Aleppo Peppers

Aleppo Peppers are grown in the northwest of Syria, just south of the Turkish border, in an area known as known now as Halab, but which used to be called “Aleppo.”

They are mostly used as a ground powder as you would paprika, or as a dried, crushed spice.

They have a gentle heat to them, just a tidge more heat than normal paprika, but have more flavour than paprika – a bit more fruitiness comes through. And, they are very aromatic.

They are harvested and dried in the sun, turning a dark red. Then, the seeds are removed, then the peppers are crushed or ground.

Substitutes

1 part cayenne to 4 parts mild or sweet paprika, or hot paprika

History Notes

Aleppo Peppers are not native to Syria. They are actually an imported plant from the New World.

Literature & Lore

“And say besides that in Aleppo once,

Where a malignant and a turbaned Turk
Beat a Venetian and traduced the state,
I took by the throat the circumcisèd dog,
And smote him, thus.”

— Shakespeare. Othello Act 5, Scene 2.