Spanish Spices: Pimentón, Saffron, Garlic, Bay, Rosemary and Sherry Vinegar

Several of Spain’s key seasonings come with their own legal rulebooks. Spanish cooking doesn’t use many spices, but it uses them with precision. Pimentón from La Vera is smoked over oak because the damp climate there rules out sun-drying, La Mancha saffron is toasted instead of dried in the sun, and Gran Reserva sherry vinegar from Jerez has to age at least ten years. Purple garlic, bay, rosemary, oregano and olive oil fill in the rest.

At a glance

Pimentón (Spanish paprika)

Pimentón comes sweet, bittersweet (ocal) or hot. The best known is Pimentón de la Vera, from the La Vera area of Cáceres in Extremadura. The damp climate there rules out sun-drying, so the peppers dry in drying houses with a holm oak and/or oak furnace on the lower floor. The specification says drying takes 10 to 15 days, until the fruit’s moisture drops from 80% to under 15%.¹ Not all Spanish pimentón is smoked, though. Pimentón de Murcia is dried in the sun or with hot air.²

Pimentón seasons Spain’s protected chorizos. The Chorizo Riojano PGI, for example, is seasoned with salt, pimentón and garlic.⁷ The La Vera specification also calls pimentón the best preservative for sausages and cured meats.¹

Safety. Smoking adds polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In 2024, Germany’s BfR found high PAH levels in three samples of Spanish smoked paprika powder, and noted that the EU’s PAH limits for spices don’t apply to smoked paprika.⁸ The BfR advises keeping exposure as low as possible.

See smoked paprika, paprika and smoked paprika substitutes.

Saffron

Britannica credits the Arabs with bringing saffron growing to Spain, around 961.⁹ Today’s protected Spanish saffron is Azafrán de La Mancha, grown in municipalities of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca and Toledo. Its specification defines it as threads made by toasting the stigmas of Crocus sativus, not drying them in the sun. The specification describes the infusion’s taste as toasty, mildly bitter and mildly pungent.³

Spain isn’t a big producer anymore. A 2022 AHPA history put its crop at about 2.3 tonnes, behind Iran, India, Greece, Afghanistan and Morocco.¹⁰ Britannica notes that a pound of saffron takes about 75,000 blossoms.⁹ Its paella entry defines the dish as saffron-flavored rice cooked with meats, seafood and vegetables.

See saffron, why saffron is so expensive, cooking with saffron and paella spices.

Garlic

Garlic goes into most savory Spanish dishes. Spain’s protected garlic is Ajo Morado de Las Pedroñeras, a native purple ecotype of Allium sativum grown in 225 localities across Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca and Toledo. Its specification describes violet-purple skins, a strong smell and a pungent, stimulating taste, and names allicin as the main source of garlic’s smell and flavor.¹¹ See garlic and garlic powder vs. garlic.

Bay leaves

Bay laurel is native to the Mediterranean. The main compound in its leaf oil is 1,8-cineole, at about 32% in one Italian sample and 35% to 59% in other studies.⁵ In Spain it goes into stews, soups and slow braises. See bay leaves and cooking with bay leaves.

Rosemary

Rosemary is a common seasoning for meats, vegetables and soups. Both official Valencian paella recipes, from Visit València and Spain.info, add a sprig of rosemary.¹²¹³ See rosemary, cooking with rosemary and dried vs. fresh rosemary.

Oregano

Spanish oregano leans hard toward carvacrol. One study tabulated in a 2020 review found carvacrol at 58.7% to 77.4% of the oil in Spanish samples.⁶ It’s a common seasoning in marinades for meat and fish. See oregano and too much oregano.

Sherry vinegar

Vinagre de Jerez is a protected vinegar from a set area of Cádiz province, including Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa María and Sanlúcar de Barrameda, plus Lebrija in Seville. It’s aged mostly in American oak butts seasoned with wine, including in the criaderas y solera system, where vinegar is drawn from each tier and topped up from a younger one. The specification sets three age categories: at least six months for Vinagre de Jerez, two years for Reserva and ten years for Gran Reserva.⁴

Olive oil

Olive oil is the default cooking fat in most Spanish kitchens. The European Commission reported in 2020 that the EU produces 69% of the world’s olive oil, and that Spain, the EU’s biggest producer, averaged 63% of EU output from 2015/16 to 2017/18.¹⁴

Related pages

• Paella spices and Mediterranean spices
• Portuguese spices, French spices and Italian spices
• The master list of herbs and spices