Diavoletto d'Abruzzo

A traditional Italian chilli from the Abruzzo region, recognized as a Traditional Agri-food Product of Italy. This small to medium-sized pepper features an elongated shape and delivers a bright, sharp heat characteristic of Italian regional varieties, making it essential in Abruzzese cuisine for adding authentic spicy notes to local dishes.

History & lineage

Diavoletto d'Abruzzo - "Little Devil of Abruzzo" - is a traditional cooking chilli from the Abruzzo region of central Italy, on the Adriatic coast east of Rome. The variety has been cultivated by Abruzzese farmers for centuries and holds official recognition as a Prodotto Agroalimentare Tradizionale (Traditional Agri-food Product) under Italian agricultural protection law, recognising its embedded role in regional cuisine.

Abruzzo developed one of Italy's more distinctive regional chilli cultures, with mountainous interior conditions and warm coastal summers producing both Mediterranean and continental influences in local cooking. The Diavoletto fits firmly within the broader Italian "diavolicchio" tradition - the south-Italian habit of cooking with chillies that distinguishes Mezzogiorno cuisine from the largely chilli-free traditions of northern Italy.

In Abruzzese cooking, the Diavoletto appears widely in regional dishes: in traditional pork sausages, in tomato-based sauces, in cured meats, and in chilli-infused olive oil ("olio santo" - holy oil) that accompanies countless meals. The heat (15,000-30,000 SHU) is more substantial than the milder Calabrian chilli but firmly within the range of practical cooking application rather than extreme heat.

Unlike the better-known Calabrian chilli, which has gained international recognition through commercial export and the global rise of nduja, the Diavoletto has remained a more regional Italian speciality. The variety is reliably found across Abruzzese delicatessens and in traditional Italian-American restaurants featuring Abruzzese regional cooking, but has not achieved the broader commercial spread of its southern Italian cousin. UK availability is limited primarily to specialist Italian importers, with most British growers more likely to encounter the cultivar through home cultivation than through retail purchase.

Culinary uses

Essential in traditional Abruzzese cuisine, used to make peperoncino oil (olio santo), dried and crushed for pasta dishes, preserved in olive oil, and as a key ingredient in local sauces and meat preparations. Excellent for seasoning arrosticini and other regional specialties.

Growing it in the UK

Annuum is the forgiving group, and the right place to start. Seed germinates readily in warmth, the season is short enough to finish outdoors in a good summer, and February to early March is soon enough to sow. Germination is given as 7-14 days. At 75 days to maturity it is one of the quick ones: sown in March, it will be picking well before the light goes.

At 40–70 cm it wants a 7- to 10-litre pot and a sheltered spot: a greenhouse, a porch, or the sunniest wall you have. The record puts the yield at heavy, so start feeding weekly with something high in potassium as soon as the first fruit sets — a plant carrying that much will run out of steam otherwise.

It is hot enough that gloves are sensible when you are preparing a batch, and that a seeded pod is a very different proposition from a whole one. Thin walls and a high drying score mean it dries well — thread the pods on a string somewhere warm and they will keep for a year.

Read from this variety's own record — the figures are in the panel opposite.