If you are new to Bruno's or Sierra Nevada you might be wondering just what to expect for taste and flavor. The recipe for our pickled peppers goes back three generations with the Bruno family. This recipe has essentially remained unchanged since it was first used for Bruno's Wax Peppers in 1954. The simple ingredients - vinegar, water, salt and garlic - are the perfect complement to the peppers we pickle. Compared to other pickled pepper recipes, Bruno's Wax Peppers and Sierra Nevada Chilenos use a recipe with more vinegar and slightly less salt. You will find this recipe makes our products zestier and brighter than the imported peppers most people are used to having. The vinegar in the recipe makes these peppers the perfect addition to sandwiches, pizza, hot dogs, tacos and more. Both the Bruno’s and Sierra
Nevada Chileno brands are right at home on a charcuterie platter, too. Visit the Recipes page (link below) for some tasty appetizer ideas. The secret: the vinegar helps accentuate the flavors in things like cheese and meats, consistent with a general culinary formula that says acid + fat = flavor. Bruno's Wax Peppers and Sierra Nevada Chilenos are gluten-free, fat-free product (no cholesterol, no added sugars). The recipe for the pickled peppers is a natural pickling recipe - no artificial preservatives, just vinegar and salt. The ingredients for the pickling brine are non-GMO, as are the peppers. Our pickling recipe is just one part of the flavor experience. The real star of the show is the specialty wax pepper that we grow, process and pickle. Visit the Italian Wax Peppers link below to learn more about the unique pepper.
Sierra Nevada Chilenos and Bruno’s Wax Peppers use essentially an identical recipe. Both brands start with the unique Italian Wax Pepper that we grow and process ourselves. The big difference in the two recipes is that we add oregano and a bit of extra garlic to the Sierra Nevada Chilenos. This gives the Sierra Nevada Chilenos a very different flavor from the Bruno’s. The oregano and garlic have always been part of the traditional Chileno recipe.
Another component of your flavor experience is spicy heat. This is VERY subjective - one person's "too hot" can be another person's "weak heat". We do not add any chemicals to raise or lower the heat of our peppers. The heat in our products is a direct result of timed pickings coordinated around what Mother Nature throws at us for plant stress. When a pepper on this site is listed as MILD or REGULAR that means it will have a small amount spicy pepper heat. If they had no heat they would be called "sweet" (i.e. sweet bell peppers). Peppers listed as NIPPY or HOTTER will have a moderate amount of pepper heat - not quite the heat of an average jalapeno pepper. Bruno’s HOT Wax Peppers are the hottest product we make and they are about as hot as a jalapeno.