I love spicy food and the level of spice I enjoy is one that I am able to enjoy the food but feel alittle bit of heat. I do not enjoy eating spicy food that burns my tongue and can't feel anything. I would much rather prefer tasting my food but this Italian condiment is the perfect level of heat for me especially.
Near the beginning of September one of my neighbours wanted to teach me how to make their hot chili oils from the hot peppers we grew in our backyards as well as bomba which is an Italian spicy condiment. Since we did not have enough hot peppers we went to visit our favourite 19th avenue farmers market and picked up a buschel which was reasonably cheap. We bought long green hot peppers, small bulb like peppers that we used for a different condiment, as well as small red hot peppers. When we did the batch I didn't realize how hot my fingers would get after cutting all the peppers and soon learned you really need to wear plastic or rubber gloves when handling hot peppers or your hands will feel like they are on fire for approximately 4 hours. I googled different remedies like placing it in a bowl of milk or rubbing mint toothpaste on it but most of the pain comes from my own stupidity at not wearing any rubber/plastic gloves when handling the peppers.
In order to make the hot pepper oils you first need to sterilize your mason jars by placing it in boiling water for a period of time then letting them air dry. After you have done this step create your hot pepper oils by slicing the ppeppers roughly into medium sized rounds. Then place in a bowl and add in vinegar until it covers all of the peppers and leave it there to soak for about 10 minutes and occasionally stir it. After the 10 minutes is up then you strain the peppers and get your containers ready. Spoon some slowly into the jar and you can add some more flavours like basil leaves and a garlic clove. Leave about half an inch of the jar empty near the top. Fill the jar with extra virgin olive oil till it covers the peppers. Seal the top on and flip the jar upside down and leave it for about 10 minutes which helps with sealing the jars.
The Bomba is an amazing condiments that Italians use for adding to a charchuterie plate or even ontop of toasted bread. Bomba is a condiment that is made mostly of fresh cut tomatoes, about 60% of hot peppers, 3% of sweet peppers, and that's about it. In the bomba's that I made I grilled some beautiful yellow zucchinis and eggplants and diced it for later use. To start the bomba off get a large deep sauce pan on the stove. Fill it with about 8 large tomatoes roughly chopped, add in 1 clove of garlic minced, and about 8 cups of roughly chopped hot peppers (which ever ones you like / on sale). Let the sauce simmer for about 20-25 minutes and stir occasionally until it thickens. Also add a drizzle of olive oil in it. Once it has thickened get an immersion blender and pulse the sauce until it is mostly smooth but not too smooth. Now you can add in the diced grilled vegetables and leave it to simmer for about 5 minutes so the flavours and smokiness can infuse. In order to fill the bombas, you need to make sure you have sterilized mason jars. Slowly ladle in the sauce until again about half an inch is left at the top. Let the sauce settle in and then add in some olive oil to cover the sauce. Seal it and then place it in a pot of cold water and let it come to a boil and leave it in there for about 10 minutes and turn off the heat and it it cool in the water.
Another condiment we made with the hot peppers was using the bulb like hot peppers we cored them and then placed it in vinegar. Then we took some canned tuna, strained it then added some lemon zest, finely chopped parsley and basil then we stuffed it into the hot pepper bulbs. We then squished them into the larger jars, placed in some garlic cloves and some basil sprigs just to infuse and then filled it with oil to the top. This is supposed to taste incredible. I haven't tasted it yet since I am letting them age in my cold room till around Christmas time where we will distribute some of the hot chili oils and bombas to family and friends that I know would enjoy with their food. We would probably crate some kind of Italian basket for gifts and I would make homemade ricotta.
In the winter time my neighbour and I are planning to go up north because I asked him if he can teach me how to make proscuitto so we will go up north and purchase a pig. We will split the legs, two for him and two for me and then we'll make our own proscuitto and then the rest of the pig we will use for pork sausages and let them cure and hang in the cold room so again we could use it and serve it to company when they come over the holidays and can enjoy. These condiments will age in the cold room for about 3 months so the oils will be fully infused and won't be too spicy since we soaked the peppers in alittle bit of vinegar to take away some of the heat. Although this process is extremely time consuming it is well worth it as I have about 40-50 different types of bomba's and hot pepper oils in my cold room waiting to be gifted to people.
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| To the left homemade hot bomba, next to it small, medium, and large hot pepper oil, next to that small grilled hot pepper oils for a smoky taste, next to that large hot peppers stuffed with a tuna, basil parsley Oregano blend and next to that large medium spice bomba. The green painter tape says what they are as well as the date it was made. |
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| Close up of the Hot chili oils and the beautiful colours |
Until next time,
K.M.W.
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