beautiful chilies on Taitu porcelain from my kitchen collection
SPICY OLIVE OIL. We call this “the democratic spicy oil” or “the family solution”. My daughter cannot stand spicy food, I adore everything “piccante”, that is seriously hot, my husband somewhere in between. So I always have a jar filled with very dry and hot chili peppers covered in olive oil. I keep it in a dark cool cabinet. After about a month the oil is very spicy, you can remove the chilies and use it by the drop on any food you like. It is not only spicy but it does taste very nice and authentically Mediterranean.
the "permanent" jar of dry chilies in olive oil
this is beautiful. Last year I tried by putting a whole pepper in the oil in a bottle. But the top of the pepper came to the top and got mouldy. I will do your system this coming season. You are my mentor!!
and so you are my dear!
PS. you can by those cannamela chili peppers in any supermarket, so you can start whenever you want. It’s important that they are very dry
What a great idea — I love spicy, and this oil sounds wonderful.
I guess the chilis must be very dry when they enter the oil to avoid contamination? Or to ensure there is no water messing up the oil and helping the chilis float up out of the oil?
Hi Sandra, yes indeed, moist foods like vegetables cannot safely be preserved in olive oil but they need to be acidified with vinegar. Dry foods like chili peppers are safe.
See e.g. http://www.foodscience.csiro.au/oilvine.htm
The chili peppers I use are so dry that they do not float but stay cozy under the oil.
That article is very interesting, and makes it pretty clear why the chilis (or tomatoes or other veg) have to be bone dry before submersion in oil.
I’m going to try this, but I’ll be certain to get very, very dry chilis.
Brilliant — thanks!
I’ve got very dry chillies, I’ve also got olio nuovo. Do you think that’s too good to use for this? I loved it today! Soooo HOT! :-p
Ciao Giselle, any good extra virgin will do. The chili pepper is strong so no need to use a particularly aromatic oil. I am glad you liked it!
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Really enthused – must give this a try !
it’s really spicy, use very little at the beginning!
Do you mean dried peppers, as in preserved by drying, or do you mean fresh peppers well dried with a towel after washing….?
Hi Phyllis you need dried peppers, as in preserved dried and if you wash them, make sure to let them dry again for at least a week. You don’t want to introduce any moisture to prevent development of nasty bugs!