As I have already noted, garlic isn't as popular in Italy as many who live elsewhere think -- people do use it, but for the most part in moderation, and are careful to cook it lest they suffer from garlic breath, which is, as the authors of a Slowfood cookbook point out, terrible if you are planning on meeting someone "for business or randy pleasures" later in the day.
Hot peppers are also unevenly distributed throughout the land; though you will find them everywhere, also because they are pretty, they are immensely more popular in the southern half of the Peninsula, and especially in Calabria and Puglia, regions whose cuisines would be very different had the pepper plant not been introduced from the Americas.
A word of caution about preparing hot peppers: Wear gloves. The ribs and seeds both contain capsaicin, the compound responsible for peppery fire, and naked skin will absorb it, and transfer it -- even if you have washed your hands -- to other sensitive parts of the body, say the eyes or the (ahems). I speak from experience; many years ago I canned several bunches of hot peppers, seeding and ribbing them without using gloves, and the oil worked its way under my fingernails, causing untold distress that lasted for days.
And there are some Italian recipes with Garlic and Hot Pepper:
Garlic and Hot Pepper Vinegar, Aceto all'Aglio e Peperoncino
Spaghetti Aio Oio, Spaghetti with Garlic & Hot Pepper
Pici All'Aglione, Garlicky Pasta that also has a peppery zing
Brad O'Conner's Pasta Atomica
Gnocchi with Wild Spinach & Hot Pepper, Gnocchetti con Orapi e Peperoncino
More about Garlic and other recipes
Garlic and Hot Peppers Elsewhere On About:
Thai Stuffed Chili Peppers
Hot Mexican Salsa
Ssam Bap (Korean Lettuce Wraps)
Hell's (Indian) Flame
Hot Chile Pepper Barbecue Sauce
Nagi's Garlic Gunpowder
Hot peppers are also unevenly distributed throughout the land; though you will find them everywhere, also because they are pretty, they are immensely more popular in the southern half of the Peninsula, and especially in Calabria and Puglia, regions whose cuisines would be very different had the pepper plant not been introduced from the Americas.
A word of caution about preparing hot peppers: Wear gloves. The ribs and seeds both contain capsaicin, the compound responsible for peppery fire, and naked skin will absorb it, and transfer it -- even if you have washed your hands -- to other sensitive parts of the body, say the eyes or the (ahems). I speak from experience; many years ago I canned several bunches of hot peppers, seeding and ribbing them without using gloves, and the oil worked its way under my fingernails, causing untold distress that lasted for days.
And there are some Italian recipes with Garlic and Hot Pepper:
Garlic and Hot Pepper Vinegar, Aceto all'Aglio e Peperoncino
Spaghetti Aio Oio, Spaghetti with Garlic & Hot Pepper
Pici All'Aglione, Garlicky Pasta that also has a peppery zing
Brad O'Conner's Pasta Atomica
Gnocchi with Wild Spinach & Hot Pepper, Gnocchetti con Orapi e Peperoncino
More about Garlic and other recipes
Garlic and Hot Peppers Elsewhere On About:
Thai Stuffed Chili Peppers
Hot Mexican Salsa
Ssam Bap (Korean Lettuce Wraps)
Hell's (Indian) Flame
Hot Chile Pepper Barbecue Sauce
Nagi's Garlic Gunpowder
