Chilli oil

What is in it

Olive oil and dried chillies. Nothing else, no garlic and no herbs, both of which we tried and neither of which improved it.

The oil is the same cold pressed oil we bottle on its own, from the previous November's pressing. The chillies are grown in the vegetable beds, picked red in September, and dried whole on a string in the kitchen through the autumn.

How it is made, and why the chillies come out

Dried chillies are broken up, warmed gently in the oil to about 60 degrees, and then the whole thing sits sealed for six weeks in a dark cupboard. After that it is strained and bottled, and the chilli goes in the compost.

Leaving whole chillies sitting in the bottle looks better on a shelf and we do not do it. Fresh or rehydrating plant material under oil is the classic setup for botulism, and while dried chillies in oil are a much lower risk than fresh garlic in oil, straining removes the question entirely. Anyone who tells you it is fine because their grandmother did it is describing survivorship, not food safety.

How hot it is

Warm rather than punishing. We aim for the point where you can still taste the oil underneath, which means it is hotter than a chilli oil sold to be poured over everything and much milder than a chilli crisp. It varies slightly from batch to batch because chillies do, and a hot dry summer makes a hotter chilli.

What it is good with

• Over grilled vegetables, or a bowl of white beans.
• On eggs, which is where most of ours goes.
• Stirred through pasta with nothing else but cheese.
• As the last thing added to a soup at the table.

How long it keeps

Twelve months in a cool dark cupboard. It is an oil, so the failure mode is going flat and eventually rancid rather than going mouldy. Once opened it is fine at room temperature, just keep the lid on and keep it out of the light.

Availability

Made in the spring from the previous autumn's oil, in batches of about ninety bottles. It is normally available all year, though in a year when the olive crop is poor we make less of it, because the plain oil takes priority.