The original smoked paprika powder La Chinata - Spanish Passion Asia Pacific SDN BHD

A bit of history.

Smoked Paprika powder is the product resulting from the milling of ripe red peppers, dried in a traditional process with either oak wood or holm oak wood. It is cultivated and produced in the region of La Vera, located north of the province of Cáceres, Spain. This paprika powder is protected by the Guarantee of Origin “Pimentón de la Vera” certifying its lineage and quality.

The story goes that the peppers used in the manufacture of “Pimentón de la Vera” come from the New World that Columbus discovered back in 1492. Due to the undeniable support of the Catholic Monarchs, he offered those fruits to them as a token of appreciation. This event took place in the Monastery of Guadalupe (Cáceres), from where, according to the legend, the Hieronymites monks spread their cultivation all over their convents.

That is how it arrived to the Monastery of Yuste, in the region of La Vera, whose priests were showing off those peppers to the neighboring villages and regions. The industrial process for the production of “Pimentón de la Vera” started in the late 17th century, achieving a large development in the mid-18th century.

In line with these events, the desired red fruits also came to the Monastery of Ñora (Murcia), where, through a similar process, the characteristic Murcian Paprika Powder began to be developed. Through the years this led to the fact that both the Region of Murcia and the region of La Vera became the two great producing areas of Paprika Powder in Spain.

You may be wondering now, how can the characteristics of both products vary so much if they have the same origin? The reason lies in the climatic peculiarities of each region: The sun, reigning in the autumn of Murcia, allows the product to dry in the open air; whereas the autumn rains, a feature of our region, forced us to design an alternative process: drying with smoke.

In order to carry on with the smoking process, vertical power dryers were built on the same farms. They are of variable dimensions and they consist of a ground and upper floor. In the ground floor, the oak wood or holm oak wood is placed. When ignited, the hot air and combustion gases from the wood rise to the upper floor, which consists of a wooden grating and it is where the peppers, freshly picked from the fields, are placed. Thus, in a very laborious process from 10 to 15 days, the peppers dry gradually until they reduce its humidity content from 80% to less than 15%. Daily, the fruits are turned off to get a homogeneous drying.

Cáceres is the capital of the same name province, in the autonomous community of Extremadura, located in the south-west of Spain, near Portugal.

This genuine drying process gives the “Pimentón de la Vera” a distinct aroma, a deep and rooted flavour and colour stability, distinguishing it from any other paprika powder. Do not miss the taste of this natural flavouring. Its bouquet has been leaving its trace generation after generation.

Varieties

Sweet

Bittersweet

Hot

Subdued but intense taste, ideal to be introduced to and discover our fantastic product. It is thought for all those people who do not like the strong taste of pepper, and highly recommended to be used in fish, soups and rice dishes. It will add a special something to your dishes.

Variety used: Bola and Jaranda.

With a very nice bouquet and a soft spicy touch, it will provide a grace to your dishes. It is the variety used by the master butchers to elaborate the typical Spanish Cured

Chorizo. We recommend its use in sauces and marinades for meat.

Variety used: Jaranda and Jariza.

If you like hot spices, this is the most suitable variety for you. It is ideal to give a brave and exotic touch to your dishes. Using just a little enough. We recommend its use for any recipe that could use a spicy touch.

Variety used: Jeromin.

Processes

	Sown Cultivation begins in the middle of winter with the planting of the fruit in seedbeds; afterwards, in the months of May / June the plant, already grown up, is transplanted to the field so that it can complete its growth. Pepper varieties used are Ocal, Jaranda, Jariza, Jeromin, and Bola.
	Harvest Fruits are collected mature, healthy and clean from fields during the months of October and November. The collection process is done by hand, given the difficulty of implementing a mechanical process to do it.
	Drying Afterwards, it is immediately transported from the field to the dryers in order to be dried later. The drying process is a completely manual process. The farmer uses drying places where, thanks to the oak or holm oak wood, the peppers dry in a process of about 15 days, to finally obtain the desired dried and smoked fruit.
	Milling The milling begins with a first phase where the dry peppers are grinded and cleaned. It then goes to the milling system, which consists of eight stone mills distributed in line that operate rubbing two stones of granite, through which the powder pepper passes until getting the right degree of milling.
	Storage and Packaging When the milling process is finished, and after it gets cool, the paprika is saved in our cold store for its perfect conservation. In this way, once the product is packed, we manage to deliver our product to our customers with its non-modified organoleptic characteristics.

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