Chef Juliette
Butters and Creams
Beurres et crèmes d’hors-d’œuvre prove that cold-table finesse is mostly timing: smooth good dairy, cover it closely, hold it cool, then season only as you dish so every spoonful keeps a clean edge.
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Mild, Grilled Capsicum
Created by Chef Juliette
Scorch the skins with conviction, peel while the flesh is warm, then cut the sweet peppers in julienne and dress them simply. This composed salad proves that blackened skin is sacrifice, not spoiled flesh.
Salads
French
Make Ahead
Dinner Party
Picnic
20 min
Active Time
20 min cook•1 hr 20 min total
Yield4 servings
Poivrons doux grillés (mild grilled capsicum) teach a useful courage: the skin must go black before the flesh beneath becomes sweet, supple, and easy to peel. The scorch belongs to the skin you discard, while the pepper keeps a faint smoky edge and a satin texture. Stop at politely blistered and the skin clings, which is the dish telling you it isn't ready.
The original entry assumed a moderate live fire and a cook standing beside it; a classical kitchen could finish the work beneath a salamander. Your overhead broiler is the honest home equivalent, with an outdoor grill equally good. This version scales the unspecified quantity to four peppers and gives the unmeasured oil and vinegar a repeatable three-to-one proportion, enough for four composed-salad servings. No garlic, herbs, or salt are added because the entry calls for none. The live fire and brigade handling are scaffolding; the full scorching, warm peeling, julienne, and oil-and-vinegar dressing are the dish.
One cook, one stove, one evening. The step that matters is blackening every side before the peppers rest; if a patch of skin clings, return it to the heat rather than scraping away the sweet flesh.
Poivrons grillés belong to the Mediterranean French table, particularly Provence and the cooking around Nice, where sweet peppers appear as hors-d'oeuvre, picnic fare, and part of composed salads. The preparation traveled easily from the household grill into the wider French salad repertoire because oil and wine vinegar preserve the peppers' colour while sharpening their sweetness. The blackened exterior is not burnt flesh: it is a skin deliberately sacrificed so the tender pepper beneath can be peeled clean and dressed.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
large mild sweet capsicums
Quantity
4 large (about 800 g / 1 lb 12 oz)
washed, dried, and kept whole; preferably red, yellow, or orange
mild olive oil
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 41 g)
wine vinegar
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| large mild sweet capsicumswashed, dried, and kept whole; preferably red, yellow, or orange | 4 large (about 800 g / 1 lb 12 oz) |
| mild olive oil | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 41 g) |
| wine vinegar | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy rimmed baking sheet or outdoor grill
- •Long heatproof tongs
- •Large heatproof bowl with a plate or lid
- •Sharp chef's knife
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the heat
Set an oven rack about 15 cm (6 inches) beneath the broiler and heat it fully. Alternatively, prepare an outdoor grill over a moderate fire. Dry the whole capsicums thoroughly and place them on a heavy rimmed baking sheet or directly on the grill grate. A wet surface delays scorching, and scorching is the work here.
Keep the capsicums whole while they grill. The intact flesh holds its juices, while the exposed skin takes the full force of the heat. - 2
Scorch every side
Grill the capsicums for 15 to 20 minutes, turning them with tongs every 4 minutes, until nearly the entire skin is blistered and black and the flesh yields slightly beneath the tongs. Be bold. Brown freckles aren't enough. If the peppers soften before their skins blacken, move them closer to the broiler or strengthen the fire so the surface colours faster without cooking the flesh to collapse.
- 3
Rest and peel
Transfer the hot capsicums to a heatproof bowl, cover, and leave them for 10 minutes. As soon as they are safe to handle but still very warm, pull away the scorched skins with your fingers. If a patch clings, don't gouge at the flesh. Blot that spot dry, return it to the heat for 1 to 2 minutes, then cover it again briefly. Ça se rattrape. Never rinse the peppers, or their concentrated sweetness goes down the drain with the skin.
Work over the bowl so the pepper juices aren't lost. They can remain with the cut peppers and become part of the dressing. - 4
Cut the julienne
Pull out the stems, open the peppers, and remove the seeds and pale ribs. Lay the flesh flat, glossy side down, and cut it julienne-fashion into match-shaped rods about 5 mm (1/4 inch) wide. Keep the strips long enough to lie in loose ribbons rather than collapsing into a mince. The word carries the technique.
- 5
Whisk the vinaigrette
Whisk the wine vinegar in a small bowl, then pour in the olive oil in a thin stream while whisking until the vinaigrette, the oil-and-vinegar emulsion, turns lightly clouded. It may separate as it stands; nothing is spoiled. Whisk it once more before dressing the peppers.
- 6
Dress and rest
Turn the warm julienne gently through the vinaigrette and any collected pepper juices until every strip gleams. Rest for at least 30 minutes so the vinegar settles into the sweetness, then arrange the peppers loosely on a shallow serving dish. Serve cool or at room temperature, giving them one final turn through the dressing before they reach the table. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Choose thick-walled red, yellow, or orange capsicums with smooth, taut skins. Green capsicums carry a firmer bitterness; pleasant elsewhere, but not the mild sweetness this entry promises.
- •Do not fear the black skin and do not settle for pale blistering. That dark shell protects the flesh while the heat concentrates its sugars, then slips away once the pepper has rested.
- •Use a mild, fruity olive oil rather than an aggressively peppery one. This is the olive-oil South, but the oil supports the capsicum here; it doesn't compete for the last word.
- •For a picnic, carry the salad chilled and let it lose the hard refrigerator cold before serving. A dry Provençal rosé or a crisp white from the Mediterranean coast suits the sweet peppers and wine vinegar.
Advance Preparation
- •The complete salad can be made up to 2 days ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Turn the peppers through their dressing once or twice as they rest.
- •If preparing in stages, grill and peel the capsicums a day ahead, keep them whole with their collected juices, then cut the julienne and add the vinaigrette several hours before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 175g)
Calories
155 calories
Total Fat
11 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
9 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
10 mg
Total Carbohydrates
12 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
8 g
Protein
2 g
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