Calabrian chilli paste

Crème de piment de Calabre

What it is

Calabria took up the American capsicum harder than anywhere else in Italy and bred it into local cultivars with names like naso di cane, dog nose, for the blunt angular pod. The household paste is only those pods, salt and olive oil — no vinegar, no fermentation, which is why it reads as fruit before it reads as heat.

In the kitchen

It carries in fat, so melt a teaspoon into warm oil or butter at the start of a sauce rather than stirring it in at the end; added off the heat it stays a raw stripe of chilli. One teaspoon seasons a pan of pasta for four.

Goes with

Olive oil Garlic 'Nduja San Marzano tomato Pecorino Romano Anchovy Oregano Honey

Same species

Ají amarillo Ají panca Ajvar Aleppo pepper Ancho chilli Bell pepper

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