November Top Tips

Pick a Peck of Peppers....

Soon to be added to the Spicery range are some Introduction to..... paprika, chilli or peppercorn boxes Each little box will contain 6 different types with some background information and a quick, tasty recipe for each sample. All chillies and paprika originate from the capsicum plant (capsicum annum) native to South America. Mistakenly named 'pepper' by Christopher Columbus the spicy fruit was only distributed throughout the world from the 16th century, much to the advantage of many global cuisines. Who can imagine Indian curries without the deep red Kashmiri chilli, a Thai stir fry without the tiny but intensely spicy birdseye chilli or a hearty Hungarian goulash without warming paprika? Pepper, on the other hand has been used and sort-after for centuries. Known as the ‘king of spices’ or ‘black gold’, it’s native to South India and prior to the introduction of chilli was where Indian food gained its heat. It’s not just heat that pepper, chilli and paprika provide and their use is not restricted to savoury curries and stews. They can have amazing sweetness and flavour notes reminiscent of different fruits. For example Turkish Urfa and Mexican Ancho chillies taste a little bit fruity and work extremely well with chocolate. Different types of pepper such as long and pink can also work beautifully with the sweetness of summer fruit such as strawberries. At this time of year though, you want something that’s great for adding warmth and savouriness to your food so this month’s free sample is sweet smoked paprika. Here are a few ideas to use it:

• A quick tomato sauce for pasta - fry an onion until soft and starting to brown, add a couple of cloves of garlic, the contents of the sample, a tin of tomatoes, ½ tsp salt and a pinch of sugar. Cook for 20 minutes and serve on top of your favourite pasta with a handful of grated cheese
• Sprinkle over the top of a vegetable soup or even in a sandwich filling
• Roast potatoes - add the contents of the pack to your roast potatoes for a lovely red colour and smoky, sweet flavour
• Stir into any stew or slow cooked dish,particularly ones that contain fresh peppers, tomatoes and onions - there’s a reason that goulash, lesco and pörkölt are so popular in Hungary!

Happy Spicing!