By Richard Cornish
EVERY autumn, the little Spanish town of Valdeinigos is cloaked in a rich, sweet smoke. Well, to use the word smoke is a little harsh - it's more like a subtle aromatic haze. At its heart is a brick and concrete church surrounded by neat whitewashed brick and concrete homes. Beyond them extend hundreds of hectares of fields full of small bushes covered with ripe red peppers. This is La Vera, a small region in the north of Extremadura (in Spain's west), where La Vera pimenton is made.
Pimenton is called Spanish paprika in English. It is made from pimientos, which is the Spanish word for different types of peppers from the capsicum family. In the Spanish kitchen, pimenton is used as often as salt and pepper in the anglo kitchen.
The unpredictable weather is what's made La Vera the capital of smoked paprika. In Murcia, in the country's south, pimenton is made by sun-drying peppers but in La Vera, the locals use disused tobacco kilns to dry their peppers over smoke from oak log fires.
''It takes between 10 to 15 days to completely dry the peppers,'' says grower Jose Recio Martin. ''One wet or even humid day can set back the drying time by days.'' Every night, he wakes and drives to the woodfired kilns, called secaderos, to stoke the fires.
Pimenton is a cornerstone flavour in much Spanish cooking. When used at the start of a dish, such as an estofado (stew), the flavour is well cooked through and mellows out. It can be added in the middle of cooking for a more pronounced flavour, or dusted on a dish just before serving.
There are two families of pimenton - the first, from La Vera, comes in three varieties: the pimenton dulce (a sweet paprika), the very popular pimenton agridulce (bitter-sweet paprika) and the eponymous picante or spicy paprika.
Once the La Vera pimientos are dried, they are ground seven times to make a fine powder. That's all there is to it.
The second pimenton family, from Murcia, is made from sun-dried peppers and has a brighter colour and fresher flavour.
The agridulce, bitter-sweet pimenton, is loved by the locals. Some days in the local bar in Valdeinigos, the only tapas served are plates of pig skin boiled in salt water flavoured with garlic, bay and pimenton de La Vera.
''The brighter pimenton from Murcia is like the enticing girl you fall for straight away but she has no depth,'' says Cecilio Oliva, owner of La Chinat, a brand of La Vera pimenton. ''But our more intense pimentons are like the woman you don't get along with at first, then you realise how truly beautiful she is and you fall in love with her forever.''
Stockists include: The Essential Ingredient; Simon Johnson; herbies.com.au; good delicatessens and food stores.