Espelette pepper — Piment d'Espelette in French, Ezpeletako biperra in Basque — is a mild, fruity chile from the village of Espelette in the French Basque Country, sold most often as a fine, bright orange-red powder ground from sun- and air-dried pods. Only gently hot, it is fragrant, sweet and faintly smoky, and it functions almost as a Basque equivalent of black pepper, dusted over piperade, axoa, grilled meats and fish.