Sweet paprika

Sweet paprika is a red powdered spice with a characteristic taste obtained from the drying and grinding of different types of red pepper.

It’s a must for some typical Spanish dishes such as “patatas a la riojana”, “pulpo a la gallega”, “patatas bravas”, chorizo and many dishes from the Extremadura cuisine. Its use as part of one of its “Mojos” is essential in the Canary Islands nutrition and gastronomy.

Other cuisines such as the Hungarian also use paprika a lot.

There are three main types:

• Sweet paprika: as its name says, it has its characteristic taste but it’s not spicy.
• Spicy paprika: It’s a little bit spicy.
• Bittersweet paprika: It’s obtained from a specific type of pepper: the jariza peppers, grown in Jaraíz de la vera (Cáceres), although we can get a somewhat similar result by mixing sweet and spicy paprika. The name of a Maghreb spicy sauce made from smoked paprika, Harissa, could have the same geographic etymology.