Diavolino: Abruzzo’s chilli pepper

Don’t expect the dishes of Abruzzo to blow your head off, though – the diavolino isn’t as spicy as its name suggests. Instead, it lends a piquant, sweet and gentle warmth to dishes. They’re at their mildest when fresh, which is why they’re generously snipped over dishes to add a little kick, and become a little hotter when dried to be used over the course of the year in cooking. There’s also olio santo (‘holy oil’), the name given to chilli-infused olive oil. This can be made with fresh, semi-dried or fully dried chillies, and will slowly become hotter and hotter as the peppers infuse with the oil over the months. Again, this isn’t used to add a huge amount of heat to a dish; instead, a few drops are drizzled over the top of a meal to dress it, providing a fruity warmth.

Apart from being used to dress and season at the table, you can find Abruzzo’s diavolino in dishes such as lamb ragù, brodetto (an Abruzzese fish soup) and ventricina, a cured sausage made of fatty pork flavoured with chillies, bell peppers, black pepper and fennel. This famous salumi differs depending on which part of Abruzzo you’re in – for example, in and around Teramo it is enjoyed whilst young and spreadable with the meat finely minced, whereas in Vasto the pork is chopped into cubes for a more rustic finish. Other flavourings such as garlic, orange peel and rosemary are also commonly used in ventricina.

If all this hasn’t convinced you that Abruzzo is a region full of chilli obsessives, then a trip to the area’s famous chilli festival certainly will. Held in the third week of August in the beautiful town of Filetto in the province of Chieti, the four-day celebration sees chillies from all over the world showcased alongside the local diavolino. There are many reasons to visit Abruzzo – the stunning views, the rich history, the historic architecture – but if you’re a foodie with a taste for chilli, there’s nowhere better in the country to be.