The Quest for Pimientos de Padron

Saturday, August 2nd, 2008

Filed Under Spanish 

Pimientos de Padrón aka Padrón peppers is a variety of green peppers from Spain. We had these in Spain last December and were totally hooked! I looked around for them here after we got back, to no avail! So I gave up and assumed that I will have to just go back to Spain for another taste.

Well, everything changed last Monday! I first found this post at House of Annie, looking at all those peppers in their green glory was pure torture! I went to the Happy Quail Farms website from there, but they only ship the peppers wholesale. The minimum order was 5lbs, for a moment there I was seriously contemplating getting a 5lb bag and throwing a pepper party for all my friends. Anyway, I left a comment on that post and as luck would have it, fellow Seattleite (and I must say lifesaver) Chris of We [Heart] Food saw the comment and sent me an e-mail that The Spanish Table was selling these right here in Seattle! Check out Chris’s post on these as well!

Spanish Table is at a walkable distance from our house, but they are only open till 6 PM. It was a really bad week at work, I was putting in about 12 hours a day. But the craving for these peppers was so bad, I got out early and just made it in time at 5:59 PM, only to be informed that they ran out of the peppers, but not to worry, they were getting a fresh batch on Wednesday. Wednesday and Thursday were so bad, I just couldn’t get out in time. Finally Friday came by, and this time I made it! Three bags of the most amazing peppers in the world were mine! At $6.99 for a 1/4 lb bag, these are kinda pricey, but I must say it is totally worth it!

These peppers are somewhat sweet, and the preparation is so simple! Just saute these in olive oil and sprinkle some salt, you are ready for the treat of a lifetime!  About one in ten of these peppers are supposed to be hot though, so eating them is considered a culinary Russian Roulette! We had these twice in Spain, and never found a hot one, so I was really looking forward to finding at least one spicy one. This batch had a few, but they were still kind of mild for my Indian palate!

Padron Peppers

Spanish 013

While at the Spanish Table, we picked up some more Spanish goodies- couple of wines, olive oil, sea salt, smoked paprika, a bunch of olives, chorizo, pink peppercorns, olive spread and some chocolate.

ShoppingLoot

With all that loot, we had to make ourselves a Spanish Tapas dinner. Siv made his now-famous Spanish style sauteed chicken with garlic. This time he made it the real authentic way, with the Spanish olive oil and the Spanish smoked paprika and Spanish wine! With some fried chorizo and bread with the olive spread, our dinner was as good as any restaurant fare we’ve had!

Spanish Meal

I couldn’t get a good close-up of the peppers, so here is one we took in Spain! Thanks again Chris, you have no idea how much we enjoyed these! All of you who haven’t had these, you must think I am crazy, all this for just some fried peppers you say? I challenge you to give it a try, and let me know if it is worth all the fuss. If you are in the San Francisco region, you are in luck! This site has a list of places to buy these from. All others, search around I am sure you will find them somewhere. But hurry up, summer won’t last forever!



Comments

25 Responses to “The Quest for Pimientos de Padron”

  1. indosungod on August 2nd, 2008 5:58 pm

    Those peppers look awesome. If they taste even half as I am imagining them to be :), I definitely understand the trouble you went to get to them.

    I am sure these are as good as you are imagining them to be, Indo… :) Its worth the trouble, so look out for them……

  2. Nate on August 2nd, 2008 6:17 pm

    Sig, I’m glad you found them. They are pretty amazing peppers, aren’t they?

    I sure would like to try your Spanish style chicken. It looks simple and delicious!

    Nate, thanks for the post that lead me to these amazing peppers… :) And yeah, try the Spanish chicken when you get a chance, it is delicious!

  3. Chris on August 2nd, 2008 6:41 pm

    :drool: :drool: :drool:
    Glad they restocked! I have to get there soon myself. And that chicken looks great.

    Thanks again Chris! I am also hopping to get one more batch before the season is over…

  4. rachel on August 3rd, 2008 12:30 am

    That is some cravable spanish booty there :smile:
    For now I will drool just looking at your visuals!!!

    Thanks Rachel! :)

  5. sra on August 3rd, 2008 1:41 am

    I can imagine why you’re excited. Fried chillies have got to be one of the most tastiest things on earth :drool: - I’ve never done an entire batch myself but have come across the odd one or two in other stuff and always go for them!

    I can’t imagine having a whole batch of the spicy peppers, one ore two will be okay! These are really sweet, and the olive oil-sea salt combo brings out the flavor! I have to try with other kinds of mild peppers to find if anything comes close…

  6. Shreya on August 3rd, 2008 6:37 am

    I can hardly pronounce the title! But loved your post:-) These look great and looks very spicy, I can’t imagine that something that looks like swollen chillies (so fresh and green) can be ’somewhat sweet.’ The preparation is definitely simple. I am so glad you finally got to enjoy them.

    It just looks spicy, luckily the flavor is very mild… :) Yeah the work is just to find them, the preparation is so darn easy! :)

  7. nags on August 3rd, 2008 8:00 am

    wow! you say they are not spicy either? lovely! i don’t know if i shud even bother lookin for them in singapore but i just might cuz the preparation is so simple!

    I have no idea if it is available in Singapore, but for all we know it might be! If you can find them, definitely give it a try!

  8. Gini on August 3rd, 2008 11:17 am

    I remember drooling at those peppers from your Spain pics. They look delish.

    Thanks Gini, They sure are delish… :)

  9. Marians on August 3rd, 2008 1:16 pm

    Yay! Interesting…

    :) thanks!

  10. Rajitha on August 3rd, 2008 2:41 pm

    that is dedication siggy :D…and i can totally relate to go over the top on things that strike my fancy and ‘i gotta have that’ mentality!…missed ur posta..hope things get easier at work :)

    :) I know! When it comes to food, sometimes I get into that mood… :) Hope you are doing good…. and yeah, work sucks… :(

  11. musical on August 3rd, 2008 5:03 pm

    YUMMY! Finally all your efforts paid off, girl! These must have been such a treat after a long work day! And that’s quite a loot with all the goodies you got :-D. Throwing a pepper party for friends, i am in ;)

    hugs,
    musical.

    Hey, you are in the bay area, you should check out one of those markets musy, I’m sure you will love these!

  12. Mamatha on August 3rd, 2008 10:43 pm

    Won’t you please invite me if you throw a pepper party? Seriously, those are some goregeous-looking peppers.

    I tried you kadala curry recently - it was fabulous. I thinking it’s the frying of the coconut that gives it that lovely aroma. A question regarding another post of yours - where can I find Potuguese sausage? I really like it but have only eaten in in restaurants and have had no luck finding them in grocery stores - tried WF, some local charcuteries but to no avail. But then again my city is no Seattle when it come to food.

    Mamatha, come by anytime, I will throw a pepper party just for you :D
    I am glad you liked the kadala curry, fried coconut does have a great aroma…

    I found the portugese sausage at Uwajimaya, a local Asian grocer. Portugese sausage at an Asian grocer, weird huh? I guess they are Asian + international.. Anyway, if you can’t find portugese sausage, try fresh chorizo (preferably Mexican) in that recipe, that should work too.

  13. Raaga on August 4th, 2008 4:40 am

    Let me run off in the opposite direction :-)

    These are not spicy, if that is what you are running away from… :)

  14. Laavanya on August 4th, 2008 7:03 am

    Considering the lengths you went to get these (esp. during a tough work week) - i’m sure these were fabulous! :)

    :) they were, but then again I am a little crazy ;)

  15. Nirmala on August 4th, 2008 8:45 am

    And I am fianlly here Si after residing behind firewalls and a tortoise-speed home network I am fianlly here in to a place where there is neither fire nor walls :) I am mor than happy to visit u’re blog after a long time. So these peppers looks awesome. We used to snack on the mor-milaai made from Tanjur Gundu milagai. They will never be hot but simply delicious. The Spanish platter looks lovely!

    Aah firewalls, you gotta love those :) Very nice to see you back Nirmala… Hope the new job is not keeping you too busy!

  16. Mishmash! on August 4th, 2008 12:13 pm

    I remember your Spain post ,especially how you fell in love with these peppers…..so i can imagine how excited u must ve been seeing some light at the end of ur search….we have a tapas restaurant in our small town…need to check if they serve these…yet to visit the place….anyway thanks for refreshing my memory :)

    I couldn’t find these in the tapas restaurants around here… :( But you must check out the neighborhood tapas’ place, I am sure you are going to love the variety!

  17. sumarajesh on August 4th, 2008 7:31 pm

    :grin: oh my gosh..this looks pretty in colour and spicy..is tempting too..i will just have it as a snack item..happy belated friendship day dear..

    Thanks Suma… they only look spicy :) And thanks for the friendship day wishes, I wish you the same :)

  18. Aparna on August 4th, 2008 10:50 pm

    Now thats a foodie!! getting off early from work just to get hold of peppers! The peppers look awesome Sig. And your table set up looks so yummy. Hope work eases up
    -A

    :) hehe, you gotta satisfy those cravings, right? :) And thans, work is a bit better this week… :)

  19. Aparna on August 4th, 2008 11:49 pm

    Those peppers look pretty nice and considering the way you’ve been searcing them out, I guess they’re reaaly good.
    Out here, I’m always searching for stuff I used to take for granted before!:D

    They are really good…. :) And I know all about searching for stuff that we used to dismiss as too ordinary before :)

  20. richa on August 5th, 2008 4:17 pm

    pepper party :(Martini): but i hope i don’t get the extra spicy :wink:
    btw, do these pimientoes come in red color as well? i’ve been wanting to make this pimiento cheese dip i saw somewhere, looked like red peppers :smile:

    Oh you wussy, no extra spicy, huh? :D
    I think pimientoe or pimento just means pepper in Spanish… so the red ones you’ve seen must be a different variety of peppers.. I have only seen green in the Padron peppers…

  21. mary-anne on August 5th, 2008 4:53 pm

    I have grown these peppers and of course Quail Farms is not far away. I am not in love with these peppers. I find many others have far more flavour, but I am a ChileHead.

    :) yeah, if you are expecting chile spicy when you bite into this, then you are in for a disappointment… I love the subtle sweet flavor!

  22. Kaykat on August 6th, 2008 3:49 am

    Love that spanish table, especially their wines. Didn’t realize they stocked Padrón peppers, gots to snag some of that!

    Hurry up…. and call before you go to make sure they’ve got them… :)

  23. swirlingnotions on August 8th, 2008 1:18 pm

    Great post! I’ve had that very bag of Happy Quail Farms peppers on my own counter. But last year I finally started growing my own (I have a post about it here This year I have eight plants in all and the first peppers are just starting to plump out. Seeing those shiny shriveled skins in your photos makes me impatient! :-)

    Growing your own pardrons? Wow, I am jealous! :)

  24. usha on August 12th, 2008 12:08 pm

    hi sig, after i saw ur post, i did a search on pimientos de peppers. everyone who tasted it seems to crave for it. reading everyones posts even i started craving for it and ordered my bag of padron peppers from LaTienda. Can’t wait to receive them..

    Hi Usha, you are in for a treat! Let me know how you like it… :)

  25. Suganya on August 14th, 2008 5:55 pm

    What great taste you have, Sig. So what if its just fried peppers, its these simple dishes that make all the difference in a platter.

Leave a Reply