La Chinata Smoked Bittersweet Paprika

The Chillies

• For La Chinata's paprika only the finest and best chili peppers from the Spanish region of "La Vera" are selected. Culturing the chilies starts in mid-winter. Later in May, when the plant has grown substantially, the plants are transplanted from the seabed to the land where they grow until the end of the harvest. The main chile cultivars are Jaranda, Jariza and Bola.

The Smoking

• When the fruits are ripe and healthy they are harvested between October and November from the fields. After harvesting, the fruits are immediately taken from the field to the smokehouses. There they are smoked over holm oak or oak using traditional methods. The smoking process takes about 15 days.

Grinding

• After extensive quality checks the smoked chillies are ground. First, the chili peppers are cleaned and washed, ground between the large stone mills. The pods are ground by two large granite stones until the right consistency is reached, then they are stored for a short drying period until they are packaged.