Peppadew peppers stuffed with goat cheese and wrapped with prosciutto are on the menu at Susan Spicer’s restaurant Rosedale.  They are a bite of pure pleasure, sweet and piquant and herb-y, a tiny example of Susan Spicer’s enormous talent.  Susan Spicer is one of New Orleans’ most amazing chefs.  Over the years, I have enjoyed some incredible meals at her restaurants: Bayona in the French Quarter, Herbsaint in the CBD and Rosedale near the Lafitte Greenway.  I vividly recall having Cream of Garlic soup for the first time in one of Susan Spicer’s restaurants back in the… omg, the 1980s?  I could not believe that a soup made of GARLIC could be so tasty.  At Bayona, I have enjoyed some incredible seafood, duck and even rabbit dishes.  (And some preternaturally cold martinis).  Most recently, Rosedale has been a reliably fun lunch spot with the most decadent pimento cheese sandwiches and big juicy burgers.  Susan Spicer’s cuisine is global but somehow she manages to put flavor on the plate that seems familiar even if it is a brand new experience for your tastebuds.  I have had lots of food at her restaurants (like the Cream of Garlic soup way back when) that I never had before but when I had it, it instantly became a familiar favorite.  When Susan greets customers, she is usually wearing one of her signature bandanas and a warm smile.  She looks like she works really hard!  I think she is one of the most talented chefs New Orleans has to offer, with an ever-evolving repertoire and a constant joie de vivre.  She is what New Orleans restaurant food is all about!  These stuffed peppers are “in the style of” Susan Spicer, and they are named after a black cat named Ziggy who famously roams the Rosedale neighborhood on the edge of the Lafitte Greenway.  Ziggy goes through every open door he sees and makes himself at home.

What are Peppadew peppers? This is from Cook’s Illustrated:  Peppadew is the brand name for the pickled grape-size red pepper known as Juanita. The Juanita plant was reportedly discovered in 1993 by Johannes Steenkamp, who found it growing in the garden of his vacation home in South Africa. His first bite of the pepper delivered a significant shot of heat. To capitalize on their spicy flavor profile, he pickled the peppers in a simple sugar and vinegar mixture.

Today, Peppadews are available in mild and hot varieties (the heat is adjusted by adding more or fewer dried, ground seeds to the pickling liquid), as well as in a new yellow Goldew variety, which has less heat.

While a comparison to these unusual peppers is hard to make, their closest competitor might be the pickled cherry pepper. When we compared hot Peppadews with hot cherry peppers, the biggest difference was the pronounced sweetness of the Peppadews, which made them the favorite of our testers. But in a cooked dish such as chicken Scarpariello—a spicy Italian recipe made with sausage, peppers, and onions—the subtleties of the Peppadews got lost. Our recommendation: Enjoy Peppadews raw on antipasto platters and in salads, as well as in cooked dishes where they can maintain their identity, such as pizza.

AND WHAT IS THE LAFITTE GREENWAY?  The Lafitte Greenway is a 2.6-mile linear park located in the heart of New Orleans that connects people to nature, their destinations, and each other. Since its opening in 2015, the Greenway has served as the city’s premier bicycle and pedestrian pathway, linking neighborhoods from the French Quarter to City Park.