Peppers are another example of those beasts that masquerade as vegetables, although they are really fruit. But since no one would (probably) want a chipotle salad for dessert, for the culinary purposes they are labelled as vegetables. And join the company of tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines, avocado and courgettes.
Broadly, pepper varieties are differentiated by their heat, from the mild as teddy bears Romano peppers to fierce Scotch Bonnets. But because in UK most chilli peppers in shops are labelled just ‘chillies’, we split them into chillies and peppers.
The latter are called ‘bell peppers’ in America – but they have to refer to them in a more specific way, with all the ancho, poblanos, pasillas and hatch peppers they have over there, all of them almost as mild as bell peppers.
Here we cook with what we can get though, so I'm talking mostly about sweet peppers, red, orange, yellow or green. Those colours depend on the ripeness of the peppers so naturally, green ones are the cheapest, being picked the earliest. Red ones are arguably the sweetest though it could be the eye-taste bud connection telling us lies.
The other European varieties sometimes available in the UK are Padron peppers, that can be blistered in the pan and served as tapas. There are other kinds of pimentos, but they will usually appear in our shops in jars (pimentos del piquillo) or as powder (piment d’espelette). Luckily we can at least buy fresh jalapenos and bird’s eyes, or else we’d have to go without tacos or Thai red curry.
No complaints though: sweet or bell peppers are so versatile, and cheap at this time of year, that we can cook plenty gorgeous dishes with them.
Colourful peppers always give vibrancy to dishes they are added to, be it halloumi vegetable skewers or bulgur pilaf. Grill them and serve with partridge breast, or roast them and combine with crispy spiced chickpeas.
They love the company of tomatoes and courgettes, in a chunky vegetable lasagne or a simple ratatouille. But they are a wonderful solitary ingredient too: in muhammara, Middle Eastern red pepper dip, roasted and marinated into delicious condiment, or piled on toast as piperade.
They can be stuffed with rice and chicken and baked, for a lovely one-pan dinner. And they make absolutely delightful sauce for pasta to create a dish called pasta peperonata.
So go get your peppers, as colourful as they come, and use in your cooking every day. Happy peppering!