Piquillo peppers are zero heat specialty small red peppers, hand harvested by artisanal farmers in the Navarre region of northern Spain. The peppers, also known as Piquillo de Lodosa, Pimiento del Piquillo or little beak, speaking of the lightly curved tip, are bright red when ripe, very flavorful with a touch of spicy sweetness. Indigenous to Spain and long a part of Spanish cuisine, Piquillo peppers are now jarred whole for far flung destinations such as the United States, straight out of their home town of Lodosa and surrounding areas.
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What are Piquillo Peppers?
Piquillo pepper is a pepper cultivar and legitimate member of the Capsicum annuum species belonging to the Solanaceae or nightshade family. The pepper shares family with other common vegetable nightshade members namely tomatoes, eggplant and potatoes.
Piquillo pepper is often referred to as little beak. This comes from the name Piquillo, itself a Spanish word meaning little beak (of a bird) in reference to the pointed end of the pepper which is slightly curved. The pepper typically grows as long as 2 inches or 10cm and as thick as 10 inches or 5cm (see characteristics section). Today, it is a popular pepper worldwide which is sometimes referred to as as the ‘red gold’ of Lodosa. The pepper has enjoyed global culinary success for some decades.
Piquillo de Lodosa Cultivation
Piquillo de Lodosa (loosely little beaks from Lodosa) peppers are a herbaceous plant similar to other well known peppers. We have in mind here the bell peppers, Cascabellas and Jimmy pepper types as examples.
In northern Spain, Piquillo peppers are consistently cultivated under conditions that produce the same quality of pepper each season. The banks of the River Ega in Ribera Baja region carry the bulk of Piquillo pepper production.
According to the Institute for Agrifood Technology and Infrastructures of Navarre (INTIA), geographical and climatic conditions under which the peppers are grown are hot and dry (between May and September), ranging from 820ft to 1400ft or 250m to 500m in altitude, the soils are limestone and rainfall is scarce with annual figures of about 15.7inches or 400mm. To compensate, once in the ground, the peppers are irrigated once every 10 to 12 days.
Manually harvested between September and December, Piquillo peppers are primarily cultivated for raw as well as cooked culinary applications. Common applications are stuffing, sauces, frying and baking (see recipe section).
Origins of Piquillo Peppers
According to one source, Iberianature, a website dedicated to documenting Spanish fauna and flora, peppers were mentioned in the 3000 year old Sanskrit literature and were the reason behind 15th Century Spanish explorations. Furthermore, a Food Origins project at Fordham University, New York City, records that Spanish Christopher Columbus’ grand 1493 voyage to the East Indies introduced Capsicum annuum to the Western Hemisphere. Diego Alvarez Chanca, a physician who traveled with Columbus on the voyage is actually credited for bringing pepper to Spain and documenting its medicinal benefits. Many people would have assumed it was Columbus himself.
Today, Piquillo Peppers are widely accepted as indigenous to Spain on the basis that once the peppers were introduced to Spanish soil, they began developing new characteristics gradually turning into native Spanish cultivars over many generations. Moreover, Piquillo peppers are among a sizable collection of other local Spanish pepper varieties that developed and established themselves as indigenous produce in the same manner as the famous Piquillo de Lodosa.
By operation of enforceable regulation, Piquillo peppers are exclusively cultivated in Lodosa and other adjacent Spanish towns of Andosilla, Azagra, Cárcar, Lerín, Mendavia, San Adrián and Sartaguda. The pepper has been deemed so iconic and among the country’s highest quality produce so as to land a European Union recognized PDO.
Piquillo Pepper Designation of Origin (PDO)
Piquillo peppers enjoy a government issued Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) due to their quality and iconic status. This designation has been in place since 1987. According to the EU, products “registered as PDO are those that have the strongest links to the place in which they are made“. This discourages commercial production of such designated produce and products in other places other than the recognized region or location.
Spanish and European Union recognized Piquillo peppers are thus those grown in the Navarre region of Spain, specifically in the 8 towns surrounding Lodosa, as earlier mentioned, with Lodosa itself included. In addition, the peppers are required to meet specific production, processing, preparation and quality standards in accordance with the PDO. Once on the market, PDO produce is recognized by a government issued PDO seal or label.
The existence of protected designation of origin on Piquillo peppers has also been helpful in distinguishing authentic Piquillo peppers amongst counterfeit produce that has emerged in other regions of the world in the last several years.
Authentic Piquillo Peppers
Due to the rise of imitation Piquillo peppers globally, there is also a rising need to ensure that consumers purchase authentic Piquillo de Lodosa. Indeed, most consumers are unaware of these differences and assume that all Piquillo peppers on the market are the same.
The PDO seal is thus a good indicator of the origin of any product claiming to be the true Spanish Lodosa Piquillo pepper. According to this report by Fresh Plaza, a globally recognized horticultural magazine, Spanish produced PDO Piquillo peppers are gaining increasing competition from Peruvian Piquillo pepper exports which began to gather momentum in 2017.
According to a local source, between 1994 and 1996, Piquillo pepper seeds (see more on seeds below) were taken to Peru. It is belived that these actions exposed authentic Lodosa peppers to deceptive competition. There has since been a rise in foreign produced Piquillo peppers often misleadingly promoted as originating in the Navarre region of Spain.
Notwithstanding, authentic Lodosa produced Piquillo pepper is processed and preserved following certain strict methods, most of which are by hand beginning at harvest. For example, before canning, the papers are cleaned, have their skin removed, and the peppers put in jars without preservatives. Under Ladosa PDO certification, artisanal producers of Piquillo de Lodosa do not use water nor chemicals to wash the peppers as this compromises the authentic flavor of the peppers.
Furthermore, some PDO Piquillo pepper farmers remove the skin of the peppers by roasting them on wood-fire or open-fire compared to automated methods used in imitating countries. Admittedly, due to the Spanish artisanal approach, the peppers tend to demand higher prices than those produced using automated production systems in countries such as Peru and China.
Nonetheless, authentic Ladosa produced Piquillo peppers carry a distinct character, flavor and quality seal associated with artisan food that consumers seem prepared to pay for. The continued demand of the peppers on the market seems to support this conclusion.
Lodosa Piquillo Pepper Festival
There is more to Piquillo peppers than just growing them. The City of Lodosa has played host to the Piquillo Pepper Festival, an event held in October and attracting thousands of local people including visitors. The festival brings together all the main players in the production of Piquillo peppers in the region such as farmers, City Council officials, businesses and local families.
Participants at the festival are given insight into the production of the peppers over and above tasting and buying freshly roasted peppers.
The festival involves declarations and commitments to continue producing the highest quality Piquillo peppers and to promote the Lodosa brand internationally by farmers and officials.
The Lodosa Piquillo Pepper Festival follows other specialty produce festivals around the world, one example being the Maui Onion Festival in Hawaii that celebrates and promotes the iconic Maui sweet onion.
Piquillo Pepper Characteristics
During the course of this feature, we point out a variety of characteristics associated with Piquillo de Lodosa peppers. As a quick reference, below we summarize these characteristics associated with the pepper.
| Item | Description |
| Botanic name | Capsicum annuum, Solanaceae or nightshade family |
| Cultivar | Open-pollinated, heirloom |
| Size | 2 inches or 10cm long, 10 inches or 5cm diameter, 35 to 50 grams or 1.23 to 1.76 oz |
| Shape | Flat-triangular shape, pointed end with curved tip |
| Color | Shifts from green to bright red when ripe |
| Skin & Flesh | Thin skin, thin flesh at approx. 0.1 inches or 0.3cm thick |
| Texture | Waxy-like smooth looking thin skin (peeled at canning) |
| Scoville Units | 500-1000 SHU, no heat |
| Flavor | Mild, sweet and slightly spicy |
| Seeds | Numerous, cream-colored (de-seeded at canning) |
| Maturity | 120 days |
| Accolades | Spanish issued, EU recognized, Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) |
Piquillo Pepper Scoville Scale
The Scoville score of Piquillo peppers is 500 – 1000 units. For context, the famous jalapeño peppers are up to 40 times milder than Ladosa’s little beak peppers. Additionally, the equally popular bell peppers have 0 Scoville units or zero heat on the scale. According to this Scoville Scale infographic, Piquillo peppers are regarded as ‘gentle’ (to the palette) peppers alongside sweet paprika and other sweet peppers.
The Scoville Scale is a 1912 system developed to measure pungency in peppers. Although very useful, the scale is also subjective as it depends on varying palettes from person to person. Over the years it has received some advanced enhancements but remains the fundamental unit of measuring heat in peppers.
Whereas bell peppers are neutral according to the scale, Piquillo de Lodosa are mild. For further context, the hottest known pepper is the Carolina Reaper with 1,641,183 Scoville Units according to the 2017 Guinness World Record. This pepper has been likened to putting volcanic hot lava in the mouth! Clearly, the Piquillo pepper is nowhere near this kind of heat.
Jarred Piquillo Peppers
Ladosa Piquillo peppers are available in the United States as preserved peppers in jars or cans depending on the importer. The peppers are not commercially cultivated in the U.S. due to the earlier discussed 1987 Spanish and EU PDO on the produce. Nonetheless, the peppers can be grown in private home gardens and seeds are available, above board, on the U.S. market (see seeds section).
Our research shows that there are many Peruvian Piquillo peppers sold in the U.S, especially online. These are not associated in any way with the famous Lodosa peppers although many of them carry (for marketing purposes) descriptions that mirror true artisan produced Lodosa peppers. The authenticity symbol on Lodosa produced peppers remains the most useful indicator of place of origin of the authentic Piquillo peppers. Yet another give away is that non-Lodosa Piquillo peppers tend to be lowly priced because they are mass produced.
Below is a list of Piquillo peppers in jars as available in the United States. Our list starts with those authentically produced in Spain followed by Peruvian varieties which are clearly imitation versions of the true little beaks of Lodosa.
Lodosa (Spain) Piquillo Peppers
These jarred Piquillo peppers are authentic products of Lodosa, Spain where original little beak peppers are grown and processed. The products carry the EU PDO seal, the primary identifier of truly Spanish Piquillo peppers.
Zona Organic Piquillo Peppers
These glass jarred peppers are authentic Piquillo de Lodosa (little beaks of Lodosa) brought into the United States from Spain by Khayyan Specialty Foods out of New York. The peppers are certified organic and carry the PDO seal on the back panel. These are whole peppers which can be stuffed without coming apart as is the case with some non-Lodosa competitors. These peppers have a limited time (in days) once opened and even when refrigerated due to an avoidance of certain preservatives. See on Amazon.
Zona Organic Piquillo Pepper Spread
This is a variation from the same seller. These peppers have been processed into a spread. The spread is made from a combination of organic ingredients such as 50% Piquillo peppers, red pepper, sunflower oil, garlic and cilantro. Piquillo peppers in the spread are also from Spain. The spread can be applied on crackers, sandwiches and anything else inbetween that does well with spreads. See jarred product on Amazon.
Peruvian Piquillo Peppers
Now, this next list is of Peruvian produced Piquillo peppers. Peruvian peppers seem to dominate the US online market the most. If specifically looking for Piquillo de Lodosa, a bit more digging and reading of product labels (beyond seller discriptions) will be necessary.
What is common among many of the Peruvian products we found is that a good number of the listings spoke much about Lodosa yet the products themselves are of Peruvian origin. This is a common marketing contrivance. True product origin is often stated on the product label itself than in seller discriptions.
We sample a few Peruvian products below, more can be viewed on Amazon here.
 | DeLallo Grilled Piquillo Pepper – this jarred pepper is by DeLallo in the United States and imported from Peru. The peppers are Peruvian Piquillo peppers that are preserved in Water, Sugar, Salt, Citric Acid and Calcium Chloride. Because they are grilled to remove the skin, the peppers have a grill taste/flavor to them just as is the case with Lodosa peppers i.e. it appears good effort was made to follow Lodosa artisanal processing methods. See on Amazon. |
 | Roland Whole Piquillo Pepper – these canned peppers are also imported from Peru by Roland Foods based in the United States. The peppers are preserved in Water, Salt and Citric Acid. Additionally, they are canned whole and can be used in stuffing recipes. The number of peppers in a can varies from can to can but can be as many as 25 peppers in a can. See on Amazon |
 | Iberia Piquillo Red Peppers – these glass jarred peppers are also Peruvian peppers brought into the U.S. by Iberia Foods Corp. Although online product description suggests that the peppers are from Spain, they are actually Peruvian Piquillo peppers. This is also indicated on the product label itself. There is an apparent miss-match (at least at the time of our findings) between listing description and product labeling. See on Amazon |
Piquillo Pepper Recipes
The primary application of the little beaks of Lodosa is gastronomic. The peppers have been a part of Spanish dishes for generations. There are various culinary preparations that can be derived from these flavorful peppers. The following is our list of scrumptious recipes to try out involving the peppers.
| Meat Stuffed Piquillo Peppers Recipe – This scrumptious looking recipe takes 1 jar or can of whole preserved Piquillo peppers. The peppers have to be whole and not cut or sliced in order to work as stuffed peppers in this recipe. Other ingredients that go in are ground beef, olive oil, flour and white wine. View recipe. |
| Piquillo Pepper Salad Recipe – This appetizing easy to make recipe takes only 10 minutes and serves 8. It calls for 2 jars of the peppers drained, sherry vinegar and garlic among other ingredients. Before serving, the salad is sprinkled with parsley leaves. View Recipe. |
| Shrimp and Piquillo Peppers Recipe – This inviting recipe requires a cup of jarred Piquillo peppers which are cut into thin strips. The other key ingredients will be a pound of medium shrimp and four slices of crusty bread. Some olive oil will also come in handy for brushing the bread before broiling it in a broiler. View Recipe. |
| Potato Piquillo Soup Recipe – This recipe calls for one can of Piquillo peppers. Freshly ground black pepper, garlic cloves, chicken stock and butter feature among the list of ingredients to be included in the recipe. The Piquillo peppers are sautéed for some 5 to 7 minutes together with other ingredients. Once done the final product in the form of the soup will be served hot. View Recipe. |
Piquillo Pepper Seeds
Fresh Piquillo peppers do not easily come by in the U.S. due to the earlier discussed Spanish PDO designation. For this reason, the easiest peppers to find are jarred or canned. However, as is apparent, these jarred versions do not offer an opportunity to enjoy the great peppers as fresh produce. Nonetheless, the existing PDO does not prevent home garden cultivation of Piquillo peppers. Over and above this, the seeds are also accessible in the United States.
Below is our compilation of sources of Piquillo pepper seeds in the U.S. It is, however, recommended to get a seed starter tray to grow the seeds which will later be transplanted into bigger pots and the garden.
| Piquillo Pepper Seeds by Sherwoods Seeds – these are heirloom seeds of the pepper sold by Sherwood Seeds out of the U.S. The seeds are sold in a packet of 10 and guaranteed full germination in the year they are purchased. These 10 seeds, if well germinated, will turn into a decent supply of fresh Piquillo peppers once they are productive. View on Amazon. |
| Piquillo Spanish Sweet Pepper Seeds by Sandia Seed Co. – these open-pollinated Non-GMO seeds are sold in a packet of 10 seeds. The seeds will naturally germinate in about 4 weeks which calls for some patience. See growing section of this feature for a seeding method that may speed up germination speed. View on Sandia. |
| Little Beak Seeds by PepperJoe – United States based Pepper Joe also sells Piquillo Seeds in packets with 10 seeds each. This appears to be the market standard for the seeds. Each packet from this seed supplier is sold at about US$5.00 each. Like all Piquillo red pepper seeds, some patience will be required as the seeds take their time to germinate. View on PepperJoe. |
Growing Piquillo Peppers
Spanish Artisanal Growing Approach
In this section we briefly explain how Piquillo peppers are cultivated by artisanal producers themselves. We hope to provide some insight into how the master growers, so to speak, do it.
Back in Lodosa, Piquillo peppers are sown as seeds in March to produce seedlings which are later transplanted to the fields, after 3 months, in May. The seedlings are planted in rows with a spacing of about 35 inches or 90cm between them. Inside the rows, the seedlings themselves are 30cm or 12 inches apart. Using this approach, a field of about 2.5 acres or 1 hectare takes up to 37000 plants.
The peppers are fertilized with low amounts of nitrogen. Nitrogen encourages lush prolific growth but should not be in excess as this discourages fruiting in many fruiting plants. The peppers are supplied with a light irrigation every 12 days as the region has dry climatic conditions. In turn, these plants will produce hundreds of thousands of pods.
Between the second week of September all the way to the middle or end of November, the peppers are harvested by hand (a hallmark of Lodosa peppers) and filled in big bins which are collected by tractors to the processing factories. Harvesting the Piquillo peppers by hand is intentional. It is a manual and gradual process at 10 to 15 day intervals, where the peppers are picked from the plant once they are sufficiently ripe.
Which pepper is picked at each harvesting round is determined by the pepper’s suitability to withstand handling, transportation and production processes. Furthermore, once at the processing factory, the harvested fruit may be subjected to covered storage in a well aerated room, for up to seven days, to facilitate further brightening of the red color before they are jarred or canned.
Home Gardener Growing Approach
On the other hand, the following approach to growing Piquillo peppers can be used by home gardeners who acquire Piquillo seed locally for home garden cultivation.
Piquillo Seeds Growing Equipment
To be kept in mind is that peppers are warm season crops. This has a bearing on how they perform if the heat is too high or if the weather is too cool. The following are suggested items that increase the chances of a successful cultivation of Piquillo peppers for the home gardener.
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| Seedling Heat Mat Try Amazon This is a seedling heat mat. It is a very useful piece of equipment used on seeds that require warm conditions to germinate or improve germination. This mat will assist in the sprouting of Piquillo seeds which are sometimes vexing to home gardeners to get them to germinate. In addition, this piece of equipment enables indoor starting of Piquillo seeds during Spring in readiness for the arrival of warm weather. |
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| Seed Starter Tray Try Amazon This seed starter kit with a humidity dome works well with the above described heat mat. This dome sits on top of the heat mat. As shall be seen below, in the growing steps of Piquillo seeds, the seeds will require heating from beneath. This seed starter has the necessary cells to sow each seed and a dome to preserve moisture conditions called for when starting Piquillo seeds early indoors during cool weather. |
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| LED Grow Light Try Amazon Finally, these LED lights produce very bright white lights. They are handy for providing brightly lit conditions necessary for the germination of Piquillo seeds and other seeds as so instructed. The lights work hand-in-hand with the above two other pieces of equipment. They are placed in a position to keep the Dom with germinating seeds brightly lit. |
Germinating Piquillo Seeds Indoors
In the United States, Piquillo pepper seed is started indoors some 8 weeks ahead of the arrival of warm night temperatures. On this, the University of Minnesota Extension recommends transplanting outdoors when nighttime low temperatures are more than 50°F or 10°C.
To increase chances of germination, the pepper seeds are sowed in sterile media, that is kept moist, in the tray of a humidity dome and covered 0.25 inches or 6mm deep. The dome is placed to sit on top of a heat mat set to produce 85°F or 29 degrees Celsius bottom heat. This whole set will be under bright artificial lights as produced by LED lights, for example. Under these conditions, the seeds can be expected to germinate within 14 days.
The seeds are removed from dom cells and planted in pots for a period of time until they develop 6 true leaves. At this point, they are ready for transplanting into the garden (with warm nighttime temperatures) in fertile soil. The seedlings are spaced 36 inches or 90cm apart in the garden. Harvest is when the Piquillo peppers still attached to the plant turn from green to bright red.
Conclusion
Piquillo peppers are specialty peppers famed for their flavor and unique production methods out of the Navarre region of Spain. The peppers have a variety of culinary applications riding on the back of their sweet spicy flavor. Known by a few different names, not all Piquillo peppers are produced in Spain. Today, other countries also produce cheaper imitations of the original artisan produced peppers of Lodosa. Although Spanish Piquillo peppers enjoy Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), which prevents commercial cultivation outside of a recognised place of origin, authentic Piquillo open-pollinated seeds are available in the United States for private cultivation in home gardens. Home growing of the peppers is a common way of enjoying fresh Piquillo peppers compared to jarred peppers as imported from Spain and other countries.
