Pimento

Pimento is sometimes a synonym for Allspice

Allspice

Allspice, also called Jamaica pepper, Kurundu, Myrtle pepper, pimenta, or newspice, is a spice which is the dried unripe fruit of Pimenta dioica , a mid-canopy tree native to the Greater Antilles, southern Mexico and Central America, now cultivated in many warm parts of the world...

.

The pimento, pimiento, or cherry pepper is a variety of large, red, heart-shaped chili pepper

Chili pepper

Chili pepper is the vegetable of the plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Botanically speaking, the fruit of capsicums are berries...

 (Capsicum annuum

Capsicum annuum

Capsicum annuum is a domesticated species of the plant genus Capsicum native to Mexico.-Description:The plant is a perennial, but usually grown as an annual, with a densely branched stem. The plant reaches 0.5–1.5 m...

) that measures 7 to 10 cm (3 to 4 inches) long and 5 to 7 cm (2 to 3 inches) wide (medium, elongate). The flesh of the pimento is sweet, succulent and more aromatic than that of the red bell pepper

Bell pepper

Bell pepper is a cultivar group of the species Capsicum annuum. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, green and orange. Bell peppers are sometimes grouped with less pungent pepper varieties as "sweet peppers". Peppers are native to Mexico, Central America...

. Some varieties of the pimento type are hot, including the Floral Gem and Santa Fe Grande varieties.

Pimento is sometimes a synonym for Allspice

Allspice

Allspice, also called Jamaica pepper, Kurundu, Myrtle pepper, pimenta, or newspice, is a spice which is the dried unripe fruit of Pimenta dioica , a mid-canopy tree native to the Greater Antilles, southern Mexico and Central America, now cultivated in many warm parts of the world...

.

The pimento, pimiento, or cherry pepper is a variety of large, red, heart-shaped chili pepper

Chili pepper

Chili pepper is the vegetable of the plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Botanically speaking, the fruit of capsicums are berries...

 (Capsicum annuum

Capsicum annuum

Capsicum annuum is a domesticated species of the plant genus Capsicum native to Mexico.-Description:The plant is a perennial, but usually grown as an annual, with a densely branched stem. The plant reaches 0.5–1.5 m...

) that measures 7 to 10 cm (3 to 4 inches) long and 5 to 7 cm (2 to 3 inches) wide (medium, elongate). The flesh of the pimento is sweet, succulent and more aromatic than that of the red bell pepper

Bell pepper

Bell pepper is a cultivar group of the species Capsicum annuum. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, green and orange. Bell peppers are sometimes grouped with less pungent pepper varieties as "sweet peppers". Peppers are native to Mexico, Central America...

. Some varieties of the pimento type are hot, including the Floral Gem and Santa Fe Grande varieties. Pimento or pimentão are Portuguese

Portuguese language

Portuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal. It is derived from the Latin spoken by the romanized Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago...

 words for "bell pepper", while pimenta refers both to chili peppers and to black pepper

Black pepper

Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is a small drupe approximately five millimetres in diameter, dark red when fully mature, containing a single...

corns. It is typically used fresh, or pickled and jarred.

Stuffing

These sweet pimento peppers are also the familiar red stuffing found in prepared Spanish

Spanish cuisine

Spanish cuisine consists of a variety of dishes which stem from differences in geography, culture and climate. It is heavily influenced by seafood available from the waters that surround the country, and reflects the country's deep maritime roots...

 green olives

Olive (fruit)

The Olive is the fruit of the Olive tree and is a major component of the agriculture and gastronomy along the Mediterranean both in Europe and North Africa, as well as in the Middle East.-History:...

. The pimento was originally cut into small pieces and hand stuffed into fresh green olives to complement the strong flavor of the olive. For ease of production pimento is often puree

Purée

Purée and mash are general terms for food, usually vegetables or legumes, that have been ground, pressed, and/or strained to the consistency of a soft paste or thick liquid. Purées of specific foods are often known by specific names, e.g., mashed potatoes or apple sauce...

d and formed with the help of a natural gum (such as sodium alginate

Sodium alginate

The chemical compound sodium alginate is the sodium salt of alginic acid. Its empirical chemical formula is NaC₆H₇O₆. Its form as a gum, when extracted from the cell walls of brown algae, is used by the foods industry to increase viscosity and as an emulsifier. It...

 or guar

Guar

The guar bean or cluster bean is an annual legume and the source of guar gum. It grows best under conditions with frequent rainfall, but tolerates arid conditions well...

 gum) into strips. This allows the olive stuffing to be completed by a machine and increases the availability of the olives by lowering their cost of production. However, it also makes the olives less accessible to consumers with peanut allergies, as those individuals may have a cross-reaction to guar

Guar

The guar bean or cluster bean is an annual legume and the source of guar gum. It grows best under conditions with frequent rainfall, but tolerates arid conditions well...

, an annual legume mostly produced in India.

Other uses

Pimentos are commonly used for making pimento cheese

Pimento cheese

Pimento cheese is a common food in the Southern United States. The recipe for most pimento cheese spreads has few ingredients: sharp cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, pimentos, salt and pepper. It is typically served either as a spread for crackers or celery, or as a sandwich...

, a sandwich filling in the Southern United States

Cuisine of the Southern United States

The cuisine of the Southern United States is defined as the regional culinary form of states generally south of the Mason-Dixon Line, and extending west to Texas.-Evolution of Southern cuisine:...

 and the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....

.