L’arôme des poivrons grillés

Listening to David Sylvian singing “Orpheus“, thinking about Proust and his evocation of the smell of those baking madeleines… while the smell of the peppers roasting in the oven fills the apartment. It’s intense, the windows are closed — it’s 7° C outside just now — and the smell is bringing back Southwestern memories of the annual Hatch pepper roast at the local HEB.

And not just at the HEB but when visiting in New Mexico, ground zero for pepper roasting. The sharp clean aroma bringing back memories of meals that knew no rivals. The question was, and always will be, red or green? Or the ultimate, delicious compromise, “Christmas-style.”

I could probably get Hatch peppers here, but not as fresh as I used to in Texas, so I have had to adopt and adapt.

These days I have a rainbow to choose from: red, yellow, orange, green… mild to hot. And I’m n0t talking about the sweet peppers we know as “Bell peppers” elsewhere. Those are here, too, greenhouse beauties from the fields of the Netherlands. But no, here we have espelettes from the Pyrénées, the source for piment d’espelette, along with long, dagger-shaped ones, of which I yet know nothing of their names, in a rainbow of colors and range of warmth. Learning the names of the specific peppers I’m using is as challenging as learning all the cheeses to be found in the cases at my Réné Primeur…La madame professeur de fromage dans son environnement.

But the smell… the smell of those roasting peppers in the toaster oven right now takes me back and propels me forward with the same motion.

A large handful of sun-dried tomatos, about half a dozen peppers (I use red and/or yellow to keep with the deep rich red of the “tomates séchées), the juice of a whole lemon, a dash of good olive oil. Put the tomatos in a large mixing bowl of warm water and leave them while you roast the peppers. Roast the peppers until they are limp and juicy, then drain them, along with the tomatos. throw it all in a food processor. Add the oil and lemon juice and blend until you get a rich thick paste. Goes good as a base to steam rice…