Red Bell Peppers Delivery or Pickup

You may be surprised to learn that red bell peppers, along with yellow, green, and orange bell peppers, are considered fruit. Botanically speaking, the species Capsicum Annuum produces the berry we know as the bell pepper. Bell peppers all start green. As they ripen, they change color to yellow, orange, and red. Some varieties turn white, brown, lavender, or purple when ripe.

Red bell peppers have a sweeter taste than their more strongly flavored but less ripe green and yellow pepper siblings. That's because the red bell pepper is allowed to ripen more, drinking up the plant's nutrients that make most fruit sweeter. 

Peppers are native to the northern portion of South America, Central America, and Mexico. In 1493, Columbus brought the pepper seed back to Europe. During this time, the black peppercorn was a popular spice imported from India. Thus, any known spice with a hot and intense flavor was given the name pepper by Europeans. Even though the pepper has no relation to the peppercorn, Europeans called it a pepper.

These early peppers weren't the bell pepper we know and love today. The mild bell pepper cultivar originated during the 1920s in Hungary. The name bell pepper gets applied to many sweet peppers with the large, bell-shaped fruit, regardless of color. 

Like most unripe fruits, the unripe bell pepper starts out green and turns color only when ripening, except for the Permagreen variety, which stays green. It isn't unusual to find mixed-colored peppers picked during the ripening process.

In the culinary world, the bell pepper shares the tomato's fate, classified as a botanical fruit yet treated like a vegetable. The bell pepper gets chopped or sliced and used to top salads, pizzas, and sandwiches. Chefs often use them as a stir-fry ingredient for their sweetness and crispy texture. Removing the top and hollowing out the seeds and membrane, the bell pepper can be stuffed with various ingredients such as rice and beef or chicken and then baked for a delicious meal. 

First, the red bell pepper should be red. You might find bell peppers of varying degrees of redness when selecting loose bell peppers. Any green on the pepper indicates a lack of ripeness. This lack of color doesn't make the greenish-red bell pepper unusable, only less sweet. The deeper red, the sweeter the bell pepper will turn out to be.

You want to select red bell peppers that are firm to the touch and free of any bruises or blemishes. Soft spots indicate age and the start of spoilage. Some bell pepper distributors and grocers will bag the red bell pepper for bulk sales. You should carefully examine the bag for any of the above signs and choose another package of peppers if you find even one with bruises, blemishes, or soft spots. 

Red bell peppers will keep up to a week at room temperature, although they will continue to ripen. Moving them to the refrigerator will extend their life up to several weeks.