Organic Smoked Paprika 55g Steenbergs details and description

Steenbergs Organic Smoked Paprika comes from the same family growers in Spain that provide us with Steenbergs organic paprika.  Steenbergs organic smoked paprika adds a smokey-sweet and mildly hot flavour to any savoury dish.  Smoked paprika is made by drying the freshly harvested red pepper fruits in low-lying, adobe smoke houses and gently heated via smoking grills and slow-burning oak wood.  It is a tricky process as too much heat will result in the paprika cooking in its own juices rather than drying through.  Milling then takes up to eight hours and friction from the slow grinding process creates some of the vivid deep-red colour and smooth, silky texture.  For paprika, SHUs <400 and capsaicin <20mg/kg.

Paprika is the name for a mild chilli powder that comes from various strains of Capsicum annuum, which also is the family for many of the hotter chillis. Paprika plants have a wide variety of sizes and appearances, but all can be described as early maturing, erect shrubs, with single white flowers, oval leaves and non-woody stems. Paprika pods or fruits can grow to 20cm long (8 inches) and be thin, or they can be small and round at 4cm (1 inch) in diameter. Paprika pods can vary in colour from bright red to dark red-brown and are harvested when fully ripe. Paprika pods are dried - they are piled up to commence the curing for about 24 hours, after which they are dried in the sun for 4-5 days. Following the initial drying, the paprika pods are cut open and halved or quartered and dried further for about another week until completely dry. They are then destalked, the seeds and veins separated, following which the fleshy walls of the paprika fruits are ground down and blended to give the right colour and flavour profile. The bright colour comes from the amount of capsanthin present and the lack of capsaicin, which is the heat determinant in chilli. Paprika is grown in most temperate climates but the most famous in Europe are Hungary and Spain, with Steenbergs sourcing its paprika from Spain and is locally called pimenton. The smoked paprika is achieved through smoking with slow-burning oak wood, where the smoke flows out through grills in the base of the smoking house; milling is similar to that for normal pimenton.  Smoked paprika has a distinctly smoky flavour with the peppery and slightly bitter flavours beneath this smokiness.  For more on paprika, look at Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages or Wikipedia.

Smoked paprika is popular in cooking for its colour and flavour, giving a luscious redness to sauces and all the peppery flavours of chilli pepper but with little or none of the burning heat. The smokiness adds a wood-smoke flavour that works really well in some dishes, but can become rather bitter; if you feel you have been overgenerous with the smoked paprika, add some acid flavours via dry sherry, lemon juice or balsamic vinegar, or soured cream also is great, hence why many smoked paprika recipes also include soured cream for the sauces.  Smoked paprika works well in Romesco sauce and also with chicken, beef and veal, pork and most vegetables, for example Gordon Ramsay's Smoked Paprika Chicken Strogonoff or Jamie Oliver's Lamb Kebabs. For more inspiration, try Allrecipes or Food.com.

Organic smoked paprika is part of Steenbergs positively huge range of spices, herbs, salts, seasonings, curry mixes extracts and flavours. For your local stockist follow the link, or call us on 01765 640 088 or email to enquiries@steenbergs.co.uk.

Spice - season - savour - sustainably with Steenbergs.