Most of the year your choice is red or green. Typically, the red comes from Holland and costs too much. But at farmers markets in Maine now, bell peppers – also known as sweet peppers to distinguish them from hot (chile) peppers – are a riot of colors. The classic red and green, yes, but also orange, purple, chocolate brown, pale yellow-green and a purple so deep maybe it’s really black.

The red peppers are actually ripe green peppers, hence they are sweeter and pricier – the farmer has to leave them in the field longer. The more unusual colors are also the same plant, different cultivars, and they don’t taste markedly different. Who cares? They are cheery and beautiful.

Get them now. In season, they taste much better, need it be said?

And let them play a starring role. Try roasting them and slicing thickly. Combine the slices with really good olive oil, minced garlic, freshly ground cumin, golden raisins and chopped preserved lemons. Eat at room temperature. Or sauté pepper and onion slices gently and patiently in a bit of butter and oil, until the whole lot has a melting, silken texture. Pile the vegetables into a soft roll with a fried egg. Or parboil individual peppers and stuff them with a mix of corn, cream, herbs and cheese, then bake. Summer is vanishing; taste it once more before it’s gone.

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