Piquillo

Piquillo is a traditional Spanish Capsicum annuum cultivar most closely associated with Lodosa and the surrounding municipalities of Navarra in northern Spain. The name comes from Spanish piquillo, meaning little beak, referring to the fruit’s pointed, slightly curved tip. The protected Lodosa form is regarded as an indigenous Navarrese ecotype of the piquillo variety, grown and processed in the municipalities of Andosilla, Azagra, Cárcar, Lerín, Lodosa, Mendavia, San Adrián, and Sartaguda.

The fruit is small, pendant, triangular, and slightly flattened, usually with 2 or 3 sides and a distinctive curved, incised point at the blossom end. Mature fruit is deep red, averaging 8 to 10 cm long and 4 to 6 cm wide, with an average weight of 35 to 50 g. The flesh is fine, compact, fleshy, and firm without being hard. Fresh fruit ripens from green to dark red, with smooth, taut skin and a conical to triangular form.

The plant is a green-leaved annual Capsicum annuum with high vegetative development. In the traditional Navarra production cycle, plants are sown in seedbeds, transplanted into field furrows around May, and harvested manually from mid-September through November in repeated picking passes, usually around one week apart. The fruit is harvested at full red maturity, when the colour, texture, and flavour are at their best.

Piquillo is a very mild pepper, commonly listed at 500 to 1,000 SHU, with little perceptible heat. Its flavour is sweet, not acidic, and strongly associated with roasting, which gives it a smoky, savoury-sweet character. The protected Lodosa product is traditionally roasted over direct flame, then cored, peeled, and deseeded before being packed dry in tins or jars so the liquid in the container is the pepper’s own released juice.

The cultural identity of Piquillo is strongly tied to Navarra’s preserved vegetable tradition. The Pimiento del Piquillo de Lodosa Denomination of Origin was approved in 1987, later gaining European recognition, and the product is often called the red gold of Navarra. Documents mentioning the product in preserved form go back to 1893. In Navarra, jarred and tinned piquillo peppers became a regional speciality and a common food gift, and Lodosa holds an annual Piquillo Pepper Festival in October celebrating the pepper through preserved products, cooked dishes, and recipe contests.