Crushed Red Pepper

Crushed red pepper is made from hot dried red peppers and is not made of one type of chili, but from various combinations of ancho, bell, cayenne and other dried red peppers. Crushed red pepper shakers have become as standard as salt and pepper on tables at Italian style restaurants and especially pizza parlors in the United States. Often there is a high ratio of seeds, which some people believe intensifies the heat of this flavorful condiment, whereas the heat actually comes from the vein of the pepper (pith)(off of which the seeds grow). Crushed red pepper is used in pickling, chowders, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, soups and sausage. As chilis have become more popular, the varieties of peppers used to make crushed red pepper have also changed.

Famous quotes containing the words crushed, red and/or pepper:

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    Alexander Solzhenitsyn (b. 1918)

    For which he wex a litel red for shame,
    Whan he the peple upon him herde cryen,
    That to beholde it was a noble game,
    How sobreliche he caste doun his yen.
    Criseyda gan al his chere aspyen,
    And let so softe it in her herte sinke
    That to herself she seyde, “Who yaf me drinke?”
    Geoffrey Chaucer (1340–1400)

    Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper;
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    Where’s the peck of pickled pepper Peter Piper picked?
    Mother Goose (fl. 17th–18th century. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers (l. 1–4)