The
pimento or pimiento is a variety of large, red, heart-shaped chili
peppers (Capsicum annuum) that measures 75 to 100 mm long and 50 to 75
mm wide. The flesh of the pimento is sweet, succulent and more
aromatic than that of the red bell pepper. Some varieties of the
pimento type are hot including the Floral Gem and Santa Fe Grande
varieties. Pimento or pimentão are Portuguese words for "bell pepper",
while pimenta refers both to chili peppers and to black peppercorns
These
sweet pimento peppers are the familiar red stuffing found in prepared
Spanish
green olives. The pimento was originally cut into small
pieces
and hand stuffed into fresh green olives to compliment the strong
flavor of the olive. For ease of production pimento is often pureed and
formed with the help of a natural seaweed gum (sodium alginate) into
strips. This allows the olive stuffing to be completed by a machine and
increases the availability of the olives by lowering their cost of
production.
The
pimento records 100 - 500 Shu's on the Scoville scale.
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