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– Let’s start by following the history of Pipper Farm from the beginning. You said it all started a long time ago, from your father’s compulsory military service at Sakartvele.
– Oh yeah. In 1978, when my father was serving Sakartvele, he tried the real Georgian adjika for the first time there. For many years, impressed by that spicy flavor, he was looking for something similar to what he tried in the potato family that had served with him, and in Lithuania. Eureka: After about 30 years, he found the answer in the Kaunas Žaliakalnis market. That day she bought and brought home all the hot peppers she could only find. By the way, a hot pepper on the market costs 1 euro, so not so little! Since hot peppers were not a very popular vegetable at the time, Dad brought up to 50 of them to the market and also bought spices and other ingredients heard in a friend’s stories. And then creation began.
– Were the different types of hot peppers produced in the pepper greenhouses because the devastation of the Žaliakalnis market was not cheap?
– Maybe that’s why. Or maybe curiosity prevailed. I started trying to grow hot peppers myself. I started to wonder where to buy quality seeds. I found providers in the Netherlands. I downloaded about fifty seeds, from the simplest subspecies of Cayenne and Chalapa to one of the hottest at that time, the date and the ‘Trinidad Moruga Scorpion’. Very unexpectedly, many of them grew up next season that they no longer knew what to do with those sharp objects. I remembered that one of my best friends was excellent at making a variety of condiments and marinating vegetables. So I took her home to a basket of hot peppers and said, improvise!
When people ask me if what I offer is very sharp, I get confused every time. This is a truly philosophical question.
By the way, Jurgita Mickevičienė, my friend, did not like spicy dishes, therefore my order was a great challenge for her. So three of me, Jurgita and her husband Raimundas, worked as testers and tasters for more than two years. We experiment: we try and treat our friends with our spices. Although at that time a large part of the tasters criticized our spicy work and said that it was not correct for Lithuania that Lithuanians needed much milder flavors, we did not go unnoticed. More and more small restaurants and exclusive shops were interested in “Piprės” sharpeners and asked for our products. So, three years later, our greenhouse 6 grew by around 2,000. seedlings We grew about sixteen subspecies, five of which were true bitterness bombs.
– It is said that in oriental cuisine, the dish should consist of up to five flavors, none of which can be very strong and outshine the rest.
– Exactly Sharpness should be just one of the ingredients in a seasoning. When people ask me if what I offer is very sharp, I get confused every time. This is a truly philosophical question. After all, for some, the same sharpness is very strong, and others would like it even more: the maximum … In my head, the feeling of sharpness in the dishes must be so subtle that it doesn’t overshadow other flavors. So when creating condiments with hot peppers, you have to calculate everything responsibly.
– You said you like to experiment in the kitchen. And you never know exactly how many grams and milliliters to put, pour, and mix.
– I always improvise, so it’s better not to wonder how much and what to put on. I do everything out of sight and to taste. And with the cakes, I feel pretty bad … I never follow the exact recipe: I mix something too much or too little.
– In everyday life you are often accompanied by the words “sharp, sharp.” Are you a fan of sharp impressions? Perhaps you had to experience them in your personal or business life?
– Where not … Both literally and figuratively. The first grinding of dried dates and hot peppers “Trinidad Moruga Scorpion” had great concern for his health. When I opened the grinder, even though I was wearing a mask, glasses, gloves, a bathrobe, hot pepper particles got into my nose. And when I took off the mask and rubbed it even more, I immediately started to involuntarily sneeze and tear. I had to take off my glasses … It was scary, there was no air. That night even my lungs hurt, but luckily it all ended happily.
Next time, it seems like two years ago, the first hot pepper tasting championship was organized in Lithuania. Certainly he did not lack sharp impressions and … tears. In business? Well, all kinds of sharp objects out of ignorance happen here. But just as the spicy flavor of a dish in your mouth sooner or later wears off, corners of the commercial spice soften and problems are solved.
This year was a real challenge for Piprei. Due to the need to relocate the greenhouse and sow the freshly unloaded hot pepper seeds, we felt the effects of quarantine much earlier than others. The ordered seeds had not yet arrived in November, and until we cleared up the situation and started waiting for a new shipment, work stopped. This year, unfortunately, the hot peppers had to borrow from other farmers.
– You like to travel? Perhaps your travels also have a hidden culinary motif?
– I love endless travel. To be honest, the first hot recipes were born as they scattered throughout Italy, Hungary. As you can see, not after the East. In Italy, after tasting marvelously pickled olives, my friend and recipe maker Jurgita inspired me, so she created the perfect marinade for pepper vegetables. It is now one of our favorites.
Doing business in the field is a good idea, but it should be well thought out and attractive to you.
– There are no limits to cooking today. You can find both spicy ice cream and spicy desserts. So do you like that kind of food policy?
– I really like the unexpected combinations of flavors. One of my favorite delicacies is pumpkin jam with hot peppers, mint and lemon. We usually use it to flavor cheese and place it in poultry dishes. But one year at the fair next to us, people exchanged soft ice cream poured into waffle cones. It was a laugh when the young people bought an ice cream phone and then approached us and asked for pumpkin jam with hot peppers, which they spread on top …
As you can see, there are no limits to testing experiments these days. We also have friends who make apple cheeses, and guess what, one of the ingredients in their production? Clearly hot peppers! And sea buckthorn producers boil jams and gladly sharpen them with hot peppers. I even know there is such a spicy honey, come on, with a recipe for hot peppers. One year, friends who make handmade sweets also asked me for dried hot peppers and tried their sweets on them. Therefore, I am very glad that Lithuanian farmers and local entrepreneurs do not shy away from experimenting and inventing the most unexpected flavors with hot peppers.
– Do you work yourself on the pepper farm? Do you like to live financially?
– The main helpers of Piprės Farm are the closest relatives and, of course, the friends. I don’t live financially, I mean, you won’t see me wearing boots and a stretched sweater near the greenhouses. It may be a bit unexpected, but I work in a non-economic field at all. I am the manager of cultural projects of the Raudondvaris cultural center of the Kaunas district. Communicating with people is one of my favorite activities. As you can see, there are many things in common, both in direct work and in Pepper Farm. After all, it is through people that information is disseminated, knowledge is shared, cooperation is sought, and common solutions are sought.
– Today, many active young people leave the cities and move to live and create new businesses in the countryside, surrounded by nature. Laura Garšvaitė is one of them?
– It probably all depends on how much you want it. Doing business in the field is a good idea, but it should be well thought out and attractive to you. The biggest challenge for these entrepreneurs is how to touch the customer’s heart so that they are impressed with your products and constantly come back to you. I think the secret to any successful business is to believe in what you do. And don’t think about money: don’t think that in another year your other business will prosper and you will be a millionaire.
Every business needs to grow like that pepper seedling, from seed to harvest of the plant itself. And even after the harvest, you still need to know what to do with that harvest. Also, experience is very important here. But it comes with the years. We have a lot of information that interests us, but it doesn’t always turn out as it is written. Here’s a lot like that with my experimental cake. Let’s say I came up with baking, but I multiplied the flour. Oops! It has failed. That’s the way it is in business. Good for improvising, but sometimes you need precision. Business is like a kite and its manager. The wind is the customer that caught that kite, and the person who owns the kite is an entrepreneur … I’m sure if you haven’t managed to control that kite the first time, you should try again.
Spicy pepper seasonings
“Habanero” spicy stew
You will need: 1 bell pepper, 1 small carrot, 1 celery stalk, 2 garlic cloves, a handful of sunflower seeds, chopped fresh basil, olive oil for frying, spices to taste.
How to produce:
Improvisation! It didn’t hurt and I finely chopped the green peppers. I added 1 small chopped carrot, celery stalk, 2 cloves of garlic. I fried everything over high heat, then hit a handful of sunflower seeds and a handful of chopped fresh basil in a pan. Again, I fried everything in pure olive oil. Sprinkle it with coarse salt and crushed peppers of various subspecies.
This spicy mix is very versatile: you can season it with fresh salads, put pasta, sandwiches, fish, beef, pork, hot vegetables. Delicious!
Tuna salad with hot peppers
You will need: a huge handful of your favorite salad, a handful of cherry tomatoes, a few quail eggs, 1 can of tuna oil, Chalapo peppers, grated hard cheese.
How to produce:
Put the salad, the chopped tomatoes, the quail eggs very well on a plate and place the tuna and the finely chopped pieces of Chalapo pepper on top. For the final flavor accent, grate the hard cheese. Improvise to make everything look attractive and delicious. After all, we eat with our eyes at first!
Beetroot salad with pickled chalapo peppers
You will need: 2 boiled beets cut into small cubes, 1 large pear (also cut into small cubes), walnut oil (another one you like), a handful of beans, roasted sunflower seeds, hot peppers.
How to produce:
These salads look very tasty in small jars or glass cups. You must first put the beets cut into small cubes and sprinkle with salt. Then layer the other ingredients, that is, place the chopped pickled Chalapo peppers, then the chopped pears and repeat the peppers again. After layering, pour in a tablespoon of Chalapo pepper marinade and beautify the top of the salad with roasted sunflower seeds or cedar pine nuts. Decorate with leafy leaves, sunflower or alfalfa seedlings. Sprinkle everything with your favorite oil. Let stand half an hour and … delicious!
Non-alcoholic mocha cocktail with hot peppers
If you’ve never tried it before, I suggest you try and season the non-alcoholic cocktails with hot peppers.
You will need: 1 banana, 1 apple, 2 orange juice, some mint leaves, some very hot yellow peppers (to taste).
Yellow peppers have a wonderful aroma reminiscent of citrus, melon and mango. It is deceptively tempting to try it, but as soon as it starts chewing it surprises with its sharpness. Therefore, place very few peppers in the cocktail – just a 3mm diameter piece will suffice. Remember that the peppers have 100 thousand. up to 350 thousand. Units of bitterness. Chalapo peppers are well known to all of us, only between 3,500 and 8,000 bitter units.
A non-alcoholic mocha cocktail with hot peppers is made very simply. The banana is peeled with the apple, the apple is gutted and then finely chopped and placed in a whisk. Acute!
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