Really nice pickled peppers.
PEPPADEW(tm) sweet piquanté pepper... a savoury fruit which, when processed according to the patented process, uniquely balances hot, spicy and sweet flavours with a crisp mouthfeel.
Peppadews are small hot red bell peppers, or if you will, large mild red chillies. They are pickled in vinegar with sugar and salt. The crunchy texture with a hot-sweet-sour taste is delicious.
The first truly new fruit to be launched on the world market since Kiwifruit 26 years ago
Peppadews really come into their own as a pizza topping. Feta cheese and Peppadew just seem to be made for each other. Sadly they don't synergise with mushrooms to the same extent. Peppadews on pizza can be obtained from most of South Africa's pizza delivery services, but beware that they may be renamed to be a "own secret ingredient": Butler's calls them "Butleritos", St. Elmo's calls them "Elmodews".
Peppadews are also good in just about any food you can normally put peppers or chillies into. They add a bit of crunch and flavour to salads, stir fries, dips, to vegetarian brown gak. The fluid in which they are packaged can also be used to add flavour to such dishes. I'll also have them in cheese and/or hummus sandwiches. I'm told that they are good on burgers.
You can get them in hot or mild strengths. The "hot" isn't very hot, and I prefer it.
Peppadews have been on sale in South Africa's supermarkets for many a year, and have in recent years made it over to the UK. In 2004, they are officially available in Australia, Canada, Denmark, United Kingdom, Germany, Holland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, and the USA. They have also been sighted in Ireland.
Ingredients:
Sweet piquante peppers
Sugar
Spirit vinegar
Sea Salt
Antioxidant (Ascorbic acid)
Ground chillies
Firming agent (calcium chloride)
Made with no GM-ingredients
Suitable for Vegans
Product of South Africa
Looking through these ingredients, it seems that the Peppadew experience owes a lot to the manufacturing process, not just the raw natural pepper. They're still good.
PEPPADEW(tm) International has registered plant breeders' rights internationally, so Sweet Piquanté Peppers can only be grown under license from PEPPADEW(tm) International.
The website claims that Peppadews are the discovery of a farmer called Johan Steenkamp, and that they are grown in the Tzaneen area of the Limpopo province (roughly, in the North-East of the country).
He spotted an unusual-looking bush, standing chest high, laden with small bright red fruit which looked like something between miniature red peppers and cherry tomatoes.
Sources: italicised text comes from a bottle of Peppadews and from http://www.peppadew.com/