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I recently had a dish at The Cheesecake Factory that had these small salty peppers in it that I really enjoyed. Stupidly, I didn't ask the waiter what they were. I made a mental note to google it later, but so far my efforts have been fruitless (or pepperless).

The dish I had was called "Pasta with Shrimp and Sausage." Here's a link to their website.

Does anyone know what these peppers are and how I can make/buy them? Thanks in advance.

Clarification: These peppers were not only salty, but also had a bit of a spicy kick to them. They were small and probably not roasted red peppers because of their size and spicy kick.

enter image description here

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So I found this camera in my pocket and it turns out it makes phone calls, too. Technology! I called the local Cheesecake Factory and the guy on the phone said:

Nothing fancy, they're roasted red peppers.

He sounded pretty agitated, it's 7PM here so I probably caught him in the middle of dinner service.

You can buy them canned or roast them yourself. Much of the taste may have come from the sauce, or perhaps some special prep when they are roasted.

That said as pointed out in comments I am also now convinced that they look a bit on the small side. Tomorrow, during off hours, I'll call them back for a confirmation with more detail. We may have to try a corporate phone call and a tweet, too.

PS I've actually had that same dish and I also enjoyed it.

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    @Jefromi Oh now I see what you mean. I was looking at some of the ones in the bottom right. Maybe the little ones came from the ends? Or maybe the exact opposite of my last comment and they just buy em cheap and in bulk with inconsistent qualities and sizes. Or they use small ones and save the big ones for other presentations. Now I kind of want to call them back, but definitely not the same Cheesecake Factory, that guy did not sound happy. If anybody wants to make a follow up call cross the one in Pittsburgh off your list, although it might be funny to have six people call about the peppers.
    – Jason C
    Commented Jan 20, 2017 at 0:08
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    All the clearly visible ones are curved like a slice of a small pepper; it really doesn't look like they could be bell peppers to me, even inconsistently sized. I'd guess pepperoncini, given that it's an American Italian restaurant. Anyway, whatever the real answer, I don't think "roasted red peppers" is quite specific enough - sounds like you might've gotten a rushed general answer.
    – Cascabel ♦
    Commented Jan 20, 2017 at 0:12
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    While calling the restaurant may be a good idea in some cases, my understanding is that (in an effort to make the food taste the same everywhere) a lot of chain restaurants do very little of the prep themselves, so it's possible that they don't actually know... and if anyone knew, it wouldn't be the people who answer the phone, it'd be someone in the kitchen. I wonder if TCF corporate would respond to a tweet.
    – Catija
    Commented Jan 20, 2017 at 0:47
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    ... You mean 2017?
    – Catija
    Commented Jan 20, 2017 at 0:56
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    @Jason C - Thanks for your answer. I'm fairly certain that they are not roasted red peppers. I've had those before (the kind you buy in a jar) and they taste totally different than the ones I am looking for. The peppers in this dish were very salty but also had a spicy kick. Not sweet like a red bell pepper. Also, they were small, I had a couple tops, and they seamed to be about the diameter of a quarter or maybe a little larger, but certainly not the size of a typical bell pepper. I am looking forward to hearing what they say when you call them again.
    – Daniel
    Commented Jan 20, 2017 at 16:06
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I figured out what these are when I found them at Kroger's of all places. They are called Calabrian peppers. enter image description here

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  • Nice find. Are you sure that's the same kind the cheesecake factory uses?
    – Jason C
    Commented Feb 22, 2017 at 3:44

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