Spanish paprika (Pimentón de la Vera) is my favorite ingredient these days. If I chartered a boat centuries ago and discovered a New World, one that used this spice frequently, I don't think I'd turn around and go home. I'd be too afraid that I'd be back in my homeland making my favorite chicken recipe, reach for the last can of Pimentón de la Vera that I had carried back across the sea, only to find that my fellow citizens had used it all up. Then I'd have to load up the boat and spend another decade trudging across the seas to get more. And nothing ruins dinner more than having to stop cooking for 10 years to go fetch a crucial ingredient.
It sparkles a burnished, deep red and gives off an aggressive, smokiness. Yet if used sparingly, (you only need a teaspoon or less), it actually brings out the flavors of meat, fish, and beans. Melissa Clark recommends it for deviled eggs.
We use it for our favorite Red Beans and Rice dish, a pretty standard family favorite that we make a few times a month. Even Walt likes it in his beans and rice, except for the rice part. Yeah, my kid doesn't like rice. I think it may be a texture thing, because C'MON! Rice! It's delicious!
Ah, I can't complain. The kid recognizes the value of nuanced bite in his bean dishes. I'm sure he'd highly recommend Spanish paprika as well. It's goodness will propel me across the ocean, but more importantly, it gets my toddler to walk to his high chair.
Ah, I can't complain. The kid recognizes the value of nuanced bite in his bean dishes. I'm sure he'd highly recommend Spanish paprika as well. It's goodness will propel me across the ocean, but more importantly, it gets my toddler to walk to his high chair.
2 comments:
sounds yummy. As for Walt's anti-rice stance, I can commiserate. For reasons I will never understand, Zeke won't eat eggs, which to me is sacrilege. I can't imagine a life without omelettes.
Hi my name is Ann, too, and like you, I'm a PdlV addict. I use it on everything. I hoard it. I sent my parents to Spain just so they could bring me back lots of different kinds of it. Okay, maybe that's not quite true, I didn't pay for their trip, or force them to go, but I did beg and plead them to bring lots of it back, and lucky me, they did so. I too fear running out of the stuff!
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