Ham croquettes (croquetas de jamón) are prepared by making a creamy filling with small pieces of ham, coating the outside of the mixture in breadcrumbs, and frying them until the outside becomes crispy and golden.
Padrón peppers (pimientos de Padrón) are much simpler to prepare. They are cooked in a hot pan with olive oil until the outside begins to brown and are then sprinkled with salt. I have even started making my own Padrón peppers at home with lunch or dinner. To my surprise, they taste just like the ones I have eaten at the restaurants. Now I can have this delicious appetizer whenever I want!
Galician food is closely connected to the region's environment. Galicia's long coastline along the Atlantic Ocean provides access to fresh seafood, which helps explain why fish and octopus are such important parts of the local cuisine.
Padrón peppers (pimientos de Padrón) have an especially interesting connection the the environment. There is a famous Galician saying: “Os pementos de Padrón, uns pican e outros non,” which means, "Padrón peppers, some are hot and some are not.” When eating them, I noticed that most of the peppers had a mild taste, but every once in a while (about one in every 10 peppers it seems), I would bite into a spicy one. Sometimes, if I am lucky, I get an extra spicy pepper or two in my order, but it seems to be rare.
My science brain immediately wanted to know why this happens! I learned that the spiciness of the peppers comes from certain chemical compounds called "capsaicinoids" (pronounced "cap-SAY-sin-oids"). This is the chemical that makes pepper so spicy!
