These tiny, shiny, bright green peppers “pimientos de Padron” “algunos pican, otros no” – some are hot and some are not – are a truly exciting eating experience! Mostly they are nutty and sweet, but when you get a hot one, do you know it!
The original and authentic ones are from Herbon in the municipality of Padron in the province of A Coruna in Galicia and the true season is from May 1st to 31st October. In the good old days no self respecting bar in Galicia would serve them out of those dates. But modern times have changed all of that – now you can sample them all year round and almost everywhere – not just in all corners of Spain, but almost all over Europe it seems. But for the real taste try and make it to the Fiesta de Pimiento de Herbon on the first Saturday in August.
Served as a tapa alongside other tasty dishes like octopus, tortilla, empanada and fried fish, they are very simple to knock up.
All you need is: 300 grammes of Padron peppers, good quality olive oil and coarse sea salt.
1. Rinse and dry the peppers.
2. Heat a good quantity of olive oil in a frying pan on a highish heat until it starts smoking lightly.
3. Add the peppers and cook for a few minutes, tossing them at times, until the skins start to blister and soften.
4. Remove, drain on kitchen paper.
5. Sprinkle with sea salt and serve at once.
To enjoy them on the spot in Galicia and to get to know the area where they were first cultivated, why not treat yourself to a holiday at one of our self catering properties in the region – GPN11, GOLV1, GXUN3 and 4, GOCA1 to name a few or take a road trip round Galicia, discovering all of its delights – Discover Galicia NC5.
