I don't get Carmen

[peebee]

I grew Carmen F1 peppers for the first time this year after reading the many positive reviews about it. They are good producers, no complaint there, but...how do you eat it?? The skin is thin & super tough after cooking. I've grilled it, fried it, even put it in soups to soften the skin--I still end up with a mouth full of brittle, tasteless, hard skin. And there's no meat to speak of.
I just don't get it--what's the deal w/ Carmen? Why are the seeds so expensive, yet to me they are not worth growing even if they were free?
At least w/ Nu-Mex type peppers, you grill the skin, remove, and get soft delicious flesh. And Shi-shi-to types, the skins are soft and edible.
Please tell me what to do about Carmen, she's a problem!

[kath]

I don't cook peppers, so for me, Carmen was great because it was early, had a clean, sweet taste and produced reliably and abundantly. Since I found Slonovo Uvo and Palanacko Cudo, which have all those attributes in addition to thick walls, I don't grow Carmen any more.

kath

[halleone]

Originally Posted by kath

I don't cook peppers, so for me, Carmen was great because it was early, had a clean, sweet taste and produced reliably and abundantly. Since I found Slonovo Uvo and Palanacko Cudo, which have all those attributes in addition to thick walls, I don't grow Carmen any more.

kath

So, Kath, where did you find the seeds? I came up with a blank.

So far my Carmen aren't ready yet; maybe that's just OK if they don't get ready. I am a cranky gardener this year and tending to tear out whatever doesn't taste really good. The Shi-shi-to's are being pampered like crazy....

[peebee]

Shi-shi-toes ARE good, aren't they Halleone? Now THAT'S a thin-skinned TASTY pepper! Soft skinned too. To me, a pepper is either thin, soft, like the shi-shis or thicker like the others. Not a strange thin toughie.

Can't be the potting mix, its the same I'm using in the other pepper pots.

Slonovo Uno & Palanacko seeds are hard to come by; they were offered here once in the Seed section and several members got some; I missed the boat. I wish some people would offer them again later this year because they sound great. Maybe I can trade my left over Carmen seeds?

[halleone]

Originally Posted by peebee

Maybe I can trade my left over Carmen seeds?

I hope we both can find some Slonovo Uno and Palanacko for next year!

[Deborah]

I hope Lipstick isn't like Carmen-I was planning to grow Lipstick next year.

[RebelRidin]

Deborah... I don't know about Carmnen but I am growing Lipstick. And so far like what I've seen and tasted. They are quite sweet and medium-thick walled. Like Kath we mostly eat peppers raw but I happen to be stuffing a variety for dinner.

I have pre-coocked Italian sausage, cooked rice, a dab of tomato paste, a bit of chopped onion, a couple eggs, mozarella and grated parmesan in these. Among them are a very large Corno di Toro, a West Allis Half-Sharp and a couple large Lipstick.

I can report back on Lipstick's cooked skins later...

[Deborah]

Thanks, that'd be great.

[RebelRidin]

Originally Posted by Deborah

Thanks, that'd be great.

[RebelRidin]

Originally Posted by Deborah

Thanks, that'd be great.

The skins on the Half Sharps were barely noticable to me. The Lipstick was good also but IMO are better used fresh. Their sweetness seemed lost amidst the sausage. They had more noticible skins than the other two but I wouldn't have noticed them at all if I weren't thinking on it.

[Deborah]

That dinner looks delicious !

[COMPOSTER]

Originally Posted by Deborah

That dinner looks delicious !

I second that! I'm going to try something similar with Carmen (2 plants growing) and see if I can add something constructive to this thread.

[Cole_Robbie]

I think the ones I ate tonight were Double Delight from Gurney's. I do have some Carmen, too. I drip some olive oil on them, salt, and toast in a toaster oven for about ten minutes.

My peppers are usually not that great, but my mom's garden, which is 1/2 mile away, always has bigger peppers with thicker walls. She uses a lot of horse manure, and the peppers especially seem to thrive on it. I can get a decent tomato plant by just fertilizing the hole I plant in, but that doesn't seem to work with peppers.

[nolabelle]

I wonder if roasting to remove the skins, then frying would give you what you're looking for in taste and texture with the Carmen peppers.

I tried that with cayennes, but the quantity was too overwhelming to remove the skins by hand.

[ChristinaJo]

I am growing Carmen as well. I wasn't too impressed. I think I'm ready for just open pollinated types, so when I find a Keeper,it's just that. I can keep it!