By Porter Lang
Start with the back of the jar. That is where the protected-name system leaves its mark, and it is where you will find out whether the peppers inside have been through the checks or only the picture on the front suggests they have.
What the name covers
Pimiento del Piquillo de Lodosa is a protected designation of origin, a DOP. Spain’s agriculture ministry, summarising the rules, says it was approved by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1528 and is in force from 10 November 2020. The fruit is Capsicum annuum, the piquillo variety. Wikipedia says the name comes from a Spanish word meaning “little beak” and that the pepper is sweet, with little or no heat.
The eight towns
Per the ministry, the land must lie in eight municipalities in the Ribera Baja of Navarre, along the Ebro and Ega rivers: Andosilla, Azagra, Cárcar, LerÃn, Lodosa, Mendavia, San Adrián and Sartaguda. Processing must happen in the same zone. A Spanish food-promotion site (promotional) places the region in the Ribera Baja of Navarre too, with the Ebro and its tributaries the Ega and the Arga, and plains stepping down from 500 to 250 metres. It describes a semi-arid climate, hot and dry from May to September, with winter fog and about 400 millimetres of rain a year.
The pepper itself
The ministry gives the fresh fruit as generally no more than 10 centimetres long, about 4 to 5 centimetres across, 35 to 50 grams on average, flesh about 0.3 centimetres thick, triangular with an acute tip, and hanging from the plant. The promotion site agrees on 4 to 5 centimetres, 35 to 50 grams and 0.3 centimetres, and says “about 10 cm” long. Wikipedia says fruits are about 7 centimetres long. We show all three.
Picking
By hand, from the plant, at the right ripeness, every ten or fifteen days. The ministry and the promotion site agree on that. They differ on the calendar.
| Detail | Ministry summary | Promotion site | Wikipedia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seedbed sown | Around the first week of March | First month of March | Not given |
| Transplanting | From the second half of April | First week of May | Not given |
| Harvest months | Not given | Second half of September to mid or late November | Two harvest seasons, September to December |
We do not resolve it. Our reading: the weather in a given year probably moves these dates, but none of the pages says that.
Roasting and peeling
Here the rules get specific. The ministry says the peppers pass through an oven and are exposed to direct flame, and that the fuel must be something other than fuel oil or diesel. It does not mention wood. Wikipedia says roasted over embers. The promotion site says in an oven over a direct flame.
Peeling, destemming and seed removal are done without immersing the fruit or washing it in water or chemical solutions, says the ministry. The promotion site adds that peppers are peeled by hand, one at a time, and that the skin, stalk, core, seeds and seed-holding flesh are removed. Wikipedia lists the same steps in a different order, with peeling after grilling and marinating with salt, pepper and olive oil before de-seeding. The sources disagree on the order, so we give the ministry’s rule and note the rest.
The promotion site also says fruit may be stored up to seven days at the factory in a covered, well-ventilated place to improve colour, and that the peppers are dipped in boiling water to remove field impurities. The ministry’s summary does not mention either step.
The two grades
Only Extra and Primera are allowed, says the ministry. For whole peppers, defects may add up to 10% for Extra and 20% for Primera. Seeds per fruit: up to 20 and up to 40. Firmness: at least 90% and at least 80%. For strips and pieces the defect limit is 20% for both grades, with up to 40 seeds per 100 grams for strips and 60 for pieces.
In the jar or tin
Roasted natural product may be packed in bags or trays with no further steps. Canned product goes into containers suitable for sterilisation. The ministry says there is no covering liquid, though an acidulant liquid may be added to lower the pH, up to 3% of net content. The promotion site says peppers are packed dry in cans or glass jars, which keeps their juices, then sterilised and cooled as quickly as possible.
Who checks
The ministry lists registers of plantations and processors, field evaluations, inspections and sampling during the processing campaign. The control body is INTIA, accredited by ENAC under UNE-EN ISO/IEC 17065:2012. Only product that passes all the checks gets the numbered back-label issued by the regulatory council.
Our reading: that label is the practical tell. A picture of a pepper on the front is decoration. A numbered back-label is the sign the product went through the scheme.
On the plate
Wikipedia says the peppers are often stuffed with meat, seafood or cheese and served as tapas across Spain. That is all we can source on use.
What kind of sources these are
The ministry’s summary of the EU regulation, which is official; a Spanish food-promotion site, which is promotional; and Wikipedia.
What we left out
Nutrition claims, prices, brands, recipes and any storage advice, which the sources do not give.
Quick answers
Where must DOP piquillo peppers be grown? In eight municipalities of the Ribera Baja of Navarre, according to Spain’s agriculture ministry, with processing in the same zone.
How are the peppers roasted? Through an oven under direct flame, with fuel other than fuel oil or diesel, according to the ministry. Wikipedia says over embers.
What grades are allowed? Only Extra and Primera, according to the ministry summary.
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