They’re Growing French-Style Peppers In California

They’re Growing French-Style Peppers In California CROPS New Techniques Though Piment d’Espelette chile powder is a staple for chefs at fine dining restaurants it’s unfamiliar to most home cooks as it’s an expensive import from a specific Basque region in France A California couple plans to change that by growing and processing the chiles in the U S under the name Piment d’Ville The name is a nod to Boonville where the peppers are grown says Krissy Scommegna owner of a farm near the California town She discovered the chile powder when she worked as a sous chef at The Boonville Hotel The powder is sweet and spicy and adds a deep lingering rich flavor and colorful garnish to any dish she says from eggs and avocado toast to fancy restaurant entrees to regular weekday meals She uses it instead of black pepper in most dishes “We have a similar growing region to the Basque region in France so in 2012 we got some seeds and started with 20 plants behind the hotel ” she says “It took some experimenting to turn the fresh peppers into chile powder ” A passion project transformed into a revitalized vision for a sustainable business in 2019 when Scommegna and her husband Gideon Burdick took ownership of her family’s chile farming operations and founded Boonville Barn Collective After starting seeds in a greenhouse they plant between 65 000 and 80 000 pepper plants 11 varieties in May on 4 acres that they rotate with dry beans Drip irrigation lines provide water collected in an irrigation pond between November and May Harvest begins in September by handpicking peppers as they ripen After drying in the greenhouse stems and seeds are removed before the peppers go into a homebuilt industrial dehydrator When completely dry the peppers are ready to grind into powder make flakes or kept whole “Piment d’Ville is used in about 700 restaurants in the country I think we’re the largest producer outside of France ” Scommegna says “We also have Mexican peppers and some unique varieties with low to high heat so there’s something for everyone We like growing and drying chiles because it’s a fun way to be a mainstay in someone’s kitchen year-round ” With a national food distributor Boonville’s French chiles have a strong restaurant market The farm’s online store gives home cooks a way to buy the chile powder chefs rave about “It’s great to see new customers come to us and reply that it’s become a mainstay in their kitchens ” Scommegna says The website offers the chile powder in classic smoky and spicy flavors at $12 for a 1 2 oz jar as well as an assortment of chiles dry beans and olive oil that the couple produce from their olive tree grove Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Boonville Barn Collective hello@boonvillebarn com; www boonvillebarn com

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