History of Urfa Biber

Grown for hundreds of years in Turkey, this chile was long a part of Turkish cuisine that was widely ignored in other parts of the world. Then, immigrants took Urfa Biber with them to other places across the globe and other cultures and cuisines started adding the unique chile to their arsenal of flavors.

As is the case with most groundbreaking flavors that hits the United States, Urfa Biber showed up on restaurant menus in cities like New York City and Los Angeles long before the ingredient could be found more widely available in the country. Chefs were increasingly interested in what they could do with this smoky, raisiny, chocolatey chile that has those distinct tobacco undertones. Still, most places don’t carry this chile unless they are a specialty shop, as it is still relatively unknown to the everyday home cook, minus those who have already been exposed to and love Turkish cooking, or those who are just generally adventurous cooks. Today, the popularity of Urfa Biber continues to rise as Americans are enjoying more and more spicy, chile-centric foods.

Urfa Biber Cultivation

Technically a red chile, Urfa Biber matures to a bright red and is then harvested and cured or dried for a week. The drying process is two steps, the first of which is to lie out in the sun for the day, drying in the sunlight. The second step happens overnight. The chiles are covered up and wrapped tightly to encourage “sweating,” a process that helps the chiles retain some of their moisture during the drying process. The chiles, once dried sufficiently, are a dark, blackish-purple color. This two-step process produces chile flakes that are moist and predisposed to stick together, so some salt and a small amount of vegetable oil is usually added to prevent them from sticking together completely, though there may still be some clumping that can be easily broken up. This excess moisture is an advantage however, as Urfa Biber chiles tend to retain their flavor for longer and they keep better than most other chiles. Store them in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight for the best longevity.

What’s in it?

Urfa Biber chiles, vegetable oil (sunflower) and salt.

Where is it from?

Our Urfa Biber is grown in Turkey.

Cooking with Urfa Biber

In Turkish cuisine, Urfa Biber chiles are used for lamb kebobs. Their tangy, raisin meets coffee flavor does well on its own, but it is best used in foods with a lot of flavor layers. . Use Urfa Biber with pungent cheeses, meats, and root vegetables. It’s wonderful on pizza, pasta, and in thick, creamy soups.

When paired with other spices, Urfa Biber goes well with cumin, sesame, paprika, or onion. Urfa Biber is becoming a more popular ingredient in the United States thanks to its raisiny undertones and delightfully nuanced heat. It works well in desserts and sweet dishes like brownies, ice cream, gingerbreads, or even sweet chutneys.

For a lovely bread dipping sauce or a nice drizzle you can use over pasta, pizza, or vegetables, simply heat some butter in a skillet until the butter has melted and developed some nutty brown color to it. Remove the butter from the heat source and stir in your desired amount of urfa biber. Add more for a stronger flavor, less for just a hint of that taste. Stir after a minute or two and you should see some redness seep into the butter. Once you see some red, you can use this butter like a sauce or a topping. Try it over an omelet for a new way to eat your favorite breakfast. This butter sauce is also fantastic on potatoes, meaning it’s great with hash browns too!

What Does Urfa Biber Taste Like?

The flavor profile of the Urfa Chile is well rounded and complex with a smoky earthy edge and undertones of coffee, chocolate, tobacco and raisins. The flavor and heat is similar to the region’s other star chile the Aleppo Pepper, which is traditionally grown only a mountain range away in Syria. Unfortunately due to wars in this region, the Aleppo is no longer being grown in Syria. Both our Aleppo and Urfa Biber are currently being grown in Turkey. Considered a medium heat chile this comes in at 6,000-8,000 SHU (Scoville Heat Units) and their heat is surprising as they start off a bit mild but then almost seem to increase in heat and intensity as you eat more.

Meeting Your Business Needs with Our Products

Urfa Biber has that smoky, salty, chocolatey flavor profile that is extremely appealing to specialty spice shops and gourmet food makers. Restauranteurs are always on the prowl for more interesting flavors to introduce on their menus and Urfa Biber fits that bill quite nicely, as it is a seriously up and coming chile flavor. It has notes of tobacco and raisin, making it suitable for savory dishes, but the chocolate undertones add a bit of desirable bitterness that makes this the perfect chile for baking. It does well in chocolate, meaning our gourmet bakeries enjoy this chile in their chocolate desserts, like brownies and chocolate cakes. Buy Urfa Biber in bulk if you enjoy a chile with an interesting flavor profile. It suits Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and American cuisines, so it meshes well with restaurants that serve foods in these styles.

How Hot is Urfa Biber?

Urfa Biber comes in on the Scoville Heat Scale at 6,000 to 8,000 SHU. They are not an intensely hot chile, but they do give a bit of a pleasant tingle to most food. Some have described the heat as “creeping heat,” meaning it gets worse the more you eat

Substitutions and Conversions

There are truly no substitutes that match Urfa Biber’s flavor profile but in a pinch, you can use its cousin Aleppo Pepper for a similar heat level. Ancho Chiles are similar in flavor profile, as they are also described as having a tobacco undertone to them, but they have a wider SHU range (4,000-9,000) making them a less reliable substitute if you are looking for a specific type of heat for your dish.

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