Up until very recently, I had come to know and love three different ground chile peppers (biber) from Turkey, the purple/black Urfa biber, the crimson Marash biber, and the scarlet Aleppo biber - although the region around the Syrian city of Aleppo is known for its Aleppo peppers, I suspect that most of the dried ground Aleppo that makes it to the USA is grown in Turkey. In all three cases it was love at first bite: the oily Urfa with its mild heat and notes of tobacco and prune, the mild to medium heat Marash with its fruity flavor and hints of smoke, and the medium heat Aleppo with its complex and tangy ‘chile’ flavor and that never overpowers its flavor - the latter has totally supplanted Piment d’Espelette in my cooking. I enjoyed talking about them in the shop juts about as much as cooking with them. Always worried about my supply, I just wondered why no one cultivated these varieties closer to home.
I thought these three were the ‘be all’ and ‘end all’ of Middle Eastern chiles, that is, until my discovery of Sivri Aci biber grown at Ayers Creek Farm near Gaston, Oregon. Sivri means ‘sharp’ or ‘sharp pointed’ in Turkish and I suspect that it both indicates the long, sharp, pointed shape of the chiles and the sharp heat that they can possess. This heirloom chile seems to be enjoyed in Turkey in both its ‘green’ fresh state and its ‘dark red’ dried state, and in this country heirloom seed companies suggest that its flavor can range from sweet to hot. The aroma of these carefully dried organic versions is heady with notes of both dried chile and roasted fresh chile, and no burning sensation. I haven’t chewed on a dried chile in a long time, and since I was unfamiliar with this variety, it was with some trepidation that I bit off the tip of one. It was sweet with delightful fruity notes, something akin to a cross between cherry and cranberry, and it had no bitterness or heat – at this point I just assumed it was just the difference in terroir. The flavor was just too good to stop, but as I made my way up towards the stem, I noticed the heat begin to build. It started near the dried ribs, and got hotter as I came closer to the seeds and was forced to stop. If the seeds are removed and the chile ground I think that it will have more heat than the other three Turkish biber, and I am very anxious to find out how this tasty chile flavors foods when cooked. (I’m also anxious to find out if Anthony Boutard has tried to grow any of the other biber.)
Addendum: A quick sauté of coarsely grated garlic, chopped sivri aci bibber and chopped parsley over fresh egg fettucine finished with grated pecorino worked out nicely. Not wanting things too hot, I chopped up about three inches of the tips of two chiles. The lightly sautéed chile was sweet with just a touch of heat...most tasty.
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