Piment d'Espelette

Piment d'Espelette / Piment d'Espelette-Ezpeletako Biperra is a PDO covering chilli peppers of the Capsicum annuum species grown across ten municipalities in the Pays Basque, France, and sold as fresh whole peppers, peppers in strings, or ground powder. The designation is the sole French chilli PDO registered at EU level.

About this designation

Registered as a PDO on 13 December 2001 under file number PDO-FR-9131 (eAmbrosia identifier EUGI00000013581), Piment d'Espelette / Piment d'Espelette-Ezpeletako Biperra covers chilli peppers of the Capsicum annuum species produced across a geographical area of ten municipalities in the Pays Basque, France. The peppers must originate from the seed of the Gorria variety or from a variety matching a defined varietal type: an annual herbaceous plant up to 80 cm in height, with alternate oval leaves, single white flowers at the leaf axil, and plump, hanging, conical fruit that turns red when ripe. Producers may use seeds from their own holdings. All production, processing, and packaging must take place within the defined geographical area. Fresh whole peppers and those sold in strings must be totally free of green colour, regular and conical in shape, with smooth skin, and measure 7 to 14 cm in length excluding the stalk. Strings are assembled manually by the producer and may comprise 20, 30, 40, 60, 80, or 100 even-sized peppers. Chilli powder must be orange to reddish-brown in colour, ground to particles not exceeding 5 mm, and have a moisture content lower than 12 %. No colourings, additives, or preservatives may be added to the powder, except for inert gas. Labels must bear the protected name in characters at least 1.3 times the size of the largest characters on the label and must display the European Union PDO logo.

Source: The register document this entry was written from · retrieved August 26, 2026

Distinctive facts

• Registered as a PDO on 13 December 2001 under file number PDO-FR-9131, eAmbrosia identifier EUGI00000013581.
• The specification permits only the Gorria variety or a variety matching a precisely defined varietal type; no other variety is authorised.
• Strings must be assembled manually by the producer and may contain exactly 20, 30, 40, 60, 80, or 100 even-sized peppers — no other counts are permitted.
• Chilli powder must have a moisture content lower than 12 % and particles not exceeding 5 mm; no colourings, additives, or preservatives may be added except inert gas.

Tasting notes

Basque chili pepper AOP from Espelette area, sun-and-air-dried then ground. Distinctive bright-red ground powder, balanced moderate heat (around 4,000 SHU — gentler than cayenne), characteristic sweet-fruity-smoky flavor with red-pepper-paprika notes — the iconic French Basque spice.

HoReCa use

**Foundation of Basque cuisine** — in piperade, axoa, in marinades, sprinkled on meats and seafood; replacement for paprika and cayenne in fine dining; pairs with Irouléguy and Jurançon wines.

Packaging

• glass-jar-40g
• glass-jar-100g
• glass-jar-200g
• professional-bulk-1kg
• fresh-string-traditional-100g
• gift-pack-100g
• paste-jar-100g