Pimentón de la Vera: smoked paprika technique

La Vera, Extremadura, Spain

The smoked paprika of La Vera valley in Extremadura — peppers slowly cold-smoked over oak for 10-15 days in traditional stone drying houses, then ground to a deep brick-red powder that carries both the capsicum sweetness of the pepper and the complex oak-smoke aromatics. Pimentón de la Vera (DOP) is the essential spice of Spanish charcuterie (it is what colours and flavours chorizo), but it is equally central to papas a la riojana, soups, and Extremaduran cooking. Distinct from regular pimentón (sweet dried red pepper, not smoked) and Hungarian paprika, the smoke in pimentón de la Vera is a primary flavour component, not a faint background note.