I've been using Santo Domingo Pimenton de la Vera for years and have mentioned it several times here on this forum. It's a great smokey paprika.
And I also love the colourful tins:

Here's my stock of the three types: dulce, agridulce and picante.
It's very common in supermarkets here whereas La Chinita is known but not stocked everywhere.

Here are my tins of it:

SharonCb

An analogous product is chipotle powder; jalapenos are allowed to ripen to red, then they're smoked for a long time. Most of them get packed in sauce in little cans, but some are dried and powdered. Really smoky, really hot.

Pimenton has the advantage of coming in three levels of hot-osity, where chipotle powder is only one level of hotness (quite high). I'm addicted to the stuff. Eggs, soups, stews, meats...yum.

Good quality Spanish and Hungarian paprika DOES have a flavor (and an aroma...and sometimes a kick). So, "better" than paprika is misleading. Better than the box sitting in Aunt Gertie's pantry since 1947? Well, yeah. Most things are.

Not slamming your post, Jkom, just the NYT's hyperbole.

I love La Chinata...the smoked paprika is fabulous....i couldnt find it for aawhile when I did i bought several!

BTDT - Agreed. I can't understand how some people think paprika adds little more than color.

I'd love to hear more about what folks here are doing with smoked paprika. I've got a small jar of Penzey's, and while I like it I rarely see it called for in recipes, and it's not something I think to use free-hand.

I never much cared for paprika either, until a friend brought me back a little bag from Hungary. It just has such a delicate flavor it just doesn't keep well on the shelf. I love it in chili and with black bean soup. Also great in other types of soups.

I must have missed your posts about Piminton, Sharon, because I've never heard of it, unless it's the same thing as smoked paprika. Is it? It sounds very good.

As for paprika in general, it does seem that recipes just don't call for it any more. I rarely use it...probably because I don't know what to do with it. Thus, my bottle of plain, not smoked paprika, is basically flavorless as well, since it's been sitting on the shelf for at least months, if not years. I don't remember buying it, so it's been quite a while, lol.

Sally

I bought 2 tins of pimenton when we were in Seville last September. One is "dulce" and the other is "picante". Since my stomach isn't quite ready for "picante" since chemo, I haven't opened that one yet. But the sweet pimenton is very tasty. I sprinkled it on deviled eggs I took to a communal dinner at Easter. It added a bright sweet "bite" but nothing that lingered.

seagrass

Most recently I used the pimenton for an impromptu arroz con pollo. I thawed some chicken breast and cut it into strips. Sliced up a linguica sausage (also from The Spanish Table, not a cooked linguica like the Portugese use), sauteed it, then did the chicken strips in the oil.

Took them out, added 1 Tblsp turmeric and scant 1 Tblsp pimenton, then tossed in 1 cup rice. Believe it or not, I used Japanese short-grain rice, as it was all I had. Sauteed that till opaque, then added 2 cups vegetable broth along with some mixed salad lettuces (didn't go shopping so had nothing but that for veggies), brought to a boil and covered.

Simmer 20 mins, add the meats, sprinkle with a little freshly grated Parmesan and WOW! DH scarfed it up said it was a winner. Less than 40 min, start to finish, very easy. A small bowl was leftover, which was yummy for lunch with a fried egg on top (Asians adore runny fried eggs on rice, I think it's genetic, LOL!).

Sally yes, pimentón is the Spanish word for paprika.
Pimentón de la Vera is the ground red peppers harvested in the La Vera area of Caceres, according to the traditional method started by monks, where the peppers are dried over burning oak wood. The D.O. seal (denomination of origin) is used to identify the genuine smokey flavoured pimentón of this area. It's readily available in supermarkets here in Spain.

I have mentioned at various times here over the years but not recently. I use it a lot quite automatically in Spanish dishes and stews.

SharonCb

Here is a link that might be useful: Different brands of Pimentón de La Vera with the D.O. seal

FOAS - try it with pork. I stuffed a pork chop with onions, garlic and mushrooms, then put bay and smoked paprika on the outside. The braising juice was white whine and pork broth. I've also sprinkled in on roasted potatoes, green beans, and added it to ground beed that was then used to stuff baby zucchini. It's also good on egg dishes. (I keep both sweet and sharp, snoked and regular, and I'm always sprinkling it on somethign just to see how it goes. I've heard it is good sprinkled on oysters, but I don't do oysters so can't verify that.

If you click on the link and go to the bottom of the page, there are some recipes using the Spanish hot smoked paprika. If you have the sweet, just do a search for sweet and there will be recipes at that bottom of that page, too.

I think what tweaked me about the tone of the article is that they are writing it as if pimenton is something different and more exotic (and therefore snooty and high brow) than paprika. They would have been more forthright to say "The problem isn't paprika; the problem is you bought low-quality paprika and kept it for ten years. Go out and buy some of the good stuff and you'll be pleasantly surprised."

Here is a link that might be useful: recipes using paprika.

I made the brisket recipe accompanying the NYT article on pimenton, and it was NOT good. A waste of a good (but fortunately very small) piece of brisket. I froze the leftovers to grind up for meat blintzes or kreplach.

Okay, thanks, Sharon.

Sally

Paprika, of whatever variety, is one spice that doesn't do well in long-term storage--I remember seeing some cooking show (Good Eats, maybe) that said you ought to toss it after about 6 months.

But either Hungarian paprika (hot or sweet) or smoked paprika (pimenton or chipotle powder) are so head-and-shoulders above that red sawdust that you find in the supermarket, it's a worthwhile investment.

One use for sweet paprika (Hungarian or sweet pimenton) is to add a little zing to a dish without much additional hotness. If you're cooking for people who don't like spicy food, you can add a little capsicum zing and flavor without apppreciably making the dish hotter.

There are lots of chili powders you can buy, and two of my favorites are Ancho and Aleppo, which are easy to find. I've bought pimenton at a Spanish market in San Pedro that Jessy took us to, but it's still not one of my favorites, although I do like better than generic paprika. I often make my own chili powder from dried chilies, and I'm trying to grow my own this year - several varieties - but the seeds have not sprouted yet. Grand Central Market in downtown L.A. has stalls where you can buy powdered chilies in bulk, much like what I used to get in Mexico City. I've never found such a variety as I did in Mexico, however.

Lars