The Quest for Pimientos de Padron
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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!
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.
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!
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!
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Category: Spanish
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.
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!
:drool: :drool: :drool:
Glad they restocked! I have to get there soon myself. And that chicken looks great.
That is some cravable spanish booty there
For now I will drool just looking at your visuals!!!
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 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.
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 remember drooling at those peppers from your Spain pics. They look delish.
Yay! Interesting…
that is dedication siggy
…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 
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
. Throwing a pepper party for friends, i am in 
hugs,
musical.
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.
Let me run off in the opposite direction
Considering the lengths you went to get these (esp. during a tough work week) – i’m sure these were fabulous!
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!
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
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
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
pepper party
Martini): but i hope i don’t get the extra spicy 
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
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.
Love that spanish table, especially their wines. Didn’t realize they stocked Padrón peppers, gots to snag some of that!
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!
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..
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.
[...] after my order shipped from La Tienda I came across this article from LivetoEat which talked about how they found Padron peppers from a place in the San Francisco Bay Area called [...]
we make this with the hotter green chillies in India. its simply slit chillies salted, then washed, dried and fried, (slit or they will explode…. Wash, or your mouth will explode.)
Its a common thing served with bhajiyas in gujarat.
I recommend you skip the bhajiys, and eat the chillies with any meal.
BTW.
Mind blowing site, I was going to start a site like this, but this is such a good site, i decided to patronise this one instead!
[...] appearance these peppers are really mild in flavor. These are very much like their Spanish cousins Pimientos de Padrón aka Padrón peppers. The flavor is mild, but once in a while you might bite into a spicy one, which is where all the [...]