In May I bought a Melrose pepper plant from the Cheney Mansion Plant Sale. I had no idea what it was, but I felt somewhat adventurous, and I went home to plant it in a small container on the side of my deck. It quickly grew a rather enormous green pepper.
I researched it a bit – and I say a bit because there isn’t a plethora of information about it online. I love this story of a local family who still grows it, and from what I can tell from this page and others, it’s an heirloom pepper from Italy brought to the States and grown in nearby Melrose Park. Hence the name. They’re good for frying and after they ripen on the vine they are very sweet, sweeter than bell peppers even.
So I eagerly waited for the pepper to ripen. And waited. And waited. I wondered – was this thing ever going to turn red? It had been there for going on two months, completely unchanged and looking quite ready to fall off the vine from the sheer weight of it.
Finally, about a week ago, the very bottom started to turn red.
I don’t have a more recent picture, but it gets a little more red every day and it’s mostly red now, having gone through a rather ugly green-red combination period. My husband said it looked like a bowling shoe. 😉 I should be able to pick it this week, so I’d better figure out what to make with it, no? As you can see, now there’s a second one on the plant now as well, and it’s big enough to use if I want to use it while it’s green.
The racetrack mentioned on the page about the Melrose Park family is not quite walking distance, but it’s probably a 10 minute drive. Now that is local.
A friend of mine, who is from Melrose Park, grew up on these peppers. She always talks about how her grandfather would stuff them and how delicious they were. I have had them at Taste of Melrose and agree they are delicious. I have had them tossed in a green salad at her house many times too. I have only eaten them green so curious how the red will taste. A few weeks back they gave me some extras. Look at the happiness when I cut into one of them http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaxhouse/4788446736/.
That photo is super cute, Jacky. Thanks for sharing it, and I’ll let you know what I think of the red ones very soon.
Let me know what you do with them. Mine are turning red too, so I need to figure something out!
When the Melrose Pepper turns red, my Dad strings them, puts a brown paper bag over them and hangs them to dry. Once dry, he pops off the end and fries them on a very low heat in Olive Oil. When done and cool, sprinkle a little bit of salt on them and bite into them hearing a big crunch! Just thinking about them puts smile on my face. My Dad is Italian and this is his all time favorite pepper and ours too. During the summer when they are green, fried peppers on a piece of good Italian Bread and some pepperoni! My kids love to go to my parent’s house on a weekend for lunch time with Grandpa!
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Let’s them get it candy red — they’re really sweet, even sweeter then red bell peppers. You can use them just like you would bell peppers. They’re awesome sauteed in olive oil with some onions and they’re also great with sausage.
Jacky — do you know what your friend’s grandfather stuffed them with?
They stuffed them with meatballs. At the Taste of Melrose this past weekend I have them stuffed with sausage.
My husband grew up on fried green melrose pepper sandwiches. They couldn’t be simpler. Cut the stem end from the peppers, leave the seeds in. Fry in lots of olive oil. Salt to taste. Assemble sandwich : cut french bread lengthwise, cover with lots of peppers, top with thich slices of ripe tomato. Enjoy! Now thats the taste of summer.
Sounds fantastic – thanks for the recipe!
where do u buy melrose peppers in chicago area havent had them since i was a kidd
I believe Caputos sometimes has them, unless you mean the plants. I got my plant at the Cheney Mansion plant sale.
Great site! But I’m looking for the dark Green Short Melrose peppers, I’m not adversed to plantin different types but this is the one I’m most farilar with.
Can you help????
Caputo’s also sells the plants every spring in their plant nursery. We purchased ours at the Addison store but also saw them at the stores in Bloomingdale and Hanover Park.
This year our plants are huge and already producing. We usually do not wait until they turn red to pick them because we love them so much…..but if are patient sometimes we get a red one and they are even better!