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Home > Sangre Celestial > Pick a peck of peppers, from sweet to heat
Podcast: Sangre Celestial
Episode:

Pick a peck of peppers, from sweet to heat
Category: Arts
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2025-09-05 19:00:00
Description: September is peak pepper season in Southern California. At farmers markets, Johanna Finley of Finley Farms up in Santa Ynez, offers an array of peppers, from sweet ones to peppers that have some heat. "Sweetness-wise, we go from the orange lunchbox pepper, your standard red bell pepper, which is really nothing standard about it. It's amazing," Johanna says. "And then the Jimmy Nardellos, which are the talk of the town. And then Shishito is sort of mild/medium. Padron, which is very similar to a Shishito but I think much more flavorful, sometimes gives you a real good kick. And then poblano peppers and jalapeños." Gillian Ferguson interviews Johanna Finley of Finley Farms. Photo by Laryl Garcia/KCRW With the Jimmy Nardello peppers, which are long and pointy, Johanna recommends throwing them in a hot pan and simply blistering them with a little salt. "No prep really needed," she says.Have them on the side of anything or just by themselves. I'm especially loving them with goat cheese lately." At Cosetta in Santa Monica, Chef Zach Pollack serves a Samo Bagna Cauda that involves seasonal peppers. The Piedmontese dipping sauce is traditionally served hot and made with anchovies, garlic, and butter or olive oil. Hungarian wax peppers at Weiser Farms. Photo by Laryl Garcia/KCRW At Cosetta, "We do a somewhat lighter but still really indulgent and even creamy-ish emulsified version," Zach says. "We still have plenty of anchovies and garlic but we cook it down with a bunch of white wine and emulsify in the butter and add some lemon juice, which really brightens it up. It's an outstandingly delicious sauce." He serves it with uncooked, crunchy, raw vegetables such as fennel, radishes, broccolini, baby cauliflower, and, right now, sweet peppers from Weiser Family Farms . He might also throw in some also use the habanada peppers, which he also uses as garnish for a yellowtail crudo that he serves with a Sicilian Caponata. The Samo Bagna Cauda server with crudite and crab claws at Cosetta. Photo courtesy of Cosetta. "What I love about them," Zach says, "is that you can dial up the heat with any number of other chilies, which we do, and still get the flavor from the habanada. It's kind of like the best of both worlds without having to singe your mouth just to get that appropriate dose of habanero flavor." Gillian Ferguson interviews chef Zach Pollack of Cosetta in Santa Monica. Photo by Laryl Garcia/KCRW
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