The fascination with chili peppers is enshrouded in the mystery of their piquancy, which with their hotness can turn one’s face red as if strong emotions are being experienced. The mysterious hot flash continues to the brain, dilates the veins and increases the heart rate. This has excited popular imagination, which associates the image of chili peppers with passion and love. 

“I am greedy for them and love one of the many types of chili peppers in particular: the habanero. I prefer to eat it fresh, grated over food, in order to savor the fruity, spicy aromas characteristic of this extremely hot fruit.

I admit that, overwhelmed by desire, I often exaggerate with the quantity, forgetting the side effects such as the typical burning sensation.”

Eliminate the undesirable effects of the habanero chili pepper while conserving as much as possible the organoleptic properties of the fresh fruit.

I started out with the principle that, in nature, everything that lives becomes transformed, and the idea that goodness and badness depend on how that transformation is directed. For example, grapes are transformed into wine not only through alcoholic fermentation, but also with complex interactions among yeast, fungus, lactic and acetic bacteria, etc.

This gave me the idea to create a product with fresh, genuine ingredients, fermented in the cellar with patient observance of nature’s time line.

In the Tuscan tradition, Extra Virgin Olive Oil is considered a precious good to be preserved carefully in jars placed in a cool, dark cellar. It has always been fundamental to our cuisine, which is made up of few simple, essential and high-quality components.

As a Tuscan, my thought was that it would be ideal to transfer the flavor, fragrance and piquancy of habanero chili pepper to Extra Virgin Olive Oil while eliminating the residue.

Therefore, driven by passion but rooted in tradition, I took up this challenge and succeeded in creating a product that can be preserved and used during the entire year in a practical and rapid manner.

After a few years, encouraged by the results, I decided to test the production process with which I had arduously experimented and in whose precision I was resolutely convinced.

For months, qualified technologists of a laboratory accredited to perform controls over food production procedures exhaustively tested and verified the entire process.

It has been long, absorbing, creative work, with moments of excitement as well as acute disappointment.

Thrilled about the outcome and encouraged by friends who appreciated the special flavor of my spicy olive oil, I decide to produce  it with the name “FOHO FIORENTINO” in honor of my city.

FOHO FIORENTINO
Spicy condiment made of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and fresh habanero chili peppers.

CARATTERISTICS
Artisan product obtained through the fermentation of fresh ingredients.

INGREDIENTS
Extra virgin olive oil,
Fresh habanero fresco chili peppers 14%, fresh bell pepper, fresh garlic, lemon juice, salt, spices.

FERMENTATION
30 days

AGING
In cellar, 120 days

PH
4.4

SCOVILLE HEAT UNITS
50,000

PRODUCTION
4,000 bottles

RELEASE
June 2017

NUTRITION FACTS
Energy: 3667 KJ / 891 Kcal
Total fat 99%, saturated fat 15.3%
Carbohydrate 0.19%
Sugars 0.01%
Protein 0
Salt 0
One serving = 1.7 Kcal