Espelette...A Spicy Destination

Bonjour tout le monde!

Welcome to the Basque country near the Spanish border ... Olé ! Today our French journey will take us to Espelette in the Pyrenees-Atlantique province of Aquitaine in the south-west of France. Alors, lets discover this Basque village at the border between France and Spain together mes chers lecteurs...

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The first thing to know in Espelette...you might hear people speak in a language other than French and Spanish they speak in Basque and they're proud of that fact ... So let's get started with some Basque, after all, it's one thing to know bonjour and hola... and a completely different thing to know..."Kaixo, zer moduz ? Nire izena Jerome da. Sydney ko naiz urte askotarako" - translated in English - "Hello, how are you ? My name is Jerome. I'm from Sydney, pleased to meet you". Ok, now that you are able to speak Basque, the world is your oyster (or Espelette) !

Espelette is known for its piments d'Espelette (dried red chillis of Espelette). It was the piment d'Espelette which brought fame to the little town of Espelette. People come from the four corners of the world to try this famous chilli and they are not disappointed ! 

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During the summer, piment d'Espelette are hung to dry outside many of the local shops and houses in the village, on little stands and on every single building ! You might think to yourself, 'what on earth do they do with of all these chillis ?' ... Well you can find piment d'Espelette is used whole or ground into a hot powder, but aside from the typical uses, you can find piment d'Espelette in mustards, salts, caviar, confit, jelly, pâté, cheese, foie gras, macarons, chocolate, Bayonne ham, wine and much more! Did you know, that back in the old days, they used to use piment d'Espelette to cure their ham ? 

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The town created the "Fête du Piment" which is held each year during the last weekend of October to celebrate the piment d'Espelette. During the Fête du Piment, the town organises a lot of festivities and all the local producers and farmers are present to transform Espelette into a giant street market. This tradition started in 1968, and since then, the enthusiasm for the local production hasn't stopped growing. Today there are more than 20,000 visitors each year marking this a hot event ... not too bad for a little town of 2000 people !

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I found a bistro which had an intriguing collection of beers called Etxeko Bob's Beer. I asked the owner of the shop if it was a local beer ... yes I'm the curious kind ... He explained to me that it was a local production craft beer brewed in the heart of Pays Basque by an Englishman from London. This was enough to convince me to try them (not that I ever need convincing to try a new beer). Blonde ale, wheat beer, dry stout and my favorite one chili beer ! So now, imagine eating some barbecued chilli meat with some chilli salt, sitting on the terrace of a little pub enjoying the food, beer and views ... what more could you ask for ..?

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And just when you thought that Espelette couldn't get any better you find out that they even have their own type of ponies call Pottok. They live in wild liberty in the Pyrenees mountains of the Basque Country. These guys are not shy either ... so, it's not rare to see them on the road when driving through the mountains. These ponies have been living in this area for at least several thousands of years and they are considered iconic by the people of Basque. When I see how beautiful these ponies are, I can easily understand why they are so loved and accepted in the region.

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If one day you have the good fortune of visiting Espelette, you should bring some good walking shoes...let me tell you why... All around Espelette you can find lots of little tracks, and if you follow these tracks, they will take you directly to local producers of piment d'Espelette but not only this...you will find some artisanal goat cheese producers and you will be able to visit the farm and try their cheeses on site !! And the view is stunning...breath taking...incredibly serene - it's a truly wonderful experience and I really recommend trying the roads less traveled.

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Merci for your company...our Basque adventure in Espelette has reached the end. I really hope you enjoyed our journey together, I will be back soon with another adventure and hope you will join me again in sharing the delights of French gastronomy and lots more !

A bientôt !

telegraph.co.uk