Pimiento d'Espelette, 10 seeds, Capsicum annuum (247)

Espelette pepper (Piment d'Espelette in French and Ezpeletako pitora in Basque) is the name given to a variety of pepper grown in the French Basque Country.

It is named after the commune of Espelette (Atlantic Pyrenees). And while its cultivation extends to other borders, it is the latter that enjoys the most prominence, both for the folklore aspect that the thousands of peppers that dry in facades and balconies from September onwards, and for its annual pepper party (1st weekend of October) that brings together some 20 000 people (more than 10 times the usual size of the town).

SCOVILLE: 4,000

ORIGIN - FRANCE