Spice of the Moment: Spanish Smoked Paprika

Like most Americans my first experience with paprika came on deviled eggs. It didn't taste like much and it was only trotted out for that particular dish. When I experimented in my mother's kitchen, I opened different spices and took a whiff. I even gave the paprika a chance, but it didn't pass the sniff test.

What I didn't know is that there are different varieties of the spice and that it has a relatively short shelf life as far as spices go. When I found a recipe which called specifically for Spanish smoked paprika, I didn't use the stuff in my cabinet (because there was none) so I had to buy it.

It was a whole new experience--the difference between a skeleton and a living being. You might know the general shape of an animal from its skeleton, but you wouldn't know the important details. There's beauty in the flesh. That's what smoked Spanish paprika is to the musty stuff I knew growing up: alive rather than a pile of bones.

Smoked Spanish Paprika comes from very mild sweet peppers that are ever so slowly smoked, generally with oak chips (though not always). Sometimes a combination of peppers are used. Despite peppers being the base, the most commonly found paprikas here in the US don't add heat to a dish. In some ways, it reminds me of chipotle, without the heat and with less dramtic sweet notes. Instead it's savory and smokey, with just a touch of the sweet.

I'm gaining an interest in trying to smoke my own paprika, though it really seems involved and I would have to get a smoker. I do have a dehydrator, so I can experiement with drying and grinding various peppers, but I won't get that smokey flavor.

I'm also interested in some of hotter Hungarian and Spanish paprikas. I'm unlikely to find these in a typical supermarket, but some of Jacksonville's ethinic markets and the interweb should should serve me well.