Piment d'Espelette AOP (250g)

Piment d'Espelette is a chili pepper from Pays Basque, the region on the border of France and Spain. Their wonderful warm climate and fusion of two incredible culinary traditions makes Basque cuisine unique and oh, so delicious. Piment d'Espelette is a pepper that is so prized, it is protected with its own "AOP." French for Appellation d'Origine Prot©g©e (Controled Destination of Origin), you often see an AOP (formerly AOC) label on wine and cheese. This tr¨s chic consumer protection ensures that when you purchase Champagne, for example, the bubbly indeed originated in the Champagne region of France and is not sparkling wine from, well...anywhere else. Piment d'Espelette is a variety of pepper that, yes, you could grow anywhere. But regional growing conditions (soil, climate, water, air quality) affect the flavor of any crop. Kind of like how people say, "the water in France makes the baguettes better". Well, it's really everything: water, flour, yeast, air ...it's just a perfect little baguette bubble. Piment d'espelette is only the real thing if it was grown in one of ten communes in Pays Basque and bears the AOC label to prove it. Otherwise, it's just plain old chili powder. It has a subtle spice with a mild heat and natural hint of smoke that is it's signature quality. When do we use it? On eggs, when roasting fish, as a rub on beef or pork, it's amazing in aioli or anytime you need a little kick of heat.