The Pepper Family

Peppers come in hundreds of varieties - from the sweetest-tasting to the hottest - from green, to yellow, to fiery red, or a mixture of all three.

Crisp green and red pepper rings - dressed with olive oil and wine vinegar - make a wonderful salad; or, alternatively, one small green pepper, seeded and finely chopped, can be combined with peeled, seeded and finely chopped tomatoes and a little finely chopped onion, for a novel salad dressing.

Sautéed pepper strips make a delicious garnish for meat dishes. Choose firm fresh peppers, one per person. Wash and seed them; cut them in strips, and sauté them gently in hot olive oil and butter until just tender. Season to taste with salt, freshly ground black pepper and a dash of lemon juice.

Peppers go well with eggs. An omelette filled with sautéed peppers, tomatoes and onions makes a delicious luncheon dish. The Basque pipérade - a sort of soft scrambled eggs with tomatoes, sweet pepper and Bayonne ham - is the most famous version of this flavoursome combination. I have also been served baked green pepper halves, filled with ham and eggs, as a light luncheon dish.

Peppers team well with potatoes in the famous recipe for pommes de terre O’Brien, as served by Dave Chassen at his elegant Hollywood restaurant, Chasen’s. Cut raw potatoes into ½-inch squares, then fry them in clarified butter and a little olive oil. In a separate pan, lightly fry coarsely chopped green pepper and red pimento. When potatoes are cooked, add green pepper and pimento, and at the last minute, season to taste with salt.