Aleppo pepper

Art by Cedar Sanderson

A week or so ago, Cedar mentioned that I had introduced her to Aleppo pepper, and — being desperate for blog fodder — I decided why not do a post about that wonderful spice?

Aleppo pepper (also called Halaby pepper) is both the pepper berry and the result of the processing.

The pepper has its origins in the ancient city of Aleppo, Syria. That particular city is one of the oldest continually-inhabited cities in the world, having seen the Copper Age, and the beginning of wine, and was an important outpost on the ancient Silk Road.

Being that involved in trade, sooner or later those vicious little New World berries that Portuguese explorers brought to the Old World in the 16th century wound up in Aleppo, and the rest is, as they say, history.

Canny merchants in Aleppo took a version of the chili pepper that is relatively mild and a deep burgundy colour when ripe, looked at it, and said, “This isn’t complicated enough.”

Well, that may not be a direct quote, but the process to make Aleppo pepper goes something like this:

1. Pick each berry when it’s properly aged.

2. Split each berry and scrape out the seeds and veins.

3. Set them out in the sun to dry.

4. Yank them out of the sun before they’re all the way dry!

5. Mix them with salt and oil.

6. Crush the whole mess.

7. Put said mess back in the sun until it’s properly dried.

Voila! Aleppo pepper.

Image of Aleppo pepper ganked from the Internet.

Aleppo pepper has an SHU of about 10k or so — probably about half the SHU of your standard Mk 1, Mod 0 Pepper, Red, Crushed that inhabits so many American kitchens — and a flavour mildly reminiscent of sun-dried tomatoes that indulged in The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name with a raisin or twelve. And just a touch of saltiness — as you would expect from the process.

It is fantastic as a finishing spice, added towards the end of cooking to bring out the brightness of your dish; as a general substitute for your boring old Crushed Red Pepper; and just as a plain old table condiment.

Thanks to the On-going Unpleasantness in Syria, most Aleppo pepper comes from Turkey. This isn’t such a bad thing, as I believe that Turkish-produced Aleppo pepper has more consistent quality than the old Syrian stuff.

If you’re a cook, I hope you’ll give Aleppo pepper a try, and I think you’ll be quite pleased.

Ian