Pimiento padron
A small, green pepper, the pimiento de padron, from Galicia, is prized for one strange property—algunos pican y otros non. That’s to say, some are spicy and others aren’t and, despite many theories being proffered, it’s nigh-on impossible to know which is which before biting into one.
Pimiento piquillo
The fertile land of the Ebre river valley produces excellent peppers of many shapes, sizes and uses. Navarra is the home of the piquillo pepper, the small, beak-shaped red pepper that mostly comes in conserved form in jars or cans. Those certified by the DO of Lodosa are considered by many to be the best, with Pedro Luis and El Navarrico being two of the tastiest brands. For a preserved pepper to be DO, it must be scorched over an open flame, and peeled, destalked and deseeded by hand without the application of chemicals, or even water! In Lodosa, itself, peppers that still have some green on the skin are highly prized.
Cornicabra
The cornicabra from Rioja gets its name (goat horn) from its curved form. It’s picked ripe and red and usually sold in dried form. The pepper’s lightly spicy flavour and rich red colour are prized in dishes such as besugo a la riojana.
Alegrías riojanos
From the same earthly bosom, the prettily-named alegrías riojanos are similar to piquillos, but smaller and with an unusually high level of spice, which unusually seems to be appreciated by the locals—hence the name of happy riojanos!
Pimiento choricero
Another dried red pepper, long and more oval in shape, from the Basque country. After being soaked in water, its flesh is scraped out and used in many typical Basque dishes, such as bacalao a la vizcaína.
Pimiento de Guernika
Another Basque pepper is the pimiento de Guernika—small, green peppers similar to pimientos de padron, except they’re prized by delicate palates because they don’t share the padron’s dangerous random spiciness.
Ñora
The ñora is often confused with the pimiento choricero, however, it’s shorter, more bell shaped, and comes from Murcia. It’s used in a similar way, but you shouldn’t think they can be substituted for one another (unless you want to start some sort of Basque-Murcia war). The most iconic dish of which they’re a vital ingredient is the caldero, a rice dish from the Mar Menor.
Chilindrón (Serves 4. Time: 50 minutes)
300g jamon serrano
6 large red and green peppers
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