Pepper jelly
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Pepper jelly is a
preserve The word preserve may refer to: Common uses * Fruit preserves, a type of sweet spread or condiment * Nature reserve, an area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or other special interest, usually protected Arts, entertainment, and media ...
made with peppers, sugar, and
salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...
in a pectin or
vinegar Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to eth ...
base. The product, which rose in popularity in the United States from the 1980s to mid-1990s, can be described as a
piquant Pungency () refers to the taste of food commonly referred to as spiciness, hotness or heat, found in foods such as chili peppers. Highly pungent tastes may be experienced as unpleasant. The term piquancy () is sometimes applied to foods with a l ...
mix of sweetness and heat, and is used for meats and as an ingredient in various food preparations. It can be put in
sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...
es, or served on
cream cheese Cream cheese is a soft, usually mild-tasting fresh cheese made from milk and cream.Oxford English Dictionary Stabilizers such as carob bean gum and carrageenan are often added in industrial production. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration de ...
for a cracker spread or used to make a pepper jelly cheesecake.


History

Pepper jelly's history starts in Lake Jackson, Texas. The first dates for commercial sale start around the late 1970s. The original recipes for pepper jelly were likely to be with
jalapeño The jalapeño ( , , ) is a medium-sized chili pepper pod type cultivar of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. A mature jalapeño chili is long and hangs down with a round, firm, smooth flesh of wide. It can have a range of pungency, with Scovi ...
peppers.


Preparation

The more common preparation of pepper jelly is with jalapeños, bell peppers, pectin, sugar, vinegar, and oftentimes wine or liqueur. There have been taste tests to observe which pepper combination is most popular and desirable. The peppers looked at were Habanero, Cheiro do Norte, Biquinho, Malagueta, Cayenne, Paprika and Dedo de Moça. The study concluded that less pungent peppers (Biquinho, Paprika and Cheiro do Norte) were the most suitable for making jelly due to the reddish color, characteristic flavor and aroma of a pepper, sweet taste, and low pungency.


See also

*
List of spreads This is a list of spreads. A spread is a food that is literally spread, generally with a knife, onto food items such as bread or crackers. Spreads are added to food to enhance the flavor or texture of the food, which may be considered bland with ...


References

Chili sauce and paste Condiments Edible gels {{condiment-stub