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I recently had a dish at The Cheesecake Factory that had these small salty peppers in it that I really enjoyed. Stupidly, I didn't ask the waiter what they were. I made a mental note to google it later, but so far my efforts have been fruitless (or pepperless).

The dish I had was called "Pasta with Shrimp and Sausage." Here's a link to their website.

Does anyone know what these peppers are and how I can make/buy them? Thanks in advance.

Clarification: These peppers were not only salty, but also had a bit of a spicy kick to them. They were small and probably not roasted red peppers because of their size and spicy kick.

enter image description here

Daniel
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So I found this camera in my pocket and it turns out it makes phone calls, too. Technology! I called the local Cheesecake Factory and the guy on the phone said:

Nothing fancy, they're roasted red peppers.

He sounded pretty agitated, it's 7PM here so I probably caught him in the middle of dinner service.

You can buy them canned or roast them yourself. Much of the taste may have come from the sauce, or perhaps some special prep when they are roasted.

That said as pointed out in comments I am also now convinced that they look a bit on the small side. Tomorrow, during off hours, I'll call them back for a confirmation with more detail. We may have to try a corporate phone call and a tweet, too.

PS I've actually had that same dish and I also enjoyed it.

Jason C
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  • That picture makes it look like they're not bell peppers, though - they look more like an inch in diameter. – Cascabel Jan 19 '17 at 23:57
  • @Jefromi Hm, they seem reasonably normal sized to me. I think some of the ones in the pic are folded up a bit. They may also buy from a source with particularly large ones for presentation purposes. Check out the pics at https://www.google.com/search?q=roasted+red+pepper&tbm=isch, the size seems to jive. They might slice them at an angle too, the rings would come out larger. – Jason C Jan 20 '17 at 00:02
  • I'm not saying they look large, I'm saying they look small. Look at the one in the top right, especially - it looks like a ring-shaped slice of a smaller pepper, not a chunk of a large bell pepper. – Cascabel Jan 20 '17 at 00:04
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    @Jefromi Oh now I see what you mean. I was looking at some of the ones in the bottom right. Maybe the little ones came from the ends? Or maybe the exact opposite of my last comment and they just buy em cheap and in bulk with inconsistent qualities and sizes. Or they use small ones and save the big ones for other presentations. Now I kind of want to call them back, but definitely not the same Cheesecake Factory, that guy did not sound happy. If anybody wants to make a follow up call cross the one in Pittsburgh off your list, although it might be funny to have six people call about the peppers. – Jason C Jan 20 '17 at 00:08
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    All the clearly visible ones are curved like a slice of a small pepper; it really doesn't look like they could be bell peppers to me, even inconsistently sized. I'd guess pepperoncini, given that it's an American Italian restaurant. Anyway, whatever the real answer, I don't think "roasted red peppers" is quite specific enough - sounds like you might've gotten a rushed general answer. – Cascabel Jan 20 '17 at 00:12
  • @Jefromi I'll call back tomorrow during off hours for a second opinion. – Jason C Jan 20 '17 at 00:13
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    While calling the restaurant may be a good idea in some cases, my understanding is that (in an effort to make the food taste the same everywhere) a lot of chain restaurants do very little of the prep themselves, so it's possible that they don't actually know... and if anyone knew, it wouldn't be the people who answer the phone, it'd be someone in the kitchen. I wonder if TCF corporate would respond to a tweet. – Catija Jan 20 '17 at 00:47
  • @Catija Twitter is a great idea. Unfortunately, for philosophical reasons I never made an account, but I suppose it *is* 2016... This reminds me of a time in college where we obtained the exact recipe of a pizza sauce from a large semi local pizza chain by calling corporate hq, nobody at the restaurants knew. – Jason C Jan 20 '17 at 00:55
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    ... You mean 2017? – Catija Jan 20 '17 at 00:56
  • @Catija Oh, crap... Is Twitter still cool? Also I just realized I sent out three client invoices today with the wrong year... – Jason C Jan 20 '17 at 00:57
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    @Jason C - Thanks for your answer. I'm fairly certain that they are not roasted red peppers. I've had those before (the kind you buy in a jar) and they taste totally different than the ones I am looking for. The peppers in this dish were very salty but also had a spicy kick. Not sweet like a red bell pepper. Also, they were small, I had a couple tops, and they seamed to be about the diameter of a quarter or maybe a little larger, but certainly not the size of a typical bell pepper. I am looking forward to hearing what they say when you call them again. – Daniel Jan 20 '17 at 16:06
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I figured out what these are when I found them at Kroger's of all places. They are called Calabrian peppers. enter image description here

Daniel
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