[fsutrill]

I was reading the thread down below on Mexican food and wondered if anyone in France has ever seen a fresh jalapeno? That is my "holy grail" of cooking ingredients here and I haven't seen one since we arrived 3 years ago. Thanks!!
Cheryl

[bakerswife]

I found something that was very much like a cross between a jalapeno and a serrano chile just at my local Carrefour. I think it was just called a "piment" on the sign, but I used it to make fresh salsa and it was perfect. I also found what looked to be habaneros at Carrefour. Chiles can be hard to find, though. I want to make fajitas this weekend and I don't have time to get out to Carrefour, so I guess I won't be making fresh salsa--I can't seem to find fresh chiles anywhere else.

[tdb]

Like Bakerswife, I can usually find "piments verts" at the hypermarchés like Carrefour and Auchan, and also at Champion and Monoprix occasionally. I've also found them at my neighborhood marché (I live in the Paris suburb of Le Plessis-Robinson, which has a very nice, big market), so you might want to try looking at yours.

These "piments verts" are much closer to serranos in shape and heat than jalapeños (more pointed and hotter), so use a bit less than you normally would when substituting, and remove ribs and seeds more than you normally would, too!

[bakerswife]

I thought of another place where you might find chiles: Arab markets. I am making fajitas tomorrow and really wanted to make fresh salsa with the gorgeous tomatoes I got at the open markets, but neither my neighborhood market (Marché U) nor the open markets had ANY kind of chile or "piment" and I did NOT want to trek out to the mall to go to Carrefour on a Saturday. But, after walking through the whole open market I had an idea, and so I then walked up to a neighborhood with a fair number of Arab restaurants and grocery stores, and I sure enough, the first one I came to was an "épicerie fine" which specialized in "produits orientaux," and they had several different types of chiles. The serranoesque ones (which are much longer than U.S. serranos), something that looked sort of like a poblano, and something that looked sort of like a banana chile. I bought several of each and the grand total was 50 centimes. Not bad!