Roasted Peppers!

Maybe this doesn’t qualify as popular culture, then again, maybe it does. After all, everybody has to eat, and everybody’s got an opinion as to what’s delicious. Here’s my opinion on the roasted Capsicum annuum.

I hated peppers when I was younger. Didn’t like the taste, the texture, the color. All bad. Then, sometime during my high school, psuedo-competitive eating phase,  someone called into question my intestinal fortitude when I wouldn’t eat hot peppers. I rectified that situation and fell in love. Thereafter, every time I had a chance, I’d order the hot banana peppers or jalapeno slices on sandwiches when restaurants had them on the menu as an option. Still later, my dad (whose own judgment can be spotty) offered me some roasted red peppers with some sharp provolone. It wasn’t a hot pepper, it was the red variety of Bell pepper, which I’d always hated. Dad explained these were different, because they were roasted and packed in olive oil, and would I just try it? Skeptical, but unwilling to back down from the challenge, I took a pepper and some provolone and…

It was love at first bite.

Later yet, I was a cook. Sometime after recovering from that job, I decided I’d start cooking for myself more, rather than trying to eat out. Eventually, I decided I’d had it paying store prices for things I liked, and finally got myself a copy of Tom Colicchio’s Think Like A Chef. Don’t know Tom Colicchio? I didn’t when I heard of his book like 10 years ago, but thanks to Bravo, and the show Top Chef, I know who Tom Colicchio is NOW. Also… I know who Salman Rushdie‘s ex-wife, Padma Lakshmi, is. Rawr. But I digress…

After getting the book, and talking to another foodie friend who’d done roasted peppers before, I went about the roasting. It’s a much slower process than I was used to, as a high heat, short order cook. It calmed me down to wait for the results. When I was done, boy howdy… I, uh, STILL had to sweat the peppers in tupperware for 30 mins, then peel. But then, THEN, I got to eat the roasted pepper fruit of my labors.

Even without the sharp provolone, roasted peppers have an ability to send me. Nowadays, I won’t buy store brand. A little time and effort, and roasted peppers are yours. Feel proud, feel sated, feel that you got your money’s worth.

Deliciously yours,

Lydonwrites