Yellow is the easiest colour for the human eye to see and is therefore often used in visibility clothing.
In heraldry, yellow signifies honour and loyalty.
For years yellow ribbons were worn as a sign of hope as women waited from their men to come marching home from war.
Yellow is the colour of mourning in Egypt.
Color researchers believe color yellow to increase self-esteem and strengthen the overall well-being.
In Japan, yellow signifies courage.
Calling somebody yellow or yellow-bellied is to call them a coward.
The term "yellow pages" was coined in 1883 when a printer in Wyoming ran out of white paper while printing a business directory and used yellow instead.
In Islamic art yellow signifies the sun or the element of air.
According to the doctrines of feng shui, yellow is an excellent colour for children's rooms or the family room - but using too much in a baby's room might make them cry more!
All school busses in the USA are painted yellow.
Sending yellow roses used to be a symbol of jealousy or dying love, but today yellow roses are seen to symbolise friendship (as opposed to the romance of red or pink roses).
Both Lance Armstrong's LiveSTRONG Foundation and Marie Curie Cancer Care have chosen yellow to represent themselves - LiveStrong via its yellow wristbands and Marie Curie through fields of daffodils.
In motor racing, a solid yellow flag means caution - hazard on track.
Zimbabwe is one of many countries that has yellow in its flag, but one of very few where the government lost an election and now plans a second round of voting... without an opposition party.
For over 100 years lawyers have been taking their notes on yellow legal pads. Nobody is sure exactly why they are yellow.
3M have trademarked the canary yellow colour of their original Post-it notes.
Yellow is popular with lyricists, featuring in such hits as Tie a Yellow Ribbon, Mellow Yellow, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Yellow Rose of Texas, Yellow Submarine, Yellow and the unforgettably-titled Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka-dot Bikini.
Has all that yellow trivia made you hungry? Well then, let's get down to the business of cooking! I have written before of the history of the tarte tatin, an upside-down caramelised apple tart. I mixed things up a little by substituting pears for apples to create a pear and cardamom tarte tatin, but for ages I've been dying to try a savoury version of this classic tart. The arrival of a bag of perfect yellow peppers and the yellow theme of this month's special Click event (to raise funds for fellow-blogger Bri and her battle against breast cancer) seemed like the perfect opportunity. So check out my picture below, which is my entry for this month's Click, and then click here to make a donation towards Bri's holistic treatments for one year. If you donate $25, you will also be entered into a prize draw with some amazing prizes, including a book donated by me :)
YELLOW PEPPER TARTE TATIN (serves 2)
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
2-3 peppers, cut into strips
4-5 silverskin pickled onions, halved (optional)
1 Tbsp runny honey
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
Salt & pepper
ready rolled puff pastry
Method:
Heat the olive oil in a skillet and lay the strips of pepper on the base of the skillet in a pretty pattern. If using, place a few silverside onions between the strips and one in the centre, cut side down.
Drizzle the peppers with honey and vinegar and cook on medium heat for 15 minutes without stirring. Add salt freshly ground black pepper and remove from the heat.
Cut a circle of puff pastry slightly larger than the base of the skillet (I have a skillet with a lid and tracing round the rim of the lid is useful for this!). Cover the peppers in the skillet with the puff pastry, using a spoon to tuck it in at the edges of the pan so as to cover all the peppers.
Bake at 200C for 20-25 mins till pastry is puffed and golden. Remove from the oven, leave to cool for a few minutes, then place a large plate upside down on top of the skillet. Carefully flip the plate and skillet over and lift the skillet off so that the tarte tatin remains on the plate.
I served mine with a big green salad, but you could also serve this as a vegetable side dish. The sweetness of the peppers lend themselves perfectly to caramelisation, but I did love the added zing of the little silverskin onions. Next time I might try an entire tarte tatin of silverskin onions :)
Other bloggers who made tartes tatin:
Ximena of Lobstersquad made tomato tarte tatin
Bea of La Tartine Gourmand made ratatouille tarte tatin
Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything at Least Once made pineapple and ginger tarte tatin
Johanna of The Passionate Cook made a shallot and pancetta tarte tatin
Oooh, very nice Jean and great photos too! I've made an onion one before, but not one with peppers.
Posted by: Nicisme | June 25, 2008 at 08:57 PM
Beautiful. Ilove how the peppers carmelize. I nice semi savory dish that will go perfectlt with a salad and a chilled white wine.I have yet to make a Tarte Tatin, but I love this twist.
Posted by: courtney | June 25, 2008 at 09:27 PM
A stunning photo and you're using one of my favourite veggies...roasted peppers!
Posted by: Peter | June 25, 2008 at 09:41 PM
Wow! The photo is stunning and I'm sure it tastes even better. :)
Posted by: Dragon | June 26, 2008 at 02:35 AM
Looks better than a desert!
Posted by: Catering Equipment | June 26, 2008 at 04:26 PM
Absolutely gorgeous and simple. I can imagine this being quite the crowd pleaser. It just looks so damn good.
Posted by: cookinpanda | June 26, 2008 at 10:28 PM
What a completely wonderful wild idea! Brilliant. Thank you.
Posted by: Elise | June 27, 2008 at 04:53 AM
A fabulous idea to use peppers Jeanne. It would be nice using red and yellow peppers also. I make a savoury version with red onions.
Posted by: barbara | June 27, 2008 at 05:10 AM
I love the sweetness of yellow peppers. I loved every bit of your post. Very interesting!!!
Posted by: nina | June 27, 2008 at 07:37 AM
What a fabulous way of using yellow, Jeanne! I love the idea of a savory tarte tatin.
Posted by: Patricia Scarpin | June 27, 2008 at 05:46 PM
Oopsie, Johanna's link is empty.
I've always wanted make a tarte tatin and this one looks scrumptious! Thanks for reminding me, really have to try making one soon.
Posted by: Michelle | June 27, 2008 at 11:04 PM
This looks stunning and perfect for English summer lunches, where you need a splash of warmth but the illusion of salad weather! - I'll have to try it now we're over here.
Posted by: Kit | June 28, 2008 at 11:15 AM
The click event for Bri is fabulous and it is so reassuring to know that relative strangers can find it in their hearts to reach out to someone in need. I love tarte tatin, in sweet and savoury forms. Yours looks delicious, and although I hardly ever wear or decorate with yellow, it is a fab colour and yellow peppers are a favourite. Love the photo's
Posted by: african vanielje | June 29, 2008 at 01:40 PM
Looks wonderful. I always thought Tarte Tatin was sweet for some off reason. The yellow peppers are a lovely twist.
Posted by: Mallika | June 29, 2008 at 07:52 PM
Hi Jeanne, Your tart tatin looks absolutely stunning. I love the idea of using peppers. I bet it tastes pretty damn fine too! Thanks for the facts - I never knew that about the yellow pages!!
Posted by: Helen | June 30, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Puff pastry with yellow bell peppers and honey? I'm in love!
Posted by: Susan from Food Blogga | July 01, 2008 at 09:35 PM
wow - now this is something i've never seen before. apple tatin, cherry tatin yes, but peppers? it looks amazing!
Posted by: Becky | July 18, 2008 at 02:51 AM
Nic - after tasting how the little silverskin onions on this one turned out, I actually vowed that the next savoury tarte tatin I make will be with onions in some form :)
Courtney - it is actually a perfect, easy and elegant lunch as you say with a salad and a glass of wine - and prettier than most omelettes (my other light standby!). Once you make a savoury tarte tatin, there's no going back ;-)
Peter, Dragon, Cookinpanda & Elise - glad you liked the photo, and I assure you that it tasted even better! There's somethign abotu the concentrated sweetness of a caramelised pepper that's so special...
Barbara - buoyed by the success of this tatin, I will definitely try one with red peppers - or possibly red AND yellow!
Nina - glad you liked the yellow trivia :)
Patricia - as I said to a previous commenter, once you try a savoury tarte tatin, there's no going back ;-)
Michelle - oops, will fix that! And yes, yes - make one! You'll be so glad you did!
Kit - you are so right. I theory, you know it's summer and you should be having fabulous salads... but in practice you want something warm. This gives you some of your five-a-day AND you get a warm lunch. Result!
African Vanielje - the sense of community among food bloggers is one of the most rewarding things about blogging, isn't it? And I also don't wear or decorate with yellow, but it does make some spectacular food & food photos - glad you liked mine!
Mallika - you are right - traditionally a tarte tatin is sweet (the original uses apples) but I have seen a couple of savoury ones and was just fascinated. Now that I have tasted one, I'm hooked!
Helen - I must say, the yellow peppers were a good bet as they caramelised beautifully and tasted wonderful. And as for the trivia... what can I say, I'm a sad trivia buff :o)
Susan - wait till you try it - a happy happy marriage of flavours and textures!
Becky - savoury tarte tatin is the way forward (although the sweet ones are heavenly too!)
Posted by: Jeanne | July 23, 2008 at 12:28 PM