Aleppo pepper

Flavour and aroma

fruity, tangy, slightly salty, gently hot. Fruity, slightly salty and tangy, with gentle building heat.

Heat

Mild

Forms

flakes

How to use it

• use raw

  Sprinkle on eggs, hummus, salads, grilled meat and vegetables as a finishing seasoning.

• bloom in fat · Tadka (tempering) technique

  Warm briefly in butter or olive oil (15–20 seconds, low heat) to drizzle over yogurt dishes or soups.

• use raw

  Knead into kebab and köfte mixtures; it adds colour and mild heat.

• Sprinkled on eggs, hummus, labneh and salads
• Mixed into kebab and köfte meat
• Muhammara
• Warmed in butter as a finishing sauce
• In place of black pepper as an everyday seasoning

Identifying good quality

Moist, slightly oily, deep-red flakes with few seeds and a fruity, raisin-like smell. It should feel a little sticky; very dry, bright flakes may be a different chilli.

• Not to be confused with Urfa biber: Urfa is darker, almost black, and smokier.
• Not to be confused with Red chilli flakes: Generic crushed red pepper is drier and hotter.

Origin and history

Origin: Northern Syria around Aleppo, and the neighbouring Turkish provinces.. Grown and used: Since the Syrian civil war most Aleppo-style pepper is grown and processed in southern Turkey; used in Syrian, Turkish, Armenian and Levantine cooking..

The chilli grown around Aleppo, an old trading city on the Silk Road, has long been dried and crushed with oil and salt as an everyday seasoning in Syrian and Armenian cooking. The war that began in 2011 disrupted production in Syria, and much of what is now sold as Aleppo pepper comes from Turkey.

Commonly told; not firmly documented