There were two times when I was in spain eating pimientos de padròn (small green peppers, which are fried in olive oil and salt).
The first time was with two friends of mine during the summer of 2000. We were in a holiday camp in France, near the Basque country. One day, our whole group crossed the border with the bus and spent a few hours in a Tapas Bar in St. Sebastián … or was it a sangria bar?! At least, I still recall that it was the first time of my life I ate tapas – and among them also pimientos de padrón and that I loved them. To make a long story (very) short: The day ended with our bus – full of drunken Germans – following a spanish police car to the arrest cell, where we picked up one more drunken German… a girl who had the intention to climb up the monumental of St. Sebastián (which was not very much approved of by its villagers). Furthermore, I made some quite interesting photos of my friends posing together on the beach…
Pics by Franzi
The second time I ate pimientos de padrón was with another friend of mine in Barcelona, November last year. We were sitting in the tapas bar on one of our very first days. After ordering our food, I went for the toilet and… I got a lumbago. Which resulted in me creeping through this wonderful city like a very ooold woman. Nevertheless, the pimientos de padròn were delicious.
Last week I saw this little peppers in the supermarket and was not able to resist them. My pal I. was so kind to give me a recipe, which is very simple: Just fry the peppers in hot olive oil and sea salt until they are tender and look shriveled.
ENJOY!