The small green peppers in pimientos de Padrón come from Padrón, a town in Galicia, Spain.
Padrón peppers are usually fried in olive oil and finished with coarse salt before being served as a tapa. They are harvested while green and are generally small, wrinkled, and mild. Their most famous feature is unpredictable heat: the traditional saying is “some are hot and some are not.”
The peppers are linked to the parish of Herbón in the municipality of Padrón. The name Padrón peppers is widely used in English, although protected Spanish labeling identifies the traditional product as Pemento de Herbón. This distinction reflects the importance of origin in Spanish agricultural foods.
Visitors sometimes assume every pepper is fiery, but that is not the point of the dish. Most are mild, while an occasional pepper has a noticeably hotter flavor. This surprise is part of the snack’s appeal and makes it a memorable shared tapa.