Pimento

A pimento or cherry pepper is a variety of large, red, heart-shaped chili pepper (Capsicum annuum) that measures 3 to 4 inches (7 to 10 cm) long and 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7 cm) wide (medium, elongate). 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. "Pimiento" is the Spanish word. "Pimento" or "pimentão" are Portuguese words for "bell pepper", while "pimenta" refers both to chili peppers and to black peppercorns. It is typically used fresh, or pickled and jarred. The pimento has one of the lowest Scoville scale ratings of any chili pepper.

Stuffing

These sweet pimento peppers are also the familiar red stuffing found in prepared Spanish green olives. The pimento was originally hand cut into small pieces and hand stuffed in olives to complement the strong flavor of the olive; however, this method was very time intensive. In the industrial era the cut pimento was shot via hydraulic pump through the olive getting rid of the pit.

For ease of production,^[1] pimento is sometimes puréed and formed with the help of a natural gum (such as sodium alginate or guar gum) into strips. This allows the olive stuffing to be completed by a machine, lowering the cost of production. However, guar (an annual legume mostly produced in India) may inadvertently make the olives less accessible to consumers with peanut allergies, as those individuals may have a cross-reaction to the guar. This leaves sodium alginate as a more universal choice.

Other uses

Pimentos are commonly used for making pimento cheese, a sandwich filling in the Southern United States and the Philippines. Also used for making pimento loaf.

See also

• List of capsicum cultivars

References

• Webster's Dictionary of the English Language - Unabridged Encyclopedic Edition, Publishers International Press, New York, 1977.