ok…
i got way too excited about this wonderful thing and did some searching and i find this lovvely discussion and recipe for aji de leche.
@Grey_Devil , is this something like what your mum makes? i see that it is very green, like from the cilantro and green peppers.
as to the peppers, i can find locoto peppers, but, alas, they would noot grow well in my climate
still look foreard to hearing more of your experience with this condiment!
Yeah same, i’m really interested in the pepper because it sounds unique. It’s one of the oldest peppers domesticated and it grows on a larger plant than most peppers, it’s lowkey a tree just about. I have tried growing some indoors but i’ve never quite managed to get one to survive past a couple of years, and to get it to fruit you’d need two of them (i think, i’m not entirely sure still).
For the recipe you linked i’d have to taste it. My mom doesn’t blend/puree the ingredients, which not judging if that makes it better or worse. But i’ll try to give comparisons to the posted recipe vs whatever listed ingredients my mom gives me and her process.
In my experience, fruit-based hot sauces are delicious. Pineapple/habanero always works for me.
I did some work for a company in Venezuela in the early 2000s. I recall a common table hot sauce that contained ground up ants. Tried it, wasn’t too bad. Didn’t bother to bring home a bottle, since no one I know would try it.
I used to make a strawberry habanero salsa. It was interesting. You mostly tasted the strawberry at first. Then you could pretty reliably count to 10, at which point the habanero would kick in. I entered it in a contest at a strawberry festival once. A woman called me evil after she tried it.
I mean, flattery works for me
Not sure if i’d want to keep such a hot sauce long term in my fridge but i would definitely be up for trying it if offered But i can see how it would weird out most folks.
You cannot beat tomato sandwiches. BUT there are rules! Homemade bread, homegrown tomatoes (beefstake type, Brandywine if you can get them) and homemade mayo. A slice of chees is optional. This is summer on a plate!
Don’t forget the salt & pepper!
Nice heat, smoky.
Gazpacho is easy, summery, and requires no cooking, if you can wrap your head around the concept of cool soup. I’ve usually stuck to tomato and cucumber based versions, but there’s ones featuring watermelon, beet, carrot and such.
The chef has never had much luck with gazpacho. He has plans to try with some garden tomatoes, as long as they come thru. I think some of the heirlooms we can get at the farmers market in mid summer might work out better than anything from the grocery. I’ll ask him about the cucumber. He does a few kinds of cucumber salads as sides already.
Watermelon based sounds fascinating. The kid’s very favorite fruit. thanks! The watermelon plants are going bonkers, so we may have enough home grown to experiment. I wonder if watermelon gazpacho base would be possible with frozen watermelon we might end up with more than we can eat and give away
Wild cucumber (Marah macrocarpa) as seen in the wilds of Northern California.
It does not want to be eaten.
Reminds me of the feral gooseberry:
I think the thorns get softer when they’re ripe, or cooked, I first found some years ago, and was likely eating them unripe and hostile. The most vengeful berry I’ve ever met. Most people don’t know, but for Captain Ahab’s last words (“from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee.”) Melville was actually quoting a wild gooseberry.
We saw wild cucumber in a hike in the Columbia Gorge, though I suspect it isn’t the same wild cucumber but rather feral cultivated cucumber.
Looks like someone’s opened the Lament Configuration Box. Again.
watermelon gazpacho is really a treat! if you have a bounty from your vines, you simply must try! i love garden-fresh (tomato/cucumber) gazpacho, but the melon is my absolute fave! i use all the same ingredients, subbing the melon for the tomate. you will be surprised!
Grocery store tomatoes are a very, very poor second choice. Homegrown or farmer’s market in season, please