I used to work for a French company and used to travel to Paris frequently. On most of these trips I would have to take customers out to the latest trendy restaurant in town, but on one trip I was working with my friend Philip, who lived there for a number of years, and we went to some of his favorite neighborhood places – and discovered a new side to dining out in Paris.
One of the places he took me to was a small, late night, neighborhood pizzeria, who served their pizzas with a bottle of huile piquante, or spicy oil.
The pizzas in Paris are very similar to Italian style pizzas with thin, occasionally dry bases. The spicy olive oil serves a dual purpose, adds softness to the crust, and a kick to the pizza.
Fast forward two months. I now have a large bottle of spicy oil that has been emulsifying. Since I rarely make pizza or eat it, I found myself with a lot of spicy oil and not much to do with it until I realized that it was perfect for cooking spicy stir-fry, chili, or curry dishes. It takes two minutes to prepare and two months to stew, but well worth the wait!
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“The hard part is waiting 2 months. :)”
—Dragon, over 3 years ago
“Oh my gosh! I just discovered your site today, and there’s a wok in my kitchen that will get the workout it deserves this weekend!!! Everything looks so good!”
—organic spices, over 2 years ago
“There is a great resturant in Zhuhai China run by an Italian named Simone Gotti and he makes it by the gallon and offers it over all sorts of great dishes and thin crust pizzas”
—Greg Brick, about 1 year ago