Tunisian Baklouti Pepper
Tunisian Baklouti peppers are large, slightly curved pods, averaging 15 to 20 centimeters in length, and have a conical shape that tapers to a pointed tip on the non-stem end.
The skin is glossy, waxy, tough, and creased, ripening from green to bright red when mature.
Underneath the surface, the flesh is thin, crisp, aqueous, and pale red, encasing a central cavity filled with small, cream-colored seeds. Tunisian Baklouti peppers are chewy with a mild, sweet, and fruity flavor followed by a mellow tinge of heat.
Tunisian Baklouti peppers are best suited for both raw and cooked applications such as roasting, sautéing, and stir-frying. The peppers can be sliced and tossed into salads, chopped into salsas and sauces, infused into oils for added flavor, pickled for extended use, or dried and ground into a powder. Tunisian Baklouti peppers can also be stuffed with legumes, grains, or meats, mixed into soups, curries, and stews, or lightly stir-fried with other vegetables. In Tunisia, the peppers are incorporated into shakshuka, which is a stew-like dish made with a mixture of ingredients such as eggs, pepper, tomatoes, onions, and garlic. Tunisian Baklouti peppers are also used to flavor lablabi, which is a soup made from spices, pepper paste, and chickpeas, and is often poured over a bowl of torn bread to absorb the flavorful broth. Tunisian Baklouti peppers pair well with meats such as beef, lamb, and poultry, eggs, tuna, other seafood, tomatoes, potatoes, squash, cucumbers, radishes, apples, dates, and lemon juice. The fresh peppers will keep 1-2 weeks when loosely stored whole and unwashed in a plastic or paper bag in the refrigerator.