Drying red peppers

One of the evocative images of autumn in the Alpujarras, are strings of red peppers against the whitewashed walls of the village houses. Many people still have their own allotment where they grow all sorts of vegetables. When they do, there´s a great change that they have a row of peppers. They are easy to grow, and they can be eaten fresh and used dried. People string them up when they are ripe and make sure they get as much sun as possible. We took this picture in Tímar where one of the inhabitants tied them up on the window bars. A new sign at the entrance of this village, mentions that ´gachas de pimiento´ or ´pepper porridge´ is typical example of local gastronomy. We found a recipe of this dish on the website of the cultural association of Lobras. After having a look at the other recipes on this website, we can conclude that red peppers play quite an important role in the local gastronomy in general.