Continuing on with documenting my recent trip to the Extramadura region of Spain, day two began with a trip to Jaraiz de la Vera to learn about smoked paprika. We heard about the cultivation and smoking of the peppers at the Paprika Museum, then visited this production facility to see how the dried peppers were milled and packaged. The row of milling machines above looked almost cathedral-like to me, which seems appropriate given how revered paprika is in these parts.
The aroma in the plant was amazing. I wish I had a way to share that with you. Sometimes when an appetizing smell is in a really high concentration like this, it becomes unpleasant, but I found no such problem here. I left feeling really hungry — which was good because our next stop was Hervas for a lunch of venison with double deserts: chestnut pie and… something chocolatey:
More on the town of Hervas in the next post…
Cool images Mike. Looks like a great place to visit.
What are the red spheres on your plate of venison? Some kind of fruit I presume?
Hi, Jon. Those red spheres are the fruit of the Strawberry Tree. Nothing like our strawberries in flavor, though. I found them a little bland — kind of dense and pulpy. But I had asked what they were before trying one, so my brain was probably expecting something more like a juicy berry. Maybe I’ll ask after I taste in the future so that it’s not like getting an iced tea when you’re expecting coke.