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

[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.

[Deborah]

That dinner looks delicious !

[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]

It sounds a bit sweet and mild-I'm looking for a good frying pepper. Maybe a banana type?

[peebee]

Kath, I usually eat peppers raw too but these were so thin-walled and tough, they looked like just skin on any other pepper! That's why I thought to myself, these must be for cooking. I just want to hear from anyone who had a positive experience eating these.
I am just gonna have to request seeds next year of the ones you mentioned, the Slonovo Uno and Palanacko Cudo. I did request the Slonovo once, and the person who responded sent me 3 seeds. While it was better than nothing, 3 are not enough in case none germinated. None did. So I just gave up and bought the Carmen, much to my regret. I went to a large nursery today looking for replacements but all they had left were chili peppers.
Thanks for your replies everyone .

[Father'sDaughter]

I was looking for a possibly more productive pepper for next year, and Carmen was one I was considering. All the descriptions I found on line say it's supposed to have "medium thick" walls.

[Farmette]

I've never had a problem with Carmen eating raw or cooking. For me, it has been a very sweet, yummy, thick walled pepper that was a good producer. I grew Socrates, but found the Carmen to be a bit sweeter and of course a different shape.

[bower]

I grew some Carmen "F3" that I got as a bonus in a seed swap, and got two different peppers on two plants. One of them had narrow shoulders and a six inch long fruit that took a good while to ripen unevenly from forest green to red. The flesh was reasonably thick (would rate as 'medium thick' by all comparisons) and quite sweet. The other had big shoulders, coming to a point about 3 inches long, thinner flesh and not as sweet, but very pretty as it ripened evenly all over, turning a beautiful chocolatey colour and then bright red.
I guess neither of them were really like the F1.

[peebee]

Hmmmmm...mine are definitely thin-walled, so thin that the entire pepper seems to be made of skin . I will not grow this again.

[nolabelle]

Hi peebee. Hope you don't mind my two cents worth. I don't know anything about Carmen peppers but I do know about cayennes. With the large amount of production, I had to find a way to use them aside from pickling and eating raw, which is my favorite way to eat most peppers. The skins posed a problem in soups, gravies and stews. Issue was resolved with a food mill.

Cook the peppers in minimal liquid until soft. Chop in a food processor, then run through a food mill with medium to large blade attached. You end up with pureed peppers sans the seeds and skins. Freeze the puree in ice cube trays, then store in the freezer. Pop a few cubes in soups, stews or gravies. You can also marinate meats in it. Food mills run approx. $30.