Piperade

the Basque dish that takes its name from the pepper: sweet green peppers and onions stewed with tomato and Espelette, finished with beaten eggs and served with Bayonne ham

Origin: France

From the journey of Bell Pepper.

Piperade takes its name directly from the Basque word for pepper, piper, and it is the emblematic dish of the French Basque country, where its colours (the red of the peppers and the Espelette, the green of the peppers, the white of the egg) are cheerfully claimed to echo those of the Basque flag. Its structure is that of the great Mediterranean pepper stews, a slow softening of sweet peppers and onions in fat, followed by tomatoes cooked down to a thick, glossy base; what makes it Basque is the finish. A generous pinch of piment d'Espelette, the mild red chilli grown around the village of the same name and dried in strings on house fronts, gives a warmth that never becomes heat, and then eggs are beaten in at the end and stirred over a low flame until the whole is barely set, creamy, and just short of scrambled. It is served with a slice or two of jambon de Bayonne, the local dry-cured ham, laid over or beside it, and with plenty of bread. Sweet pepper and mild chilli side by side in one dish, both descended from the same American plant, make piperade a neat illustration of how thoroughly Europe absorbed the capsicum and split it into two distinct ingredients.

Ingredients

Piperade

  • 4 whole green bell peppers, deseeded and sliced
  • 2 whole red bell peppers, deseeded and sliced
  • 2 whole onions, sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 700 g ripe tomatoes, peeled, deseeded, and chopped
  • 4 tbsp olive oil (or duck fat)
  • 1 tsp piment d'Espelette, or to taste
  • 1 sprig thyme
  • 1 to taste salt and black pepper

To Finish

  • 6 whole eggs, lightly beaten
  • 4 slices Bayonne ham (or prosciutto), to serve

Method

  1. Warm the olive oil or duck fat in a wide, heavy pan and cook the onions gently for 10 minutes until soft. Add the peppers, garlic, and thyme with a pinch of salt, cover, and cook over a low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until completely soft.
  2. Add the tomatoes and the piment d'Espelette and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes, until the tomatoes have collapsed and the mixture is thick and no longer watery.
  3. Taste and adjust the salt and the Espelette. Warm the ham slices briefly in a dry pan, or serve them raw, as you prefer.
  4. Lower the heat, pour in the beaten eggs, and stir slowly and constantly with a wooden spoon for 2 to 3 minutes, until the eggs are just set and the whole is creamy and barely holding together.
  5. Serve at once, in the pan or on warm plates, with the ham laid over and plenty of bread.

Notes

There are two schools: the one given here, in which the eggs are stirred through to make a soft, creamy mass, and the other in which the pepper base is served as a stew with whole eggs fried or poached on top, closer to the Maghrebi chakchouka to which piperade is directly related. The pepper base alone, without eggs, is excellent as an accompaniment to grilled tuna, chicken, or salt cod, and it keeps for several days. A little Bayonne ham diced and fried with the onions at the start deepens the whole dish.

The Gastrographer

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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