Red pepper flakes or crushed red pepper is called many things around the world and can include a variety of different peppers according to the particular region it’s being made in. For example Pul Biber in Turkey has a variety called Urfa Biber or Isot pepper which uses a type of pepper grown in the Urfa region of Turkey.
Some crushed red pepper will include a lot of seeds, others will have a few, and most of the “pul biber” that I buy in Istanbul, Turkey has no seeds in it. Here Turkish people use it in so many different dishes, from salads to slow cooked meat and everything in between. I’m obviously being influenced by the culture as I’m never without some pul biber in the cupboard and I use it a lot! Below is a typical example of pul biber bought from the supermarket in Turkey.
As a way of learning what herbs and spices are called in Turkish I created my own custom spice jar labels with the English and Turkish names. It’has been very helpful in knowing what to buy as not many people speak English in the area that I’m living in at the moment.
Crushed red pepper or pul biber is used a lot in Turkish recipes including the Grilled Eggplant salad that I made here.