This is Deanna.
This is Deanna’s Labradoodle.
Okay, this is not really about Deanna’s dog, but I get distracted when an animal shows up.
Yesterday, I went to the Oliverio Pepper Plant.
In other words, I went to Mecca, Graceland, and Heaven all rolled up in one.
All rolled up in a pepper.
You can find more about the Oliverio company here, but Oliverio is one of the most well-known names in West Virginia, and one of the most successful family businesses anywhere. They make their famously delicious pepper products in Clarksburg, West Virginia, under the Oliverio label as well as DeLallo. Don’t make a pepperoni roll without them.
I met up with Dede, aka wvhomecanner, in Clarksburg and we visited Deanna, her Labradoodle, and the Oliverio plant to pick up the cases of peppers they’re donating to the CITR Retreat. Not only will we be using Oliverio peppers in our pepperoni rolls in the breadmaking classes, Oliverio provided a jar of their peppers in sauce for EVERY attendee to take home with them. They also let me and Dede sneak around inside their pepper processing plant and see how they make their famous products. Yesterday? They processed 13,000 jars. WOW.
Peppers come down in something like a chute where a number of workers core them. This has to be done by hand. Most of the rest of the process is automated as workers man sections where the peppers are sliced and processed in other ways (a brine or a sauce) before heading into jars which are then pasteurized, labeled, and packed in cases ready for distribution. (We were there at the end of the work day, after they had cleaned up for the day.)
This is Veronica. She reads Chickens in the Road! (Hi, Veronica!)
Since things were going so swimmingly, I asked for the secret recipes, but they clammed right up! OR DID THEY? Maybe I have them. Maybe I can’t tell you!
Or maybe I’m making most of this up except for the Labradoodle and the cases of peppers. You’ll have to ask Veronica.
mamajoseph says:
Neat! I was just wondering last night whether or not I could can roasted red peppers, without the skin. Just seems like they might go weird and fall apart. I’m going to try anyway!
On August 19, 2011 at 2:29 am
bonita says:
mmmmmmm pepper heaven. Those retreat people are soooo lucky
On August 19, 2011 at 8:14 am
CATRAY44 says:
How cool! Since reading CITR, I have consistently looked for and used Oliverio products. You are right, they are so good!
On August 19, 2011 at 8:26 am
Liz Pike says:
Lucky attendees! Reminds me it’s been awhile since we had a batch of pepperoni rolls!
On August 19, 2011 at 9:22 am
Angela P says:
Sooo cool!!!! I have looked for their products in my area, havent found them. Now I really want to try them….
On August 19, 2011 at 4:31 pm
joykenn says:
Suzanne–your pepperoni rolls are fantastic! I can’t seem to find Oliverio peppers in my store but will look around at other stores to see if I can make the AUTHENTIC West Virginia pepperoni rolls :butterfly: :butterfly:
On August 19, 2011 at 4:39 pm
joykenn says:
Hey, I just thought…do these guys have a web site? Now and then I order some great products via mail for a place in New Orleans and am looking for a place like that for some Tex-Mex products. Know a place where we can send for AUTHENTIC West Virginia products especially these peppers. It is so generous of them to donate to the CITR class…wish I could go. Next year in West Virginia (if you decide to hold it again. (Hey you guys going, don’t give Suzanne any hassles so she’ll do this again!)
On August 19, 2011 at 4:44 pm
Suzanne McMinn says:
Their website is linked above in the post!
On August 19, 2011 at 4:51 pm
CarrieJ says:
Thank GOD I signed up for the bread making class 🙂
On August 19, 2011 at 6:39 pm
whaledancer says:
Mmm, those cauliflower pickles look good. It’s been I long time since I had any of those.
I’m glad you threw in the picture of Deanna’s labradoodle; he has such soulful eyes.
On August 19, 2011 at 10:03 pm
wvhomecanner says:
They had big barrels of brining cauliflower waiting for processing on the morning after we were there. I was tempted to skip work and just go sneak back in LOL. The labradoodle’s name is Tucker. He’s HUGE and I agree, he has beautiful eyes!
Dede
On August 20, 2011 at 8:48 am