Piparra

Piparra

What it is

Picked unripe in Gipuzkoa and cured in vinegar rather than dried, it never develops the heat a chilli is grown for — the piparra is an acid, not a spice. Skewered with an olive and an anchovy it becomes the gilda, named, the story goes, after the 1946 Rita Hayworth film for being green, salty and a little wicked.

In the kitchen

Shake the brine off before skewering or the vinegar buries the anchovy. Keep the jar liquid: a spoonful lifts a potato salad or a pot of white beans further than plain vinegar, because it carries the pepper as well as the acid.

Goes with

Anchovy Gordal olive Olive oil Tuna Boquerones Potato Egg

Same species

Ají amarillo Ají panca Ajvar Aleppo pepper Ancho chilli Bell pepper

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