SWEET, SMOKY AND EVERYWHERE
Spanish paprika is all over the menu at El Farol, where I recently dined for the first time since last year, when Chef James Campbell Caruso left to open his own restaurant, La Boca. The kitchen is now run by Genovevo Rivera, an 18-year veteran of El Farol, and the menu has changed little since the former chef's departure.***image2***
My dining companion was my colleague Rob Wilder (Daddy needs a glass of Rioja!), and one of the things we tried was the ceviche de atun ($9.95), from the cold tapas menu. Our server recommended the dish, describing it as a sort of cross between guacamole and ceviche. It arrived in a tall martini glass, the chunky green mixture studded with tortilla chips that had been dusted with smoked paprika. The server's description was accurate; it tasted a lot like guacamole with chunks of raw tuna mixed in. It was delicious, but the mango/avocado dressing (Rivera uses mango puree) was almost too sweet. It definitely overpowered the flavor of the fish, making me think: Why bother with the tuna? I'd happily eat this same thing without the fish-and pay a little less for it, too.
The tuna ceviche is not the only dish at El Farol that includes smoked paprika. Rivera uses it in the pulpo, a grilled octopus plate ($6), and tosses the powder with fried Marcona almonds ($6.50). By the way, if you're in a rush at lunch, order a meal of several different cold tapas; they come out of the kitchen at lightning speed. If you have plenty of time, try the lunch special, which includes a glass of wine, a choice of three entrees and a dessert, all for less than $20. And try to get a table on the shady front patio. Even though conversation is occasionally interrupted by diesel delivery trucks and overexcited Harley riders, this is one of the best outdoor dining options in town.
Over at La Boca, James Campbell Caruso is a fan of smoked paprika as well. "You can get that big smoky flavor and it doesn't have to be super hot like using a chipotle," he says. Chipotles, which are slow-smoked jalapeno peppers, are much hotter than even the hot variety of smoked paprikas. "The hot paprika can get fairly hot," he says, "but it's more flavorful [than chipotle] and if you use it in a cream sauce it adds a rich, deep color."
On the tapas menu at La Boca, a plate of chorizo and potatoes ($6) is topped with a fried egg and seasoned with a sprinkling of smoked paprika. "I really like it with potatoes," Campbell Caruso says. "I like to make mashed potatoes with olive oil and smoked paprika, too." He also likes to use it when cooking with Spanish chorizo, a sausage that contains paprika. "It really brings the pimenton flavor forward," he says, using the Spanish word for paprika. Another tapa (and tell me if this sounds familiar) involves grilled baby octopus tossed with ginger, garlic and hot smoked paprika ($12). (FYI: Campbell Caruso says he's been to El Farol several times since leaving and he believes Rivera's doing a great job.)
Campbell Caruso also is working on a unique dessert: fish-shaped chocolate candies dipped in sea salt and smoked paprika. They're not on the menu yet, he says, but keep your eyes peeled. In the meantime, check out Mi Corazon, where chocolatier Brandy Tidwell makes dark chocolate drops with marcona almonds, smoked paprika and salt. The candies are available at her shop and at The Spanish Table, where you'll find several different kinds of paprika, some smoked and some sun-dried, on the shelves.
Pimenton de la Vera is a DOC product, meaning its production is regulated and protected, much like a French cheese or an Italian wine. It comes from an area of Western Spain called La Vera, explains Karen Squires, the manager at The Spanish Table. "Imagine a compost pile that goes up really high," she says, describing the process by which the paprika is made-indoors. The pile sits above smoking embers for many days, Squires says, and "some poor guy has to go in there and turn the peppers with a pitchfork!"
Both smoked and sun-dried paprika come in three types: sweet, bittersweet and hot ($4 for 2.6 ounces). The sweet doesn't contain any sugar, but the term is used the way Italian sausage is called sweet to differentiate it from spicy sausage: sweet smoked paprika simply isn't very hot. Each of the types is made from a different pepper and has a slightly different flavor. At home, Squires likes to use the smoked paprika on fried potatoes and grilled chicken. She rubs chicken breasts with salt and oil, then grills them until they're mostly cooked. During the last few minutes she brushes the chicken breasts with a paste of smoked paprika and olive oil. "And because I have a sweet tooth, I like to add a little bit of honey in there, too," she says. Sounds delicious.
El Farol
808 Canyon Road
983-9912
11 am-10 pm every day
Mi Corazon
839 Paseo de Peralta
505-417-3105
1 pm-5 pm Monday, 11 am-5 pm Tuesday-Thursday, 1 pm-5 pm Friday, 11 am-6 pm Saturday
La Boca
72 W. Marcy St.
982-3433
11:30 am-10 pm Monday-Saturday,
5:30-10 pm Sunday
The Spanish Table
109 N. Guadalupe St.
986-0243
10 am-6 pm, Monday-Saturday,
11 am-5 pm Sunday
