Cook's Illustrated

INGREDIENT NOTES

Pimentón: The Pride of Spain

imentón, or Spanish paprika, is essential to the country’s cuisine. It contributes brick-red color and fruity chile flavor (and sometimes smokiness) to dishes from paella and migas to patatas bravas and espinacas con garbanzos (page 19). It is available smoked or unsmoked and in a range of heat levels from mild to spicy, which can make shopping for it a bit confusing. The first step is to decide whether you want a smoked or an unsmoked product. Smoked pimentón comes from La Vera in Spain’s Extremadura region. There, the peppers used for pimentón are dried slowly over smoldering oak fires for up to two weeks, giving them a distinct smoky taste and aroma. Unsmoked pimentón hails from a region in southeastern Spain called Murcia. Both areas have earned Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP)

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