If I ask for jalapeños somewhere, I should never get those disgusting pickled rings of bland mush.
If you were to tell someone to go buy a cucumber, and they come back with a pickle, you’d rightfully be irritated. If the salad said it had cucumbers and you end up with pickle slices, you’d be revolted. If you said you wanted cabbage on the sandwich, and they put sauerkraut underneath your aioli, you’d be rightfully pissed.
And if I pick the jalapeño add-in option on a website, write it down on the grocery list, or god forbid see it as part of the description of a food, I shouldn’t get the half-rotted, piss-soaked, completely-devoid-of-spicy-except-for-the-acid-of-the-pickling-juice excuse for a pepper slice that some asshole out there decided was a decent way to sell his old peppers.
We don’t call pickles (gherkins, whatever) cucumbers. We don’t call sauerkraut cabbage.
Rice isn’t rice. I should never get that disgusting pile of bland mush. If you were to tell someone to buy flour, and they came back with bread, you’d rightfully be irritated…
The meaning of words depends on context. If I order jalapeños on nachos, I expect them to be pickled.
Raw is not the way most people eat rice, so it makes sense that one would assume it’s cooked. If I got raw rice with my curry, I would indeed be irritated and rightfully so. Jalapeños are commonly consumed in a variety of preparations, fresh/raw being amongst those, and it’s not unreasonable to expect them fresh if they’re not explicitly labeled “pickled” by the restaurant.
Your other example, of flour and bread, is exactly what OP means. Cucumbers and pickles are different, and not interchangeable. Flour and bread are different, and not interchangeable. They are prepared differently and serve different culinary purposes.
I vote we call fresh jalapeños “jalapeños” and pickled “jalapickles”. In the meantime, at least as far as grocery delivery is concerned, OP should put in the notes that they don’t want picked jalapeños, even as a substitute. Restaurants should have clearer labels; random delivery person can’t be expected to know your preference unless you explicitly tell them, IMO.
I think blame for this falls squarely on Mexicans. They had the foresight to come up with different names for fresh vs dried or smoked peppers, but left out pickling.
In Mexico pickled jalapeños are called escabeche.
Not quite. Escabeche is a mixture of jalapenos, cauliflower, radishes, carrots, onions, garlic, all fried then pickled.
It can be a variety of pickled vegetables with herbs but can also just be jalapenos and carrots, maybe with onions. In any event, if you get pickled jalapenos in the context of Mexican cuisine it’s that, not just jalapenos.
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If I order jalapeños on nachos, I expect them to be pickled.
And you’re free to be disgustingly wrong in your preferences!
I mean…you could ask if they are pickled.
I support your preference for communication, though.
My wife does that since she prefers fresh as well, and it’s kind of a mixed bag what you’re gonna get. It’s surprising to see how many people don’t know the difference.
Pickled jalapeños are good, but I agree, if I say I am putting jalapeños on my sandwich I don’t mean the pickled ones.
But spicy? Just start with spicy peppers and you will get spicy pickled jalapeños. I grew a variety called Jalafuego and they were good for cooking but I made some fermented jalapeños en escabeche and it’s almost inedibly spicy, I have to eat it in small amount or use it as an ingredient in something.
Speaking of fermented - that might heal your relationship with pickled jalapeños. Look up how to ferment them in brine. Not vinegar. Preferably with carrot, onion, and garlic . Much more complex flavor.
Does it reduce the spice that much? Sincerely, someone that can’t handle spice.
Trim out the white pulp, that’s the heat…
