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The Long Journey of the Aleppo Pepper
The signature Syrian spice, caught up in conflict, became scarce in the United States just as its popularity boomed. But importers and vendors are finding new ways to get it.
Early in the seven-year-old Syrian civil war, American imports of Syria’s signature dried, ground Aleppo chiles dropped drastically.
The spice-trading city of the same name, where the fresh pepper was traditionally grown and processed, has been devastated in the fighting, which has destroyed lives and livelihoods. The conflict has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths in Syria, and displaced millions of people both inside and outside the country.
Aleppo peppers were among $550 million worth of crops destroyed in and around the city each year between 2011 and 2016, according to a 2017 assessment by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. These crop losses come on top of a United States State Department ban on direct Syrian imports, in place since 2011.
The resulting Aleppo pepper shortage in the United States came just as the salty-sweet, mildly hot chile was becoming well-known among American chefs, restaurateurs, cookbook authors and spice merchants.
“Those of us who were fortunate to know Aleppo pepper from Syria know how delicious and fragrant and tasty it was,” said Lior Lev Sercarz, the owner of La Boîte, an apothecary-like spice emporium on Manhattan's West Side.
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