We are Italian, raised in the north of Italy but well-traveled in the south. At table we have a burning passion for piccante. When dining, we always look for a bottle of olio di peperoncino (ODP), and we have often been disappointed with what we found ... if we found anything at all. Sometimes the olive oil wasn't Italian origin. Sometimes it was an inferior quality (not extra-virgin). Very often the heat wasn't fiery enough.
So we decided to create our own. We found a fantastic EVOO bottled in Tuscany – spicy-fruity with a rich but not overpowering fragrance and a subtle note of almonds. To ensure freshness in the bottle, our olives are picked manually or semi-manually and are pressed within eight hours of harvesting.
The result is a perfect conduit for our selected peperoncini from southern Italy, where the combination of hot sun, iron-rich soil, and dry weather is ideal for our fire-hearted Capsicum. The climate here on the Italian boot kicks up the heat a notch, you might say, and makes our chili peppers swimming in EVOO the perfect accompaniment to all manner of cooking . . . Italian and not.
