If you have ever travelled to Italy you might have noticed how in Italian restaurants and pizzerias there is an almost complete lack of chili sauces, one of those things you get used to when living in the English speaking world, is that if you sit somewhere for a pizza and ask the waiter for a bit more excitement, he could be bringing a whole tray of sauces, ranging from Louisiana style Tabasco type of hot sauces, to Jamaican Encona types, maybe even Sriracha(well I've had pizza with kebab meat as topping once in London, so everything is possible)
In Italy though what you're most likely to find is "olio piccante" or "olio al peperoncino", depending on the joint you're eating at, it could be very mild, basically olive oil with a couple of chilies thrown in, or it could be a thick paste, extremely powerful and strong.
In this post I'm going for the latter, milder type, as I reckon that if you're eating good pizza, with actual mozzarella and not plastic cheese on top, you require something that will enhance the taste of what you are eating, not burn your mouth like the forests of Laos after a Napalm drop in the late sixties.
First of given that this bottle of condiment will be sitting in your kitchen in clear view and not hidden away in a restaurant, I decided to go for a classy bottle, an empty(my father took one for the team and gave himself the responsibility of emptying the liquid it previously held) bottle of Japanese Nikka Whiskey, an extremely well designed bottle that just had to be re-used somehow.
Above it is in all its glory, next to the very rosemary shrub I have used in the concoction.
Here's the details of the whiskey makers below the bottle, it was apparently some very good whiskey, even though I didn't get to try any.
Next you need the spices, luckily living in a rural area of Italy, we take those things for granted, for instance we have a huge shrub of rosemary growing just outside my bedroom., which given the season even happens to have flowers on it.
Below is a close-up photo I took of the rosemary, before cutting what I needed and thanking the plant for its contribution(I'm a hippy at heart).
Next come the chillies, given what I said before about the oil having to be spicy enough to make a meal more thrilling but not enough to cover the taste of the ingredients, I went for southern Italian chillies, sun dried, obviously organic(you can hear Jamie Oliver wanking himself to death in the distance).
That's the exact amount of chillies I have put in the oil, most of them untouched, a few crushed by hand. It all goes down to how strong of an oil you want, crush them all and you'll get fire oil, leave most of them whole with just a few crushed and it will be inevitably milder to the taste.
Next herb I needed was a leaf of laurel, which again, thanks to the climate, we have a whole tree in the backgarden, here is a close-up photo of the laurel tree before I cut the single leaf I needed.
In Italy though what you're most likely to find is "olio piccante" or "olio al peperoncino", depending on the joint you're eating at, it could be very mild, basically olive oil with a couple of chilies thrown in, or it could be a thick paste, extremely powerful and strong.
In this post I'm going for the latter, milder type, as I reckon that if you're eating good pizza, with actual mozzarella and not plastic cheese on top, you require something that will enhance the taste of what you are eating, not burn your mouth like the forests of Laos after a Napalm drop in the late sixties.
First of given that this bottle of condiment will be sitting in your kitchen in clear view and not hidden away in a restaurant, I decided to go for a classy bottle, an empty(my father took one for the team and gave himself the responsibility of emptying the liquid it previously held) bottle of Japanese Nikka Whiskey, an extremely well designed bottle that just had to be re-used somehow.
Above it is in all its glory, next to the very rosemary shrub I have used in the concoction.
Here's the details of the whiskey makers below the bottle, it was apparently some very good whiskey, even though I didn't get to try any.
Next you need the spices, luckily living in a rural area of Italy, we take those things for granted, for instance we have a huge shrub of rosemary growing just outside my bedroom., which given the season even happens to have flowers on it.
Below is a close-up photo I took of the rosemary, before cutting what I needed and thanking the plant for its contribution(I'm a hippy at heart).
Next come the chillies, given what I said before about the oil having to be spicy enough to make a meal more thrilling but not enough to cover the taste of the ingredients, I went for southern Italian chillies, sun dried, obviously organic(you can hear Jamie Oliver wanking himself to death in the distance).
That's the exact amount of chillies I have put in the oil, most of them untouched, a few crushed by hand. It all goes down to how strong of an oil you want, crush them all and you'll get fire oil, leave most of them whole with just a few crushed and it will be inevitably milder to the taste.
Next herb I needed was a leaf of laurel, which again, thanks to the climate, we have a whole tree in the backgarden, here is a close-up photo of the laurel tree before I cut the single leaf I needed.
After gathering all I needed, I took one shot of all the herbs and spices required, below:
Then I added the most important ingredient of all, the olive oil, I used a COOP brand extra virgin oil, I added all the chillies and herbs into the bottle, then slowly poured the oil in with the help of a funnel. Now the oil is obviously the most important ingredient, I don't feel to pontificate, at the end of the day a bottle of extra virgin olive oil here can cost you as low as ten euros, abroad the prices are insane. So really I would suggest at least olive oil of decent quality, Italian, Spanish, Moroccan, Israeli, doesn't matter where from, but 100% olive oil. Seed oil I believe is only good for fast food joints or for deep frying Mars bars in Glasgow.
Anyway, here is the finished work:
Let sit for at least a couple of weeks before tasting, make sure the oil covers all the spices inside the bottle and for how long will it last? I've read some online sources saying three months, however I'm lead to believe this to be garbage, as things preserved under oil usually last for a very very longtime.
Try making your own and share your creations, hope you enjoyed my comeback post, it's been long due.
