Ketchup with Piment d'Espelette

Ketchup with Piment d'Espelette and a gentle Basque glow

The Piment d'Espelette Ketchup from Marcel Senchou is a French gourmet ketchup made from sun-ripened tomatoes, refined with mild chili from the Basque country. Not a cloyingly sweet supermarket standard, but slowly simmered craftsmanship – vegan, gluten-free, and without artificial additives.

Ketchup with Piment d'Espelette combines fruity French tomatoes with Piment d'Espelette, that Basque chili from the village of Espelette. Just a hint of it, a mere 0.1 percent, provides a gentle, fruity heat that accompanies the tomato flavor rather than overpowering it. Seven ingredients, no coloring, no preservatives – this is what a ketchup tastes like when it takes its origin seriously.

Fruity, spicy, with a gentle afterglow

Upon opening, the scent of ripe, slowly simmered tomatoes rises, and a rich, deep red color reveals itself in the glass. At first, you taste the fruit and a fine, natural sweetness, then the Piment d'Espelette makes its presence felt with a mild warmth that only arrives quietly at the end – fruity, spicy, and calmly piquant.

That is the hallmark of this Basque chili: it doesn't burn, it warms. Where other sauces become loud and numb the tongue, the Espelette Ketchup remains conversational, well-rounded, and aromatic, with a heat that even sensitive palates enjoy. The delicate sweetness comes from the tomatoes and a touch of sugar, the freshness from a dash of vinegar – that balance which defines a good ketchup.

For burgers, oven fries, and everything from the grill

With fries, sausages, hot dogs, and homemade burgers, this ketchup is a reliable companion – wherever standard ketchup usually goes, only with significantly more character in the glass. A simple cheese sandwich or scrambled eggs also get a fruity, spicy kick from it.

It is essential for crispy oven fries, grilled vegetables, and everything coming off the grill during barbecue season; it even makes a good impression with fondue or raclette on a winter evening. And for those in the mood for Basque cuisine, serve it with piperade, grilled chicken, or a txistorra. If you are looking for a robustly spicy version without heat, reach for the Ketchup zum Heiligen Stein; you can find our entire selection from mild to fiery in our ketchup varieties.

Slowly simmered in southwest France

Marcel Senchou stands for ketchups, sauces, and spices from southwest France, the recipes for which have been passed down through generations. The name traces back to the founder Marcel Senchou himself, who once began with fine canned fruit and vegetables. The ripe tomatoes are slowly simmered in kettles – "mijotées," as the French say – so that they develop their full flavor.

The Piment d'Espelette grows in just ten municipalities around the Basque village of the same name, where the red pods dry in the sun on house facades in late summer before being ground and carefully measured. The label features the original name: Senchou Pur Ketch'up Piment d'Espelette.

It is cooked in a certified workshop, 100 percent natural, and bottled in a 360 ml glass bottle, manufactured according to the producer from 82 percent recycled glass – made by the Compagnie des Pyrénées, which has been cooking at the foot of the Pyrenees in Ariège for over 25 years. This ketchup is also vegan and gluten-free. Quite impressive.