Aleppo, like Maras and Urfa, refer to a finished product from a certain region. As far as I know the cultivar is never identified and like the Vidalia onion may be multiple cultivars with similar characteristics. Aleppo pepper is imported from Syria the other two from Turkey. You might look for Turkish, Syrian cultivars with moderate heat. Every so often, some one will save seed and offer them as Aleppo peppers, but even that is rare.

I too fell in love with the Aleppo pepper after using it to make a Spanish Chorizo sausage http://www.sausagemania.com/recipes2.html I bought my pepper flakes from Penzeys http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/shophome.html Aleppo is not just the name of a district, but there is a Botanical Research Institute there, so there are many plant varieties designated "Aleppo". The USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/site_holding.pl?S9 lists three capsicum varieties Aleppo 36, Aleppo 37, and Aleppo 38. The first two are C. annuum and the third is c frutescens. The very helpful staff at Penzeys did not know what variety their flakes were, but suggested that they would be annuum, as frutescens has a distinctive flavour. I have tried germinating seeds from their flakes with no success. I have subsequently obtained seeds for Aleppo 36 and 37, courtesy of a fellow forum member. They are not strong performers in the relatively cool summer here in Christchurch New Zealand. I have found one commercial supplier who sells "Aleppo" seeds B & T World Seeds (20 euro minimum order) http://b-and-t-world-seeds.com/homepage.htm and I will be buying these from them. As farmerdilla says, they could be a mixture of varieties. The USDA will supply seeds to anyone who requires them for educational or research purposes. If anyone gets seeds from there I would be interested in a swap! In the meantime try the flakes from Penzeys. They are quite cheap, the trouble is that they insists on shipping overseas orders by first class airmail, which triples the price to me.
Brien

Wow! Brien thanks for all that information. I found a blog (www.herbalwitchcraft.con/blog/?p=1158) where the writer talks about having obtained some seeds and shows the Aleppo peppers that he grew. I sent him an email but no response yet. I think this is a worthy quest. I will try B & T World seeds. Thanks for the tip. Have you ever seen seeds for Urfa and Maras peppers?
Lou

Lou

Wow, this answered a question I've had for a year. I get Aleppo and Urfa flakes from SilverCloudEstates. We don't use the Urfa too often, but we use Aleppo on at least 1/2, maybe 3/4, of the dishes we cook. We call it the Magic Ingredient. We put it in everything from roasted peppers to pasta dishes to Mexican food and salads, on all and every type of meat and meat dish, and even occasionally throw some into the coffee pot to make coffee in the morning, which gives it a mildly exotic, spicy taste. I've wondered so often where to get seeds so I can grow my own, and now it turns out the answer is: I can't! LOL Ah well, good to know that once and for all.

I am an airline pilot for a large international cargo airline. I spent over 3 hours today walking through the produce market in Adana Turkey looking for fresh Aleppo peppers. I had the name along with two other names I found on the web (Halaby, Halab)that are also used for these peppers written down to show the merchants. None of them seemed to recognize the names. I have what I think are the right ones. I have not been able to find a picture of a whole fresh or dried pepper to compare them with. I plan on bringing the seeds home and see how they turn out. I will have enough seeds (bought 3 peppers for 1 usd) to share with anyone interested in trying as well.