Piment d' espelette

[chickenfeet]

A lot of Basque recipes call for piment d'espelette which is a kind of paprika made from a specific kind of pepper grown in the Basque country. I had never seen it at the market until today and have tended to substitute smoked paprika. Today Schefflers had some jars hidden away amongst the truffles etc. Unfortunately it was $19.99 for 50g which is decidedly pricey. I'd like to try it but the proprietor said it really wasn't all that exciting. So I didn't.

ETA: Oddly enough one of the other stalls at the market now has fancily packaged flageolets verts and lentilles du Puy. The latter cost something like $11.99 for 500g which is a bit ironic since the bulk place immediately next door has them for $1.65/pound. I'm a bit suspicious of the fageolets too because, as I understand it, the 2004 crop was pretty much wiped out by drought so I suspect they are fairly ancient.

Comments

[buzzy-bee.livejournal.com]

If its hidden away who knows how long its been there. I suspect its probably not that exciting any more :(

[lemur-man.livejournal.com]

a specific kind of peeper

A Basque lemur writes:

You'll never get your hands on my peepers!



*scampers up nearest olive tree*

[ex-ajhalluk585.livejournal.com]

I'm very fond of lentilles de Puy and a fiver a pound (which seems to be the right sort of analysis) isn't so bad if you aim to put 2 oz into (say) a species of cassoulet for four (with a tin of blander beans), or a nice dish for two.

The expensive bit is the good quality chorizo, pig trotters or whatever to flesh out the lentilles.

[lnr]

ETA has a rather more interesting connotation when you've been talking about the Basque region...