Burlap & Barrel Smoked Pimenton Paprika

Category: Spices

Sweet, red pimentón peppers are slowly dried over oak coals, which imbue them with a rich, smoky flavor that imparts a savory depth and gorgeous color to any dish.

Our Smoked Pimentón Paprika comes from a single family-owned fábrica in the Extremadura region of western Spain famous for pimentón de la vera, which has a Designation of Protected Origin status from the European Union.

Origin:

Extremadura, Spain

Aliases:

Pimentón agridulce, bittersweet paprika, Spanish paprika

Process:

Smoked & dried over oak coals, then stone-ground

Ingredients:

Pimentón de la vera DOP (Capsicum annuum)

Tasting notes:

Hardwood Smoke • Ripe Tomato • Summery Sweetness

SOURCING

Paprika. What are the two best-known countries that produce it? Spain and Hungary, right? Well, paprika, and all peppers for that matter, are actually relatively new to Europe.

Christopher Columbus brought peppers back to Spain from the New World just a few hundred years ago. In Spain, the seeds were distributed to the monasteries, which planted the peppers and taught their communities how to farm them. Centuries later, the Extremadura region in Western Spain has a protected designation of origin for their world-famous smoked paprika, so we flew to Extremadura to see the harvest for ourselves.

The paprika season starts in February, when farmers plant young paprika seedlings in long rows. By September, the plants are chock-full of firetruck-red peppers that resemble a witch's fingers. That's when they get picked and brought over to the two-story smokehouses located on each farm.

The lower level of the smokehouse is an oak-wood fire that burns for 24 hours a day. The peppers are loaded into the upper level, where they spend two weeks getting smoked over the gentle heat. Every day or two, the farmers use shovels to turn the peppers over so they dry out evenly and completely. The farmers know the peppers are completely dry by the crunch the peppers make when they're turned over.

The smell of the smokehouses wafts over fields of tobacco, the other major crop grown in Extramadura's fertile soil, filling the air with a fragrance reminiscent of a cigar bar filled with leather books... in the best way possible.

$9.99

1.80 ounces

SUPPLIER

Burlap & Barrel

Burlap & Barrel is a Public Benefit Corporation building new international food supply chains that are equitable, transparent and traceable.

A single origin spice company, Burlap & Barrel buys spices from farmers around the globe, who they call partners. They’ve eliminated the intermediaries who have traditionally bought and sold spices multiple times before any jar of spice lands in a U.S. customer’s kitchen cabinet. This means their spices are fresher than what you can find from the big spice companies. Spices so potent that they suggest new customers use just half a serving at first, as they sometimes get feedback from customers that the spices are too strong. It's not that the spices are too strong, but rather we are just accustomed to cooking with old spices! Did you know that supermarket spices sometimes have been in transit for three years?!?!?

Another benefit to eliminating spice brokers is that Burlap & Barrel can pay the farmers more for their crops while offering quality spices to the public at affordable prices.

SUPPORTING SMALLHOLDER FARMERS

Burlap & Barrel is working towards ending inequality and exploitation in food systems that disenfranchise skilled farmers.

They do this by:

Connecting smallholder farmers to high-value markets
Educating consumers about the impact of product traceability on human rights
Sourcing unique foods with terroir that are grown biodynamically and organically using traditional techniques

REDEFINING SUSTAINABILITY

Mainstream conversations around food sustainability rarely consider the people involved in growing, harvesting, transporting, processing and cooking food. Sustainability is discussed in terms of environmental impact, or the comfort of livestock providing meat, dairy or eggs.

The folks at Burlap & Barrel believe that the standard measures of sustainability must evolve to consider the conditions in which the farmers who drive global food supply chains earn their livelihoods. Single origin ingredients draw attention to the unique environments in which incredible ingredients grow and to the farmers with the expertise and commitment to grow them well.