bell pepper question

[iL Divo]

our DD loves red bell peppers.
she likes them roasted, charred, as the main in soups, equal amounts in tomato sauces, sliced on sandwiches and added to a carmelized onion to use as a relish.

her dad and I like green, yellow, orange and purple bell peppers but we both think the red ones are bitter. the veg for dinner once was 4 colors of peppers including red along with onions, garlic and yellow squash. when both our plates were done, we noticed that we'd both left the majority of red slices on our plates. although we tried them all and ate pieces of the red, we're thinking they are different in taste and are bitter.

wonder if we're alone in our thought process or tasters.

[Uncle Bob]

I couldn't cook/live without Green peppers....I don't find them bitter....Trinity without them just does not taste right at all....I also find the colored bells to be sweeter by comparison....Nice in some stir fry dishes for color etc....But if I could only have one color.....Long Live The Green Bells !!!!!!!

[iL Divo]

thankful someone sees it our way.

[buttertart]

I really prefer the greens too.

[DonShirer]

Remarkable the variations in individual taste! Although riper red ones seem a bit sweeter to me I enjoy eating both colors as well as the orange (Gold Calwonder?) purple and other hued bells too. If you don't like ripe bells, there are some varieties which stay green longer, or you might investigate sweet peppers which are not bell-shaped like Gypsy, Healthy or Sweet Banana(yellow->red); Carmen, Jimmy Nardello or Giant Marconi(green->red); or Carmen, or Giant Szegdi(yellow->orange); but are as good or better tasting.

[Karl S]

I am with the others: it's the green bells that are the most bitter (actually, just unripe). And, when they are specified in recipes, it is usually for the somewhat bitter balance they bring to other things that are sweet, like carrots and onions.

[bushwickgirl]

I have to agree with the use of the word unripe, rather than bitter, to describe raw green pepper flavor. I find them to have a slight sweetness, with a mild acrid bite, but that's not unpleasant to me; they are what they are. Red peppers, sure, delicious, sweet, especially roasted, and I find yellow, orange, white, purple and chocolate to be a bit mild in flavor and sweetness, and certainly attractive.

I like raw green peppers in certain salads, and they're great grilled or stir fried; otherwise they're bite can take over a dish and need balance, as you wrote, Karl. Certain cooking techniques, slow cooking specifically, do not do well with green peppers in the mix, unless added at a later point.

Green peppers don't have tons of fans, but it's totally a matter of individual taste, eat what you like and leave the rest for me.

[iL Divo]

I may be saying it wrong Karl. no reason to lie here, when I eat the red ones, it almost bothers my tongue. go figure

anyway, appreciate all the input here, DH and I are gonna stick with the greens though, and LOVE 'em..........

[Karl S]

I am curious: Do you experience the same flavor profile with roasted, peeled red peppers?

[iL Divo]

yes. my DD's favorite way to eat them in anything is roasted.
I simply don't like them. have you ever eaten something and the back tops of the sides of your tongue has this funky taste there? that's the problem. and it doesn't happen with green ones or I'd have stopped eating them years ago. maybe it's that we prefer the unripe that everyone refers to.

[buttertart]

Re ripeness: I recently got a couple of local NJ green starting to go red ones and left them on the kitchen counter. Was surprised to see that over the space of a couple of days they got red! I hadn't thought of them as a climacteric fruit that would ripen off the plant.

[magiesmom]

I recently had a very pale green pepper and it was wonderful, fleshy, crisp, very fresh tasting with a hint of sweetness. I was going to fry it but I tasted it raw and ate it in the spot. YUM!

[greygarious]

I have never before heard of anyone who finds red bell peppers bitter or prefers green. The green ones are always the cheapest, probably due in part to the shorter growing period and partly because people don't like them as well. No accounting for tastebuds but I do think you and your DH are in a tiny minority.

[iL Divo]

by reading this I'd say you're right.
it's not a right or wrong thing and I won't accept that it is, it's just that both he and I as little ones started on the green ones [loved stuffed bells, green though] and sliced green ones with a little salt I could eat several. they never reappear or present themselves on either my husband or I.
it's probably what you're used to

[Will Owen]

I grew up eating and liking the green ones; never knew any other color existed until well into adolescence. One favorite childhood memory is having a creamstyle-corn-stuffed baked pepper for lunch when the bells at the church next door started ringing, and Mom told me it was because the war was over (WW2, that is). So my taste for them developed early.

Mrs. O, on the other hand, cannot abide the taste of any sweet pepper, though she likes the hot and semi-hot ones. So I just use poblanos when the recipe calls for bells and we're both happy.

[coll]

Hate bell peppers, although i can tolerate red if roasted. But love cubanelles, they are a great sub for sausage and peppers etc. They often come "suntan" each pepper is half green and half red which is a big bonus to me.

http://www.google.com/search?q=cubane...

[buttertart]

Cubanelles are delicious - and the red ones are the most glorious color red. Wish they made nail polish that color!

[iL Divo]

......it's called Revlon Red

[buttertart]

Too blue.

[DiningDiva]

I'm sitting here writing this while munching on raw red bell pepper strips as part of my lunch. I love 'em, along with yellow, orange and chocolate, because they're sweet. The green ones? Not so much. My taste buds register them as bitter and my gut registers them as gassy :-(

[CanadaGirl]

I agree with most posters; I find the green peppers bitter, the red nice and sweet.

[luckyfatima]

I dislike the green ones when they are raw. They have some kind of under taste. I like the red ones best, though. I guess everyone has their own personal preferences when it comes to everything, peppers included.

[mateo21]

DD = ? Designated Driver?

[laliz]

DD = Dear Daughter
DSis = Dear Sister
DH = Dear Husband

etc. etc. etc.

[iL Divo]

"DD = ? Designated Driver?"

sorry, darling daughter

but I would need a ^^^DD^^^ if I ate red bells......hahahh

[laliz]

I'm the same; I love red bell peppers raw, or roasted and have them every week, yellow and orange when affordable.

But green bell peppers NEVER. They take over the taste of anyt and every thing else and I distinctly avoid them.

[ttoommyy]

I like red, yellow and orange bell peppers but have not cooked or purposely eaten a green one in years. I find the green ones repeat and are off tasting. I like the red variety the best.

[Motosport]

To me the red peppers are the sweetest.
If I am not mistaken the red peppers are the same as the green bell peppers except that they leave them on the plant longer until they turn red.

[iL Divo]

that's the reply or response we've gotten always.
I guess it's our mouths but funny how both hubby and I say the same and think alike with the red ones. I always hear the reds are the sweetest, but not for us for some reason, oh well.

[sherriberry]

Put me in the red camp, too. Can't stand the green ones-they taste bitter to me and the flavor overwhelms everything else in the dish. And they stay with me for a long time.

[escondido123]

I find exactly the opposite, it's the green ones I leave behind. I have two friends who will not eat green peppers but everyone seems to like the red ones. Guess different tastes for different folks assuming all the peppers are cooked using the same method.

[pine time]

+1. I also grow bell peppers, and I never harvest the green ones; always let them continue to red before using.

[pikawicca]

agree