They arrive in a heap, blistered and collapsed in places, glistening with oil and buried in coarse salt, stems still on. You eat them with your fingers. Os pementos de Padrón, uns pican e outros non — some are hot and some are not. That is the gamble, and you take it.
The peppers belong to Herbón, near Padrón in Galicia, grown there since Franciscan friars brought the seed from the Americas. Most are mild. One in ten, or so the saying goes, carries a heat that silences the table. Galicia does not apologise for it.
Serve at once, while they still glisten. Albariño is the wine of the same coast. A little char is wanted; a soggy pepper is a failure of heat. Don't be timid with the pan.
Method
- 01
Heat a wide skillet until it is very hot — you should feel the heat when you hold your hand above it. Add the oil, then the dry Padrón peppers in a single layer; crowding will steam them, and a soggy pepper is a failure of heat. Listen for the first sputter. That's your cue that the skins are about to blister.
- 02
Toss the peppers over high heat until the skins blister and collapse in places, 4 to 6 minutes. A little char is wanted; don't be timid with the heat. They'll hiss and spot and some will puff, and that's exactly right. This is the gamble of Padrón: most are mild, and one in ten will silence the table.
- 03
Tip them onto a plate in a glistening heap and shower with coarse sea salt while they still shine with oil — the salt needs that moisture to cling. Don't wait even a minute; a cooled Padrón is just a wrinkled pepper. The stems stay on; they're how you pick them up.
- 04
Serve them at once, stems on, eaten with the fingers, while they still glisten. Put the plate in the middle of the table and let people take their chances. Albariño is the wine of the same coast, and it belongs here. Some will be sweet, some will sting, and that is the whole point of the dish.
