Espelette pepper plants
A Basque powder pepper. Mild, and the fragrance is the reason.
By Debra Austin
Species: Capsicum annuum
Piment d'Espelette
Espelette is a village in the French Basque country, and the pepper that carries the name is a Capsicum annuum grown to be dried and ground. The fresh pod is red, long, and not especially hot. The powder is the product people know. A live plant is how you get pods that have not already been milled.
We list one: Piment d'Espelette. The old URL spelled it esplette. Both names land here.
How hot Espelette is
Ours is listed at 1,500 to 4,000 SHU. That is milder than a jalapeno and far milder than a cayenne. The point of the pepper is fragrance, a little sweetness, and a warmth you can put on eggs without regretting it. If a powder marked Espelette burns like cayenne, it was cut with something else.
Using the pods
String them and dry them, then grind, if you want the pantry pepper. Fresh, they go into piperade with onion and tomato, or they get chopped into a mild sauce. They are not a substitute for cayenne in a recipe that is counting on heat.
Growing Espelette
Ordinary annuum care. Full sun, a five gallon pot, and a season long enough to ripen pods red. Pick them red if you are drying for powder. Green pods taste greener and they are not the ingredient the name refers to.
The Espelette we grow
Questions people ask
How hot is an Espelette pepper?
The plant we grow is listed at 1,500 to 4,000 SHU. Mild. The reputation is flavor, not heat.
Is Espelette a cayenne?
No. Both are red annuums that get dried. Cayenne is much hotter. Espelette is a specific Basque pepper.
Can I grow the powder pepper at home?
You can grow the plant and dry the ripe pods. The European name protection on the powder is about where it was grown, not about whether the plant will fruit in a pot.
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