Urfa Chile, Crushed

Maras and Urfa Chiles are central to Turkish cooking -- like our own black pepper. In Turkey, Urfa Chiles are traditionally used in meat and savory foods, and is a key ingredient in ego gelin [a Turkish-style red lentil soup].

Also sometimes called Isot pepper, Urfa Chile is a delicious crushed chile dorm the Turkish town of the same name, and is similar to Aleppo crushed red pepper from Syria.

Purple-black Urfa Chiles are dried in the sun during the day, then wrapped and "sweated" at night, giving the peppers a rich, earthy flavor and smoky tobacco aroma. Urfa Chiles' full-bodied heat develops slowly; it has a bit more bite than Aleppo Chile, and a little higher heat than Maras Chile.

Because of its fruity overtones, Urfa offers a delicious, if unexpected, contribution to sweet dishes. Urfa Chiles are a tasty addition to a BBQ rub, and are also great to use as a finishing touch on many dishes. Try sprinkling over almost any salad, pasta, pilaf, pizza and more.