Fire roasted Pimientos de Cristal are amazingly delicate peppers with a sweet flavor and a tangy finish. The fresh peppers are charred, then peeled and sliced by hand. Gently warm the peppers, drizzle with olive oil and serve with freshly baked bread.

Because they are very fragile (hence their name "cristal"), they are highly coveted and very scarce. El Navarrico, dedicated to preserving the tradition of the region, is one of the few sources in Spain that still roasts and bottles a limited number of them. For the gourmet cook, they are the ultimate peppers from Spain.

We tasted them at a café in Lodosa, where the slivers of Cristal peppers were warmed nicely and stacked on a plate in the center of our table. They didn't last long!