Chile Peppers
Page 18
As in Mexico and New Mexico, chiles mild and hot are tied to trecce (ristras) and air-dried. The mild dried peperoni are often fried crispy in olive oil (peperoni cruschi, pronounced “kruushki”), a tasty appetizer. The hot ones are used for pepper flakes and for powder (peperoncino macinato).
Today there are endless varieties of peperoncini in Italy, as well as the mild relatives derived from them, the peperoni. Numerous are also the names given to them, and these vary from region to region. They’re all of the Capsicum annuum species. But with the many chileheads also in Italy these days, “international” chiles like jalapeño, habanero, or even ‘Carolina Reaper’ can also be found here. In fact, many Italian interest groups, on Facebook as well as in real life, enjoy growing and consuming peppers from all over the world.
SHORT DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ITALIAN
PEPERONCINI/PEPERONI
1 cornetto Horn-shaped, cayenne-like chile with pleasant heat. 7/10. With the same appearance, there is also a ‘Diavolicchio Diamante’ cultivar that’s being used for the annual Peperoncino Eating Championship in Diamante, Calabria. With 40,000–50,000 SHU, it is even hotter—
HEAT 8/10.SUBSTITUTE cayenne.
2 bacio di Satana The “Satan’s kiss” peppers from the Italian region of Abruzzo are often filled with capers or tuna and packed in oil as an appetizer (antipasto). Shape sometimes round, sometimes slightly longish.
HEAT 6/10.SUBSTITUTE ‘Cherry Hot’.
3 naso di cane Named for its dog-nose shape, great for filling and drying. The latter often done in southern Italy, threaded as trecce (ristras).
HEAT 6–7/10.SUBSTITUTE ‘Cherry Hot’.
4 ciliegino A small cherry-pepper type that’s often packed in olive oil, used for antipasti or as a tasty snack.
HEAT 0–1/10.SUBSTITUTE ‘Cherry Mild,’ cascabel.
5 dolce calabrese Heatless thin-fleshed pepper that’s widely used in this region. Used fresh green or red-seared in oil, as a side dish, or dried after frying in olive oil (peperoni cruschi). Many Calabrians dry their peperoni dolce tied as trecce (ristras) on their balconies in late summer. Also used ground as a paprika powder.
HEAT 0–1/10.SUBSTITUTE milder New Mexican green chile varieties.
6 sigaretta di Bergamo With the slim shape slightly suggestive of a cigarette, this thin-walled pepper from the northern Italian Lombardy region can be pickled green or used fresh in salads, but the red mature pods also dry well.
HEAT 1–3/10. (Other regions also have sigaretta peppers with different shapes.)SUBSTITUTE cayenne with larger pods.
The peperoncini of Italy. Photograph by Harald Zoschke. Used with permission.
7 tondo calabrese The ball-shaped pepper from Calabria, served stuffed with tuna or porcini mushrooms as an antipasto.
HEAT 6/10.SUBSTITUTE ‘Cherry Hot,’ ‘Cherry Bomb.’
8 Cedrino Originally from Panama, now common in Italy. Bright yellow pods with a slight citrus note, surprisingly hot.
HEAT 7–8/10.SUBSTITUTE yellow cayenne.
9 diavolicchio calabrese Most likely the hottest Calabrian chile, “little devils” indeed. Prolific, dries well.
HEAT 9/10.SUBSTITUTE pequin (piquin), chiltepín.
10 peperone di Senise IGP Red and horn-shaped, used since the sixteenth century crisped in olive oil (peperoni cruschi) and dried/ground for a flavorful paprika powder.
HEAT 0/10. Pods vary in actual shape, even on the same plant.
SUBSTITUTE milder New Mexican green chile varieties.
11 Stromboli Named after the famous Sicilian volcano, this attractive pepper grows in clusters. Great ornamental, also in containers.
HEAT 6–7/10.SUBSTITUTE pequin (piquin), chiltepín.
12 peperone di Capriglio Grown in the area around Capriglio in the province of Asti, located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, not far from Turin. Recognized since 2010 by the Presidio Slow Food, this more than 100-year-old cultivar resembles a small bell pepper, maturing to a nice yellow color. The fruits have a mild, sweet flavor and crisp, juicy flesh, ideal to just slice and munch, to fill, to put in salads, or to put on the grill.
HEAT 0/10 (Harald’s mild-pepper favorite.)SUBSTITUTE yellow bell peppers.
13 friggitello The Italian frying pepper. Originally from Campania, now available all over Italy, even in supermarkets. Various cultivars go by this name. Matures to red but is usually sold and consumed green.
HEAT 0/10.SUBSTITUTE pimientos de padrón, shishito, mild New Mexican green chiles.
14 corno rosso A tasty bell pepper alternative from Piedmont (Northern Italy).
HEAT 0/10.SUBSTITUTE corno di toro, Carmen (named after the opera), cubanelle, gypsy, bell pepper.
15 mazzetto A hot beauty from Sicily that grows in clusters that look like bouquets, hence the name. Widely used in the Italian kitchen.
HEAT 7/10.SUBSTITUTE ‘NuMex Mirasol,’ thin-fleshed cayenne (milder), santaka (hotter).
16 amando From Calabria, similar to cayenne but meatier.
HEAT 6/10.SUBSTITUTE meaty cayenne (Louisiana or ‘NuMex Las Cruces Cayenne’).
17 aceto Named “vinegar” because that’s how these pale green peppers are canned; used on pizza or for antipasti.
HEAT 1/10.SUBSTITUTE green (immature) cayenne of a larger pod type.
THE PEPERONCINO-EATING CONTEST:
A BURNED-OUT THEATER OF THE ABSURD
It took a long time for chile peppers to have any impact on Italian cuisine, despite the fact that they first appeared there in 1526, which indicates that they were transferred about the same time as tomatoes were, which makes sense because of Spain’s control over Naples at the time. Antonio Latini briefly mentioned them as an ingredient in some sauces, and a century later Vincenzo Corrado called peppers a “vulgar, rustic food.” It wasn’t until the nineteenth century that pickled peppers were mentioned; however, in the twentieth century chile peppers called peperoncini were grown extensively in the regions of Calabria and Senise, where they have gradually dominated the local cuisine.
Since Columbus was responsible for the introduction of chile peppers into Europe, it was only fitting that the first Peperoncino Festival was held in 1992, 500 years after he found them in the New World. Organized by the Accademia Italiana del Peperoncino, or the Italian Pepper Academy, and its leader, Enzo Monaco, the festival started out small but in recent years has drawn tens of thousands of visitors to the small town of Diamante in Calabria, the “toe” of the “boot” that is Italy. The festival is held for four days surrounding the first weekend in September, on the Lungomare, the promenade on Diamante’s seaside. The Italian and other European chileheads are drawn by a unique blend of a chile-vendor market, music, movies, satire, art, folklore, and samplings from local restaurants. More than a hundred vendors have booths offering up everything imaginable related to the beloved peperoncini, including these items:
Peperoncino stand, Diamante. Photograph by Dave DeWitt.
•salsiccia, a lean pork sausage with fennel seeds and peperoncini
•la bomba, a sort of spiced-up sangria
•a Calabrian peperoncino chocolate liquor called crema di cacao al peperoncino
•pungent peperoncino pasta products
•Grappa al Peperoncino di Calabria, the famous Italian grape brandy in a kicked-up version with chiles floating in the bottle
•Olio Santo (holy oil), bright red chile-infused olive oil in decorative bottles
•alici al peperoncino, a Calabrian specialty, freshly hatched sardines densely packed with peperoncini and some salt
•a plethora of sweet-heat products, including baci di Casanova, dark chocolates with a creamy-smooth chile-spiced center; confettura di peperoncino al cioccolato, a spicy chile-chocolate spread; crostata piccante, a short pastry tart with a spicy-sweet icing; cannoli al peperoncino, crunchy pastry pipes filled with vanilla creme, spiced up with plenty of peperoncino bits; and dolce della nonna al peperoncino, grandma’s sponge cake with a kick
•vinagra,
a red wine infused with chiles
The Accademia del Peperoncino was predicting an attendance of 150,000 for the five days of the Peperoncino Festival the year I visited it as the guest of honor, in 2010. Being a show producer, I was skeptical of the estimate, but after witnessing the crowds myself, I was convinced that the projection was not exaggerated. Of course, peperoncini were just an excuse for the Italians to party, and there were many different foods being served, but that said, the festival focused on chiles to the point of madness usually found only at the National Fiery Foods and Barbecue Show held annually in Albuquerque. So of course they had to have a chile-eating contest, and I had to be a judge of it. I had thought that my nickname, the Pope of Peppers, might offend the Catholic Italians, but not so. I saw newspaper headlines that called me “Il Papa del Peperoncino.”
The idea that 10 victims would attempt the torture of eating nearly the weight of a chihuahua of hot chiles at one sitting in front of a cheering crowd of 2,000 peperoncinoheads may seem strange to Americans, but just consider the extreme eating contests we have in the US. Stuffing down dozens and dozens of hot dogs or funnel cakes while attempting to avoid vomiting is great fun for everyone, right?
Well, I had been drafted, protesting, into serving as one of the head judges, and my job was to first avoid laughing while judging, and second to make sure the contestants were not stuffing the chopped chiles into their pockets and shoes. Third, I had to count the number of each contestant’s finished plastic plates and multiply it by 50 grams to determine total weight—all while Queen’s “We Are the Champions” blared from the speakers at top volume. And without even a birra to help me through it.
The champion from 2009, Anna Greco, was in the number-one position and was determined, it seemed, to surpass her own record of 750 grams. She got off to a great start, wolfing down with a spoon what seemed to be finely chopped serranos while her fans chanted “Anna, Anna, Anna” to the beat of the Queen song. Her competition was not much, and they began to drop like burned-out flies. One ate 50 grams and then ran from the stage, the wimp. Two more soon gave up with embarrassed looks as if they had farted during confession. Anna hung in there, plowing through the peperoncini, but hey—she outweighed most of the men. Finally, after 15 minutes or so, everyone gave up except for Anna, who was now holding her stomach—11 ½ plates of hot stuff devoured—and slowing way down, her face red and contorted with pain. Was that froth on her mouth?
All eyes were on Anna, and all the TV cameras too. Would she break the record? Would she get a medal from the Italian prime minister? But then, in a shocking turnaround, Anna clutched a napkin to her lips, staggered to her feet, and left the table bending over. Anna, it seemed, had lost her peperoncini. Would she be disqualified? Would she return to the table, now having more room in her stomach? To the “Anna, Anna, Anna” chants, she did return, and could not continue, but was crowned the champion with a lousy 640 grams, about 1.4 pounds. I wanted my money back.
Suddenly, I remembered the Italian Party Principle: The length of time it takes for a party to break up is directly proportional to the number of Italians there. Once my friend Marco took me to a dinner party where it took the 20 guests about an hour to devour the five courses but just to say all the good-byes took another 45 minutes! I looked around and calculated 35 people on stage and 2,000 in the audience. We would be there until the Christmas presents were opened! In the confusion, I snuck to the back of the stage, down the small steps, and out to the street—ciao, baby, bye-bye! I found the nearest bar and to hell with the birra, I was soon sipping a whiskey—that’s Italian for Scotch. A reliable witness told me, the next day, that a half hour later, the on-stage host, Gianni Pellegrino, was still asking into the mike, “Mr. DeVitt, Mr. DeVitt, where are you?”
Chile peppers had conquered yet another European country.
Chicken tikka masala. Photograph by bhofack2. iStock.
INDONESIA IN AMSTERDAM
The first thing we did after our train arrived in Amsterdam was to check into the appropriately named Eden Hotel. Our room was much larger than we expected and nicely furnished. However, we weren’t going to spend much time in it. The second order of business was to find some fiery food, so we asked the concierge to suggest a good Indonesian restaurant, and he pulled a card for the Indrapura and gave directions. It was just a few blocks away on Rembrandtplein (plein means “plaza”).
Along our walk to Rembrandtplein, we passed several coffee shops where the patrons, sitting outside, were sipping either coffee or beer and casually smoking joints or puffing on hashish pipes. Amsterdam is a very liberal city, we discovered, but we had other spices on our minds. The Indrapura turned out to be a beautifully furnished medium-size restaurant with teak-lined walls and attractive Indonesian Dutch waitresses dressed in batik sarongs. We were asked if we had reservations, which, of course, we did not. But fortunately, we were there early, so we promised them we would be finished before the crowd arrived.
We ordered some wine for Mary Jane, a dark beer for me, and some Indonesian-style egg rolls with a spicy chile sauce to dip them in. For our main courses, Mary Jane tried the Beef Rendang, and I feasted on the Udang Rica (Spicy Prawns). Both were excellent, with medium heat, and Peter ten Cate, one of the owners of Indrapura, provided recipes—see the end of the article. Mary Jane can never resist dessert, but at least she ordered one with spice in it—Indonesian Cinnamon Cake, topped with Cinnamon Ice Cream. I took a little taste and it was superb. By the time we finished dessert, the restaurant was full, with people waiting, so we took our leave of the charming establishment and walked off the dinner by wandering through the neighborhood.
The following day we had a lesson on why Indonesian restaurants are so popular in the Netherlands. We visited the Scheepvaartmuseum (Netherlands Maritime Museum) and went on board the Amsterdam, a replica of a Dutch spice-trading ship that was built from 1985 to 1990. The original was launched in 1749. It was an interesting experience for me because I had been on board a replica of the Batavia—an earlier spice ship that dated from 1628—when we had visited Australia. The improvements in 121 years of shipbuilding were remarkable. Not only was the Amsterdam considerably larger and more luxuriant, I could actually stand up in its cargo holds, which was impossible inside the Batavia. The originals of both vessels carried vast quantities of spices and other precious cargo from the Spice Islands, now Indonesia, back to the Netherlands.
Indonesia was, of course, a Dutch colony, but the Dutch interest in the area dated back to 1595, when they began colonization. In 1602, they established the Dutch East India Company to exploit the riches of the region: nutmeg, cloves, mace, and later, black pepper. The Dutch domination of the archipelago lasted until 1949 when Indonesia achieved independence. During that long period of time, there was an enormous amount of interaction and trade, and quite a bit of Indonesian immigration into the Netherlands, which accounts for the popularity of Indonesian food. Chile peppers, introduced by early Portuguese traders, quickly became popular in Indonesian cooking and became a valuable spice commodity in themselves. Indonesia is the third largest grower of chiles in the world. Many Dutch greenhouses grow Indonesian varieties to supply the restaurant trade in the Netherlands.
So the Netherlands is yet another country where the people have fallen in love with chile peppers due their colonial history.
recipes
Enraged pasta. Prepared by Aaron Hill. Photograph by Douglas K. Hill.
ENRAGED PASTA (PENNE ALL’ARRABIATA)
yield
4 servings
heat scale
hot
Of all the spicy Calabrian dishes, this one is probably the best known. Feel free to increase the heat scale by adding more peperoncini. This recipe is from Harald Zoschke, who lives with his wife, Renate, in their house overlooking Lake Garda. The name arrabiata means “angry” in Italian.
2
tablespoons olive oil
2 to 3
medium onions, chopped
&
nbsp; 2 to 3
cloves garlic, finely chopped
2
small chile pods, red, hot (Thai, serrano, or bird’s eye), seeds and stems removed, finely chopped
2
fourteen-ounce cans chopped tomatoes; for example, Progresso
1
pound penne rigate pasta
3 ½
ounces Parmesan cheese, grated
Pinch of sugar, salt
In a pan, heat the olive oil over low heat. Add the onions, garlic, and chiles, and cook until the onions are golden brown. Add the tomatoes and cook, uncovered, for about 15 minutes over low to medium heat.
Meanwhile cook the pasta al dente in lightly salted water, according to the instructions on the package.
Grate the Parmesan cheese and stir half of it into the sauce. Season with salt and sugar to taste.
Drain the pasta well, mix thoroughly with the sauce, and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese. Serve piping hot.
CHORIZO SAUSAGE
yield
about 2 pounds
heat scale
medium
This is the classic Spanish sausage, which was later transplanted to Mexico and flavored with different chiles. Traditionally, the links are air-dried in a cool place before being refrigerated. For a great breakfast treat, remove the sausage from the casings, crumble, and fry it in a pan. Add eggs that have been whisked, and scramble them with the sausage. Serve with a chile sauce made from pimentón. You will need a sausage-stuffer attachment for your grinder for this recipe. In some versions of this recipe, other seasonings, such as cinnamon and coriander, are added.