What is piperade and is it the same as pepperonata? Piperade, pronounced ‘peep-er-rahd’, is a French, specifically Basque, dish of sweet peppers seasoned with spicy espelette pepper; a bit like a spicy overcooked ratatouille.
French or Italian recipe?
They do compete in their respective kitchens, the Italians and the French. Though I hasten to specify: the Basques in this instance, lest they get offended to be called French. Although the issue is wider than Pays Basques; so hopefully the assorted Gallic tribes will forgive me for lumping them into the same sack.
On balance, I’m also taking the wide-angle lens to the Italians: Sicily, Umbria, Liguria – I’m not going piecemeal on them.
What is piperade? And pepperonata?
Piperade is a vegetable stew of soft peppers and onions, with a hit of hot paprika. Pepperonata is a mix of softened peppers and onions, seasoned with saffron, sometimes with added aubergines (caponata).
Both can be made with fleshy green or red bell peppers; serve as a base for poached eggs to create a Mediterranean version of shakshuka; dished out as a side for meat dishes, be mixed with pasta for sauce or spooned on crusty bread for brunch.
Is piperade the same as pepperonata?
Are they the same thing then, a Spanish name for an Italian dish or vice versa? Not quite, it appears: the Basque (Spanish, French) dish is more picante, classically made with the variety of hot paprika called piment d’Espelette. The Italian equivalent is more piano, dolce, leggero. Is one better than the other? No way.
Throwback pipperade
Interestingly enough, my Mum who was anything but a researching and adventurous cook used to make a piperade of sorts. Obviously without the required paprika, black pepper was exotic enough for my Mummy; and she’d stir in some eggs at the end, thus making a really nice breakfast toast topping. I only remembered it when I was researching my piperade so it is a throwback dish for me in a way.
Red peppers for piperade
NY Times Cooking first reminded me of its existence with their green pepper piperade recipe but I prefer red ones to make it: red peppers with red tomatoes seem a better match. NYT also instruct to cook the peppers away to a confit stage but I actually like them to retain a bit of bite, rather than cook down into red mush.
Either way the flavour is what matters. It is a simple recipe and a simple dish (if Mum could do it…) but some of the best things in life are very simple.