People hate green bell peppers. Not everybody, obviously, but certainly enough people with enough intensity that a distaste for this particular fruit isn't exactly a niche position. For the record, I wouldn’t say that I hate green bell peppers, but I certainly don’t seek them out. More than anything else, I think they taste, well, kind of boring—unripe ( which they are ), a bit bitter, watery. But I’m not here to trash green bell peppers; I’m a solutions-oriented person. Instead, I’m here to talk about a green pepper that I do like, one I think tastes simply marvelous and deserves as much adulation as the aforementioned pepper gets vitriol: the poblano.
I love poblano peppers! To me, they taste like everything a green bell pepper aspires towards, as different as a ruby-ripe heirloom tomato is from the wan simulacra you’ll find at a New York supermarket in December. Poblanos are deeply earthy, dense, and meaty, with an appealing balance between fruitiness and bitterness that lends complexity to so many dishes. And because they deliver the suggestion of chile heat—green poblanos usually clock in at 1000–1500 units on the Scoville scale, around half that of the mildest jalapeno—they keep you on your toes without delivering a sucker punch. They pair especially well with cream (as in rajas con crema ), melty cheese , and other rich, fatty elements. (It’s worth noting here that green poblanos can turn red and ripen, at which point they’re spicier. They're typically dried and referred to as anchos .)
Adding a few to this corn pudding recipe was a no-brainer to me—they lent just the right amount of warmth and intrigue to an otherwise one-note dairy party. And I also loved them in this recipe for garlicky smashed chickpeas from Abra Berens ’s new cookbook, Grist , where they play nice with the earthiness of the legumes and the sweetness of fresh corn. I’ve had success subbing them in whenever cooked green bell peppers are called for, like in gumbo , and I bet they would taste absolutely smashing on a pizza alongside rings of white onions and nubbins of sausage.
Which is all to say, for the green bell pepper haters out there, enough is enough. Stop wasting your time fixating on a fruit you don’t like—a better pepper is just around the corner.
Garlicky Smashed Chickpeas With Corn
Source : food
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