Things that are making you happy*******food and drink edition****** - Page 57

Really? It is everywhere here.

Nope. Even the specialty stores don't have it. I can't find Thai peppercorns anywhere, either.

So, how do I know which one of those tastes the nicest? Is it the most expensive one? Or, the one with the nicest packaging? This is one of the reasons I dislike buying things over the internet. Most stores I go to, I can at least test the product before I buy it.

Well, that's the thing with most things concerning food or drinks. One can hardly try out prepacked things in stores before buying. I would let my gut lead. Design is important, not too cheap etc. I myself have this one. It's the one I've seen most often in speciality stores. It tastes good though I can't say whether it's very good cause I didn't taste any different yet.

I will admit, if I can't taste test, I will usually buy whichever product has nicer packaging.

Yep, to me this is very important, too. I sometimes wonder how silly - to me - people can be to wrap expensive food in ugly packaging... The only problem is that mediocre food in nice packaging is less good than good food in mediocre packaging.. but who knows before trying, anyway one still has something beautiful for the eyes.

Piment d'Espelette is a small production AOC product that is not particularly subtle in taste, so there is almost no difference between best and worst. The one b1os posted is the one I generally see in the markets around us in France, and is is quite good. Just don't keep any of them longer than about a year. They fade like all spices.

Just be careful not to buy some "fake" product from the Spanish Basque region. They seem not to be as good as the French one... whyever... So look out for the AOC.

hmmm, i'm afraid you might be talking about pimenton. that is not a "fake" product at all. in fact, smoked pimenton is one of my favorite spices. called "de la vera" it is a DOC product as well.

They aren't exactly interchangeable, but I prefer pimenton for cooking and piment for finishing. It has a more beautiful texture. I also like to use whole dried nora peppers.

That is just what I have read in, I think, "Der Feinschmecker". They said, the Spanish one is a substitue but due to a different - not as benificial- growing area less qualitative, though often sold as "original" piment d'espelette. Pimenton might be a good spice, no doubt, but wiki says it is grown in western Spain. So no possible mix up there.