The market · Chillies and peppers · Southern Europe

Guindilla chillies

The Basque chilli, which means two quite different things.

mild · fruity

What to do with it

Classics built on it
BasqueBacalao al pil-pilSalt cod poached in olive oil with garlic and chilli, then swirled until the oil and the cod's gelatine become a thick sauce.1 version here

Kinds

Fresh or pickled green (piparra)
Long, thin, mild — pickled for pintxos.
Dried red (cayena)
Small and hot — the one in pil pil and gambas al ajillo.

If you can't find it

Spanish delis, pickled in jars.

  1. 1Green chilli
    Any mild pickled green chilli — pepperoncini
    You lose little.

Goes with

garlicolive oilsalt cod

Cooked with, here

garlicolive oilsalt cod

How much, here

Pil pil2 guindilla chilliesAna Etxarri · 0.3% of the dish

Knowing it

Where to buy
Spanish delis. Guindillas from Ibarra, in Gipuzkoa, carry their own protected name.
Worth knowing
Add whole and lift out, or the oil keeps getting hotter.

Kitchens that keep it in

Euskadi — northern Spain and south-western FranceBasqueA coastal and mountain cooking built on salt cod, peppers and olive oil — and on sauces made from nothing but the fish and the pan.9 classics · 1 cooked here

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