and elemental. He did some searching and, lo and behold, he had all the ingredients necessary for a nutritious and tasty breakfast.
This is not a "fast" dish. However, you don't need to do much. Set the timer and get away.
Best eggs ever. They combine the magic of "home fries" and poached eggs in one easy dish.
You need to serve them with jamon serrano, of course.
Ingredients
(serves 2)
1 large onion (chopped coarsely)
1 green pepper (chopped into matchsticks)
3 fingerling potatoes (chopped into thin rounds)
4 cloves garlic (minced fine)
4 eggs
1/4 cup parsley
1 tsp paprika (agridolce)
olive oil
salt
pepper
Recipe
You need a frying pan that has a lid.
Heat up some olive oil in a pan. When it shimmers, toss in the onion and the garlic. Fry for a bit. Add the peppers and let them fry for a bit. Add the potatoes, turn the heat down to the lowest possible setting and let them cook. Add the paprika, salt and pepper. Let the potatoes cook for at least 25 minutes. Add the parsley and let cook for an additional 5 minutes. (Total of 30 minutes.)
Keep stirring while the potatoes cook. Every 10 minutes is sufficient. No need to break them up.
You will be able to smell the potatoes being done. It's unmistakable.
Spread the mixture evenly over the pan. Crack the four eggs in the four corners. Cover the pan and let cook for 4 minutes. You may need an extra minute but take the pan off the heat once the whites are set.
Serve the poached eggs - two per person with the potatoes below. The yolk will be barely set but that's perfect when you crack it and it coats the potatoes. Enjoy with the jamon in tow.
This is not a "fast" dish. However, you don't need to do much. Set the timer and get away.
Best eggs ever. They combine the magic of "home fries" and poached eggs in one easy dish.
You need to serve them with jamon serrano, of course.
Ingredients
(serves 2)
1 large onion (chopped coarsely)
1 green pepper (chopped into matchsticks)
3 fingerling potatoes (chopped into thin rounds)
4 cloves garlic (minced fine)
4 eggs
1/4 cup parsley
1 tsp paprika (agridolce)
olive oil
salt
pepper
Recipe
You need a frying pan that has a lid.
Heat up some olive oil in a pan. When it shimmers, toss in the onion and the garlic. Fry for a bit. Add the peppers and let them fry for a bit. Add the potatoes, turn the heat down to the lowest possible setting and let them cook. Add the paprika, salt and pepper. Let the potatoes cook for at least 25 minutes. Add the parsley and let cook for an additional 5 minutes. (Total of 30 minutes.)
Keep stirring while the potatoes cook. Every 10 minutes is sufficient. No need to break them up.
You will be able to smell the potatoes being done. It's unmistakable.
Spread the mixture evenly over the pan. Crack the four eggs in the four corners. Cover the pan and let cook for 4 minutes. You may need an extra minute but take the pan off the heat once the whites are set.
Serve the poached eggs - two per person with the potatoes below. The yolk will be barely set but that's perfect when you crack it and it coats the potatoes. Enjoy with the jamon in tow.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Buttermilk Roast Chicken & Green Bean Salad
This is the closest you are likely to come to the ethereal ideal of the Southern fried chicken without frying the chicken.
It pulls out all the tricks of marination to make it memorable.
Most importantly, it can all be made ahead of time and quickly assembled on a Monday (attn: office monkeys!)
Also, this assembly totally and utterly rocks for a picnic (or an office) eaten at room temperature.
For the vegetarians, the side salad is slap-your-mama good™ so there's something in here for everyone.
It just requires a tiny bit of effort ahead of time. For about 5 minutes. Surely even you have that!
Ingredients (Buttermilk Roast Chicken)
8 chicken thighs, or legs (with skin)
2 cups buttermilk
5 cloves garlic (smashed)
1 tbsp sweet paprika
4 tbsp fresh ground pepper
2 tbsp sea salt
Recipe
Marinate the chicken with the buttermilk, smashed garlic, sweet paprika, pepper and sea salt for at least 24 hours. Preferably 48.
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
On a baking dish, arrange the chicken legs. (Throw the marinade away.) Drizzle with olive oil lightly and sprinkle some more paprika, sea salt and black pepper.
Roast for roughly 30 minutes until they are a bit brown.
Ingredients (Green Bean Salad)
1 lb green beans (trimmed)
1 large red onion
2 stalks celery
4 radishes (sliced real thin)
1/2 cup whole almonds
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp sea salt
olive oil
Recipe
Slice the onion into really fine rings.
Whisk the vinegar, water, sugar and the sea salt together. Soak the onion rings in the mixture for at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour.
Heat a small skillet with the olive oil. Fry the almonds until they are golden. Remove and let cool. When cool, cut into halves or thirds. (Yes, this matters. Roasting the almonds is simply not the same here.)
Assemble an ice bath. Water + Ice.
Heat a pot of water. Dunk the trimmed beans into the boiling water for about 5-6 minutes until tender. Dump out the water. Dump the beans into the ice-bath.
Remove the onions from the pickling liquid. Keep the liquid.
Assemble the salad. Beans, celery, radishes, almonds.
Make a vinaigrette with the pickling liquid and toss everything together.
Slap-your-mama™ while eating!
It pulls out all the tricks of marination to make it memorable.
Most importantly, it can all be made ahead of time and quickly assembled on a Monday (attn: office monkeys!)
Also, this assembly totally and utterly rocks for a picnic (or an office) eaten at room temperature.
For the vegetarians, the side salad is slap-your-mama good™ so there's something in here for everyone.
It just requires a tiny bit of effort ahead of time. For about 5 minutes. Surely even you have that!
Ingredients (Buttermilk Roast Chicken)
8 chicken thighs, or legs (with skin)
2 cups buttermilk
5 cloves garlic (smashed)
1 tbsp sweet paprika
4 tbsp fresh ground pepper
2 tbsp sea salt
Recipe
Marinate the chicken with the buttermilk, smashed garlic, sweet paprika, pepper and sea salt for at least 24 hours. Preferably 48.
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
On a baking dish, arrange the chicken legs. (Throw the marinade away.) Drizzle with olive oil lightly and sprinkle some more paprika, sea salt and black pepper.
Roast for roughly 30 minutes until they are a bit brown.
Ingredients (Green Bean Salad)
1 lb green beans (trimmed)
1 large red onion
2 stalks celery
4 radishes (sliced real thin)
1/2 cup whole almonds
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp sea salt
olive oil
Recipe
Slice the onion into really fine rings.
Whisk the vinegar, water, sugar and the sea salt together. Soak the onion rings in the mixture for at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour.
Heat a small skillet with the olive oil. Fry the almonds until they are golden. Remove and let cool. When cool, cut into halves or thirds. (Yes, this matters. Roasting the almonds is simply not the same here.)
Assemble an ice bath. Water + Ice.
Heat a pot of water. Dunk the trimmed beans into the boiling water for about 5-6 minutes until tender. Dump out the water. Dump the beans into the ice-bath.
Remove the onions from the pickling liquid. Keep the liquid.
Assemble the salad. Beans, celery, radishes, almonds.
Make a vinaigrette with the pickling liquid and toss everything together.
Slap-your-mama™ while eating!
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