Lay whole peppers directly on hot coals, turning with tongs until the skin is blackened all over, roughly 10 to 15 minutes. Steam them covered for 15 minutes, then peel. Blitz a portion with almonds, bread, garlic and vinegar for romesco.
Method
Wait for the right coals
You want coals that have burnt down to a steady glow with a light grey coat, not flaming or spitting. Flames deposit soot; glowing embers deposit heat. There should be no grate on the grill at all.
Peppers straight onto the fire
Lay the whole peppers directly on the coals. They will hiss and the skin will blacken and blister within a couple of minutes. This is exactly what should happen and none of that char ends up in the finished dish.
Turn until black all over
With long tongs, turn every couple of minutes so every surface blackens, roughly 10 to 15 minutes total. Do not stop at patchy. Fully blackened skin peels off cleanly; partly blackened skin does not.
Steam them soft
Move the peppers into a bowl and cover tightly with a plate or cling film for 15 minutes. The trapped steam lifts the skin away from the flesh, which is what makes peeling possible.
Peel, do not rinse
Rub the skins off with your fingers and pull out the stems and seeds. Never rinse them under a tap, which washes away the smoke and the sweetness you just spent twenty minutes building. A few flecks of black left behind are fine.
Make the romesco
Blitz two of the peeled peppers with the almonds, fried bread, garlic, vinegar and paprika, then trickle in the oil until it comes together thick and slightly coarse. Season hard. Serve the rest of the peppers whole, dressed in oil and salt, with the romesco alongside.
Notes worth knowing
- This works for aubergines too, and it is the correct way to make baba ganoush. Give them longer, until completely collapsed.
- Onions, whole heads of garlic and sweet potatoes all cook well buried in the embers rather than sat on top.
- Do it at the end of a cook, when the fire is dying and you would otherwise be wasting the heat.
Common questions
Is it safe to put food directly on charcoal?
On clean lump charcoal or fully ashed briquettes, yes, and it is a very old technique. Do not do it with charcoal that has been lit using lighter fluid, and brush off any ash before eating. The blackened skin is peeled off and discarded anyway.
Why not just use a grate?
Direct contact with embers is far hotter than a grate and blisters the skin fast, before the flesh overcooks into mush. That speed is exactly what you want for peeling peppers.
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