[Sca-cooks] Basque Food/piment d'espelette

[otsisto]

I have "The Basque Kitchen" by Gerald Hirigoyen. It mentions a spice called
piment d'espelette. He says that you can substitute sweet paprika or mild
chili powder but it won't be quite the same. Piment D'Espelette is a French
Basque spice common, of coarse, in Espelette.

http://www.fiery-foods.com/dave/espelette1.html

Excerpt:
Early History

When Columbus brought chile peppers to Europe from the Caribbean after his
second voyage in 1493, they were first grown in monastery gardens in Spain
and Portugal as curiosities. But soon the word got out that the pungent pods
were a reasonable and cheap substitute for black pepper, which was so
expensive that it had been used as currency in some countries. So the best
thing about chilies–in addition to their heat and flavor–was that they did
not have to be imported from India; anyone could grow them as annuals in
temperate climates.

Carried by Spanish and Portuguese explorers, numerous varieties of chilies
quickly spread throughout the Mediterranean region and Africa, and the rest
of the Eastern Hemisphere, where they permanently spiced up world cuisines
such as those of India, Southeast Asia, and China. However, there were some
famous national cuisines that were not conquered by chilies; Italians, for
example, utilized chilies only sparingly. The peperoncinis, for example, are
used in antipasto, crushed red chilies are a topping for Neapolitan pizzas,
and hot red chili powder as an ingredient in some pasta sauces. But no one
region in Italy celebrates chilies. In France, however, chilies were
established as a tradition in just one region the Nive Valley in the
southwest, and especially in the village of Espelette to the south. It is
believed that chilies were introduced into the Nive Valley by Gonzalo
Percaztegi in 1523, the same year that corn first made its appearance there.
At first it was thought to be related to black pepper and was even called
"long black American pepper," and it wasn’t until the 17th century that it
was placed in its own genus.

Lyse