The market · Spices · Southern Europe

Smoked paprika

Pimentón: Spanish peppers dried over oak smoke before grinding — the smoky red of chorizo.

smoky · sweet · earthy

What to do with it

Classics built on it
AndalusianEspinacas con garbanzosSpinach and chickpeas cooked with a pounded paste of fried bread, garlic, cumin and pimentón, sharpened with a splash of vinegar.No one here has made it yetCastilian and MadridPatatas bravasChunks of fried potato with a hot, pimentón-red sauce — the bar tapa found all over Spain.No one here has made it yet

Kinds

Dulce
Sweet.
Agridulce
Bittersweet, a little heat.
Picante
Hot.

Goes with

chickpeapotatogarlicolive oil

Knowing it

Where to buy
Spanish delis; look for Pimentón de la Vera, a protected name, in the square tins.
Worth knowing
A little goes far — it can smoke out every other flavour.

More spices

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