peppadew bottled peppers

Harvesting and preserving your fruit & veg

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pigletwillie
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I have just eaten some "peppadew" whole sweet mild piquante peppers and was blown away by how good they were.

They look like small round red bell peppers but with a touch of heat to them.

Does anybody have a name for the variety and what are they preserved in.
Kindest regards Piglet

"You cannot plough a field by turning it over in your mind".
valerie chambers
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Hi Piglet,

I have had peppadew, they are lovely.

Suttons used to do a small red pepper, but I haven't had their latest catalogue.

I was looking in the March KG, and there was a recommendation for a seed company, www.italianseedcompany.co.uk. On looking at the catalogue, if you go to the peppers page, Chilli pepper "ciliegia piccante" looks to fit the bill.

I don't know what the peppadew are preserved in, but they are quite sweet.

The following recipe, although for green cherry tomatoes, would probably fit the bill, and you could substitute the little red peppers for the tomatoes.

"PICKLED GREEN TOMATOES

This German recipe calls for green tomatoes ‘small enough to eat whole’, which means growing them deliberately and picking the clusters of small fruit while they are still green, firm and fresh. One of the best varieties to grow is the cherry tomato called Gardener’s Delight. This has the great advantage that the skins of the fruit are unlikely to split.

This is an extraordinary pickle. Once you have tasted it you will never again forget that the tomato really is a fruit. It goes well with cheese, even better with pâtés and terrines.

Makes about 5lb (2.2kg)

5lb (2.25kg) green tomatoes, 1 inch (2.5cm) diameter maximum, stems removed
2 pints (1.2 litres) malt vinegar
6 cloves
1 x 1 inch (2.5cm) cinnamon stick
½ small nutmeg or 2 blades mace)
pinch salt
1 lb sugar
1 pint (600ml) white wine vinegar

Place the tomatoes in a large pan with the malt vinegar. Stir very gently and bring to the boil, then strain immediately. (The malt vinegar can be thrown away or saved for making chutney.) Tip the tomatoes very carefully into a bowl, taking care not to split the skins.

Boil the cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg or mace, salt and sugar with the wine vinegar in a separate pan, then pour hot over the tomatoes. Cover and leave for 24 hours.

On the third day, heat the tomatoes and the liquid together, but do not boil. Lift out the tomatoes with a slotted spoon and pack them carefully into warmed jars. *Throw out any that have accidentally split their skins because they will ruin the effect of the pickle.

Reduce the liquid until it turns slightly syrupy, then strain off the spices and pour the cooling pickle over the tomatoes, making sure they are completely covered. Cover and store for 3 months before opening."

*It is easy to peel these rather than throw them out. Waste not want not.

I copied this verbatim out of a cookbook I borrowed from the library.

Hope this is of some help, if rather long-winded.

Love and kisses,

valmarg
valerie m chambers
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I love pepperdew but Home and Bargains do them much cheaper Pepperdillo can't quite remember whether 39p or 59p I bought 24 ! as pepperdew here are nearly £2
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Tigger
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Tell us more about Home and Bargains - never heard of them!
Guest

They sell a weird range of goods from toiletries medicenes crockery food drink toys a few gardening odds and ends but jars of olives 39p their olive oil and balsamic vinegar is cheap too but you can't rely on them having things next visit so you have to buy when you see things maybe they are only in the North I know of them in Yorkshire and Cumbria
Anonymous

There are branches in Leek and Burton upon Trent, so they're not just up North. They do have a website, but it's nothing like the store name, and I forget what it is. It is printed on the receipts.

You can get some wonderful bargains.

valmarg
Anonymous

Hi Piglet,

How are you getting on with finding a small sweet pepper that you can use to pickle, to reproduce the peppadew pickles.

I have been to a local garden centre today, and found Mr Fothergill's do a small sweet pepper called Topepo Rosso. They have 75 seeds per packet for £1.60. Seeds of Italy have the same variety, but at 300 seeds per packet for £1.49, would appear to be much better value for money.

The Simply Vegetables catalogue from Plants of Distinction list three varieties which could be suitable, these are:- Pepper Alma Paprika, Miniature Red Bell and Sheepnose Pimento.

I did do a bit of a search on Google for baby red peppers. A site that came up was nickys-seeds.co.uk.
It was an interesting site, insofar as most of the chillis we grow are from the Americas, this site had a list of Indian chillis.

Anyway, I hope the above is of some use, and wish you luck replicating the peppadew peppers. It would be appreciated if you could let us know how you get on.

Best wishes,

valmarg
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lizzie
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Hi all

Home and Bargains is in Liverpool too. They do get some weird stuff in but are cheap.

As for Green Tomato Pickle, i've copied that to my recepies folder and will have a bash at that one.
Lots of love

Lizzie
Anonymous

They really are wonderful shops.

They sell Nescafe, which is obviously not for the UK market (as the labels are all in Spanish), but the jars are much better than the UK counterpart. They are square, and the 200gram and 100gram fit together so much better than the round jars. For all you picklers/jammers out there they are well worth buying, even if the coffee is a smidge stronger than we are used to in the UK. It's a bit of a bugger when you buy coffee for the jars rather than the contents!

They are a bit of an upmarket Poundland, as their prices vary. With Poundland you know the price is £1, unless they have a half price sale.

valmarg
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Chantal
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Hi Piglet

I've been bored this afternoon so I thought I'd have a go at your Peppadew problem. I found another forum with a question and answer which may help you.

http://www.epicurious.com/forums/

Question
I've been reading through the archives and saw that you have devised recipes for home- pickled peppadews. Since I can't find Peppadew seeds anywhere, I think I would like to try to imitate them with cherry peppers--that's what the pictures look like to me and the cherries come in both very hot and quite mild cultivars. Since I have never tasted the REAL peppadews, I need a recipe from someone who has! If you don't mind sharing any recipes you might have devised, from pickled peppers to relishes to sauces, I would really appreciate it.

Answer
Although the registered picklers of Peppadews desperately want to prove that its product is a unique pepper, I doubt it. Your cherry pepper is probably close to the real thing. Pickled peppadews have a wonderful, piquant flavour, however. Sorry if the quantities sound a bit awkward, but I'm converting from metric to imperial ... Step 1: It's best to use surgical gloves, as any pepper makes your fingers burn. Cut off the stem end and scrape out the seeds with a small teaspoon. Try removing all seeds. Leave overnight in a brine consisting of 2 ounces kosher/coarse salt and about 2 1/3 cups water. Let the salt dissolve as best you can, by stirring, before adding the fruits. Put a plate on top if necessary, to stop them bobbing on top. Step 2: Mix in a suitable pot: 1 1/2 cups grape, wine or malt vinegar* 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar 1 cup water A few pieces peeled fresh ginger Some peeled garlic cloves About 2 teaspoons peppercorns, preferably the mixed peppercorns with diff. colours 2 whole green chilli peppers, stem removed (I sterilise bottles by washing, and then putting in a cold oven in a container, and heating up to 225 deg F). Rinse cherry peppers well under running cold water, and discard the brine. Shake in a sieve to get rid of the liquid. Stir the mixture given in Step 2 over low heat until sugar has dissolved. Then bring to a rolling boil. It will foam up somewhat. Add the peppadews/cherry peppers, the 2 chili peppers, and boil for just 1 minute or so. Take your hot bottles from the oven, and with a slotted spoon first fill the bottles with the little peppers. Add a green chilli to each bottle -- just for prettiness! Then fill up with the boiling liquid. (The liquid runs into the hollows of the peppers after a while, so it's better to fill almost to the top). Wipe rims of bottles carefully, then screw on the lids. This recipe fills 2 ordinary (supermarket size!) 375 ml bottles, i.e. each about 1 1/2 cups. Don't work with huge quantities -- rather make in smaller batches, it's easier and safer. Leave for about 2 - 3 weeks before use. * I use white grape vinegar because it's pure white. I dislike the cheaper spirit vinegar. Use whatever is available to you. Cider vinegar is also fine, except that it's slightly coloured.

Seeds of Italy do
Chilli Pepper Ciliegia Piccante (Bacio di Satana) 'Satans Kiss'....beware.
This is a med-hot, cherry chilli, so called by its round shape. It loses about 60% of it's heat when cooked making it great stuffed with mozzarella and anchovies and then grilled. The general rule with chillies is the poorer the soil it is planted in, the hotter the chilli. @300 seeds. Sow Feb-Jun £2.49

Chilli Red Cherry Small
Early, hot variety. Compact plant with good foliage. Small round fruits turning deep red when ripe. Meaty chilli with good flavour. Smaller than the Calabrese Ciliegia piccante (Bacio di Satana). Local Production. @10. Sow Feb-May.£2.49


http://www.seedsofitaly.sagenet.co.uk/peppers.htm

Like I said, I had a bit of time to kill (I'm at home by the way, not lazing around at work). :)
Chantal

I know this corner of the earth, it smiles for me...
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pigletwillie
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Chantel, you are a complete angel, thanks very much for your efforts and a gold star in your homework book.

I will reserve a jar or two for you.
Kindest regards Piglet

"You cannot plough a field by turning it over in your mind".
Pamperedpet

Hi there everyone-my first post to KG so please be gentle with me!

I too have thorougly enjoyed Peppadews, and having bought and erected my first small polytunnel in November(14x25) thought I'd try and grow some. Initially I tried growing some of the seeds left in the jars-but the vinegar and/or the pickling process rendered my first attempt futile.

Undeterred, I spent many long hours poring over the internet to see if I could source some seed. The point made earlier is well made, the company in South Africa have trademarked both the plant/seed & the pickled end result=quite hard to get any!

Anyway, to cut War & Peace into a reasonable length post, I tracked down a 'very nice man' in RSA, who kindly obtained a few 'genuine' seeds for me from somebody who was employed picking the 'Real McCoy' on a neighbouring farm. These duly arrived about 10 days ago and tonight the first signs of life were poking above the compost in my propagator.

I only have a very few of these seeds, but if you would care to leave an address, I be happy to post half a dozen to you. My guess is that they do look like other ordinary 'cherry peppers' that you can obtain from specialst catalogues. I think it is a piece of very successful marketing and a clever (& tasty) pickling recipe that has brought results!

I'd glady trade these for a few tips about planting & timing for things in my polytunnel-I live on the sunny South Coast, near Poole, and my runner beans in the tunnel are now about 10 inches high, peas flowering,etc etc, so I have obviously cocked up so far!!

Regards

Pamperedpet
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pigletwillie
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You are my hero, I have been trying to get seed for over a year. I have several types of chery pepper on the go in the hope of replicating them but you seem to have turned up the real McCoy.

Please register as a member so that I can send my address via pm. Any help that I can give will be as usual postedon the forum, but I must stress that there are some wiser birds than me out there.
Kindest regards Piglet

"You cannot plough a field by turning it over in your mind".
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Johnboy
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Hi Pamperedpet and welcome,
I note that you have signed up to join us and had you logged on you would be able to use the PM which is a private E-Mail especially for this forum.
You would be able to cotact Piglet and what is more important at present is that he could then send you his address.
JB.
Allan
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Of course it's not too late to log on any time. Have a good look round and don't assume that you know all about this forum, there is much hidden from the casual user, even some personal detail about every subscriber and their website if any.
Allan
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