Peppadew sauce

This peppadew sauce is fermented to reduce the influence of anti-nutrients on the absorption of the rich variety of phytochemicals in the chilies.

In Thailand it is called a Sriracha but using much hotter-peppers^[1].

If you are using very hot chilies then you may want to strain off the seeds before cooking.

Although it takes about 5-days to complete the fermentation of your spicy peppadew sauce there is really no more than half an hour of work involved.

Peppadews are sweet and much less hot than many of their cousins, with a little over 1,000 Scoville Heat Units. Having said that, if anyone in the neighbourhood is growing chilies, then bees will cross-pollinate them and, on one plant, you can often have a whole array of spiciness.

Natural-honey is far superior in both flavour and nutrients but, once heated, it loses much of its value. So I recommend one teaspoon of the commercial kind in the initial-batch that will eventually be brought to the boil.

Then add a few teaspoons of your special raw-honey once the peppadew sauce has cooled to provide just a little sweetness.

Anti-nutrients are chemicals that plants use to keep predators like humans away; from your peppadews, for example. They inhibit the absorption of many of the minerals, and cause havoc in the intestines of some vulnerable people.

There is a crazy bunch of people out there who recommend avoiding all foods containing anti-nutrients; you certainly can't according to them have peppadews, raw or cooked, on a slice of wholemeal bread.

It is quite unnecessary. The influence of these anti-nutrients like phytic acid can be eliminated by fermenting them the way it has been done for thousands of years. That's why delicacies like kimchi and sauerkraut have arisen and continue to be eaten by large numbers of savvy people.

Enjoy your fermented peppadew sauce on sourdough-bread for a real treat.

Some like it hot; but I now use only half the seeds.

Probiotic

If you want to preserve your peppadew sauce for enjoyment throughout the year, then the second step using vinegar is important.

However our season lasts nearly six-months and so I have now taken to enjoying the fermenting peppadews from the second day; it acts as a wonderful probiotic, helping to maintain the friendly bacteria in the alimentary canal.

These bugs are hugely important, helping to improve digestion, and producing a wide array of vitamins and other vital chemicals like serotonin; acting as what today is being called the second-brain.

Growing peppadews

Growing peppadews is not difficult, but they have a long growing-season and they do need to be staked. The weight of the fruit will break the branches and lying on the ground they will not ripen properly and turn red.

We grow a lot of different organic vegetables at our green home, but I have to say that peppadews are to my mind one of the most rewarding. They are extremely nutritious and brighten any meal with some spiciness but not enough heat to get your mouth and tomorrow your rear-end glowing.

They are the second richest source of vitamin-C, one of the four that will help prevent early frailty syndrome. Best of all perhaps is that they will turn a rather dull Eggs Florentine into a breakfast to remember.

Read more about it at Eggs Hilton. Our slogan is slow-food, made fast. It's very nutritious and a taste you will never forget. We enjoy it almost every day, and give it the credit for the fact we take absolutely no medication whatsoever in our eighth decade.

Of course you won't get this kind of food at the supermarket; we have free-range eggs too. The hens roam in our organic garden where admittedly unless we are careful they can cause massive damage to our greens; they too know where the good stuff is to be found. Luckily they have little interest in the peppadews and the wonderful sauce they provide us.

So what's potting in your summer vegetable garden?

Spicy peppadew mead

Another way of ensuring the important nutrients in peppadews for year-round wellness is by turning them into a spicy mead; alcohol has long been used as a preservative.

There are some pluses and minuses. On the positive side, like the sauce peppadew mead is another probiotic; and the flavour is to die for. You are most unlikely to find any commercially; you have to brew it yourself.

But we all know the dangers of alcohol; who's the boss? And now powerfully strong research that even one glass of wine per week increases the risk of malignant tumours^[3].

But all this very disturbing research was done on commercial alcohol; pasteurised and preserved with added sulphites. Mead is a natural wine.

And as we know, those living in the Blue Zones (except Loma Linda where the Adventists are tea-totallers) routinely drink quite large amounts of natural wines and beers with their meals; and live to enjoy vintage old age.

• Spicy peppadew mead
• How much alcohol causes cancer?
  

How to make chili

Once you know how to prepare a peppadew sauce, how to make chili is a breeze; without all the chemicals food manufacturers have to add.

• What is stabilizer in food?
• More musings from the summer vegetable garden
  

Peppadew sauce

Peppadew sauce is a spicy condiment, easy to make, and often called Sriracha.

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