China in a polystyrene foam box, Hong Kong The
Cantonese version of stuffed peppers is part of a street food called
Three Fried Stuffed Treasures (煎釀三寶), with stuffed peppers, stuffed
aubergines, and stuffed sausage. Though with different vegetables and meat, the stuffing is all the same: dace fish paste. After assembling the fish paste, it is deep-fried. It is usually served with
Worcestershire sauce, or can be served without sauce.
Spain Stuffed peppers or
pimientos rellenos are part of traditional
Spanish cuisine, especially that of the region of the
Basque Country. Usually
piquillo peppers are used. The fillings might include
Manchego cheese, chicken, or
cod in a red sauce, with chicken likely being the most popular recipe.
Italy Stuffed peppers or
peperoni ripieni are part of the
Italian gastronomic tradition with its numerous regional recipes. The traditional Calabrian recipe, called
pipi chini, involves the use of round bell peppers, and the filling is made with breadcrumbs, parsley, basil,
Grana cheese, tomato, and
provola cheese. Sometimes hard-boiled egg, anchovies or ground meat are also added.
Egypt In Egypt, a stuffed bell pepper dish called
mahshi felfel () is traditionally eaten, it is a type of
dolma in which
bell peppers are filled with a mixture of
rice and
herbs. The filling is typically made from
short-grain rice, combined with finely chopped
parsley,
cilantro, and
dill, seasoned with
cumin,
coriander,
salt, and
black pepper. Some versions may incorporate
ground beef or
lamb, but this is not typical. Before cooking, the stuffed
peppers are arranged in a pot lined with
tomato slices or
onion rings, preventing them from sticking. It consists of bell peppers stuffed with cooked meat, potatoes, and onions and seasoned with chili, turmeric, coriander, cilantro, salt, and lemon juice. The peppers are then either browned in a
tava (frying pan) or baked in an oven until the peppers are scorched.
Mirchi bajji or
pakora is a
chaat (street food) item and is a hot favorite during the monsoon and cooler months. In Mumbai and western areas, the big green chilli pepper is stuffed with a roasted, spiced flour mix and fried. In the South, the big green chillies, similar to
Hatch chili peppers, are dipped in a flour
batter and fried. It may be accompanied by
chutneys and sauces. In
Andhra Pradesh and
Tamil Nadu, some of the smaller but more potent chillies are also stuffed and fried, especially as a side to rice.
Middle East Dolma is a family of stuffed dishes from the
Middle East that can be served warm or cold. Some types of dolma are made with whole vegetables including whole peppers. Today, dolma are found in the cuisines of the
Balkans,
South Caucasus,
Central Asia,
Levant, and the family cuisines of
Sephardic and
Iraqi Jews. Dolma dishes are found in
Balkan,
Greek,
Arab,
Israeli,
Turkish,
Central Asian,
Armenian and other Caucasian cuisines. This dish was popular in the ancient world, although under different names, like the
Ancient Greek thrion. In
medieval and
early modern ages, this dish was part of the
Ottoman palace cuisine. The word dolma, of
Turkish origin, means "something stuffed".
North America Stuffed peppers in
American cuisine is a dish where
bell peppers (often the green, yellow, orange, and red varieties) are typically filled with a stuffing such as
ground beef, mixed with
bread crumbs or cooked
rice,
eggs,
herbs, and
spices (especially
paprika and
parsley) and
cheese. Recipes vary but often include hollowing out the peppers, stuffing them, covering them with cheese, and baking or alternatively cooking them on the stove top at a slow simmer in canned tomato sauce until the peppers are soft. A sauce may be served with them, often a
tomato sauce, but this, too, varies greatly. Mexican and “Tex-Mex” cuisine has more than one stuffed pepper dish: • The
chile relleno, literally "stuffed pepper", consists of a roasted and peeled/skinned green pasilla or
poblano pepper stuffed with
cheese (traditionally
queso fresco) and, occasionally, minced
meat, covered in an egg
batter, and
fried. It is often served covered with a sauce, although the type of sauce varies widely. It is sometimes also served in a
taco with
rice,
salsa and other toppings. This is also a popular offering at Tex-Mex restaurants in the southwestern U.S., but often cheddar cheese replaces the queso fresco. •
Jalapeño poppers are
jalapeño peppers that have been hollowed out, stuffed with a mixture of
cheese,
spices, and sometimes ground meat, and then deep fried. The dish is common in Tex-Mex cuisine and less so in true Mexican cooking.
Guatemala In
Guatemala, the "pimiento" pepper is stuffed with shredded pork and vegetables. As the Mexican version, it is covered with egg batter and fried. It is served with tomato sauce or inside a bread bun.
Eastern and Southeastern Europe n stuffed peppers in a cooking pot There are many names for stuffed peppers in the languages of Central and Southeast Europe: •
biber dolmasi (
Turkish) •
Bibər dolması (
Azeri) •
Filana paprika or
Punjena paprika (
Croatian) •
Speca të mbushur (
Albanian) •
Γεμιστά (Gemista) (
Greek) •
Punjena paprika (
Bosnian) •
Пуњена паприка (
Serbian) •
Filana paprika or
Polnjena paprika (
Slovenian) •
Töltött paprika (
Hungarian) •
Полнети пиперки (Polneti piperki) (
Macedonian) •
Plněná paprika (
Czech) •
Plnená paprika (
Slovak) • Пълнени чушки
(Pulneni chushki) (
Bulgarian) • Фаршированный перец (
Russian) • Фарширований перець (
Ukrainian) •
Ardei umpluți (
Romanian) •
Faszerowana papryka (
Polish) The Hungarian variant, töltött paprika, is always made with
Hungarian wax pepper, which has a distinctive taste somewhat similar to
lecsó.
Punjena paprika () includes a tomato sauce. In Bulgaria, stuffed peppers are usually eaten with yogurt. Another variety of stuffed peppers in Bulgaria is made with mixed white cheese and eggs instead of meat and rice as stuffing. In 2017,
dolma making in
Azerbaijan was included in the
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists. In
Romanian cuisine, stuffed peppers are usually prepared with bell peppers stuffed with ground meat (usually pork), rice, onion, and other vegetables and spices and then boiled in a sauce made from cream, tomatoes, and spices. Traditionally in Bulgaria, the filling is made of rice steamed in advance, onions, minced meat and spices, heat-treated and crammed into pre-cleaned, washed and riddled with needle peppers. After filling of peppers, they are put in a baking dish, water is added and the dish is baked in the oven. If raw egg is added to the cooled stuffing, filled peppers can be cooked in a pan, as the pods are boiled almost steamed. Besides minced meat and rice, other fillings may be used, such as vegetables (for example
leek) and rice, beans, or fresh cheese and eggs. The peppers themselves can be either fresh or dried. Dried red peppers are used especially in southeastern Serbia around
Pirot and
Dimitrovgrad, often in winter. Stuffed peppers are often cooked by
Romani people and is a popular dish in
Romani cuisine. ==See also==