We recently visited
Edible Ornamentals and came back with a nice little haul picked fresh from inside one of their hot polytunnels. Walking along row upon row of the dense, lush chilli foliage, every plant was heavily laden with peppers of every shape and colour, from cool green to fiery orange and red.
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Poblano chillies |
We hadn’t tried poblano chillies before, so Joanna Plumb, owner and passionate chilli grower, plucked several for us try. Poblanos are not hot but very flavoursome and later we found them much much nicer than a standard green bell pepper which can be bitter and indigestible. Poblanos have a fresh, subtle taste.
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JalapeƱo chillies |
As well as growing chillies,
Edible Ornamentals cultivate tomatillos (shown in main photo), a common ingredient in authentic Mexican cuisine. They are also known as husk tomatoes and are related to the Cape Gooseberry or Physalis. The size of a large tomato, green and encased in a paper lantern-like structure, they looked very attractive hanging from the bushy six footer bushes. We took some to make salsa based on a recipe by
Thomasina Miers.
The flavour is fruity, fresh and tangy, reminiscent of pineapples with a hint of kiwi fruit, we’re now addicted.
We couldn’t leave without some heat, so Jo dropped some big shiny green JalapeƱos (for the salsa) into our bag as well as a few incendiary Habaneros for more explosive kitchen creations.
View recipe
Photos: ©childsdesign 2011
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