Piperrada — the slow-cooked preparation of red and green peppers with tomato and sometimes egg — is the Basque equivalent of the French ratatouille or the Spanish pisto. Its defining character comes from the specific combination of mild red Espelette pepper (the Basque pepper par excellence, now carrying an Appellation d'Origine Protégée) with the sweet cooked peppers and the slow reduction of tomato.
- **The peppers:** A combination of green and red sweet peppers, plus pimiento d'Espelette (the dried, mild-medium-hot Basque chilli — fruity, slightly complex, with a specific character different from all other dried chillies). - **The cook:** Slow — the peppers must fully caramelise over 25–30 minutes before the tomato is added. - **The egg application:** Beaten eggs added to the finished piperrada and cooked gently until just set — the eggs are mixed through the vegetables rather than cooked separately. The result is closer to a soft scramble suspended in a vegetable ragout. - **Pintxo application:** Piperrada on bread, topped with a slice of cured ham — the sweet-hot-pepper preparation against the ham's salt and fat.
Pintxos