Pimiento y tomate

There are certain images that immediately evoke a feeling of a day filled with sunshine, and the welcoming smells of the countryside. Pimientos hanging to dry are very typical in Spain.

Factoid: In 1492 when Columbus bravely sailed westward from the port of Palos, in southern Spain, he was seeking a short route to India and the fabled Spice Islands. In those days, pepper and other spices were brought overland by camel caravans from Asia and were literally worth their weight in gold. He was sure that he had succeeded when, after landing on the island of San Salvador, they found copper-skinned people growing plants with scarlet fruits that were fiery hot when eaten. In fact, confusing the chilli pepper with the pepper he was hoping to find in India, Columbus named it pimiento, or, Spanish for pepper. Chilli pepper, however, has no relation to the black pepper, known as Piper nigrum, for which Columbus was searching. Columbus later brought the chilli pepper back to Spain, calling it a spice even though it is a member of the Solanacenae family, which also includes tomatoes, potatoes, and tobacco.

Today Spain is one of the world's biggest pimento (also spelled pimento) producers and the brilliant red vegetable has firmly ensconced itself in Spanish culinary culture, adding the zing to all sorts of traditional dishes, from paella to tapas. These capsicums are found in three grades of heat - dolce (sweet), agridulce (semi sweet) and picante (hot). The feisty ingredient crops up everywhere in Spain, from jars and cans in supermarkets to star turns as the characteristic bright red stuffing in green olives.

In dishes the pimento is included either as an ingredient itself or in the form of paprika - a spice produced in Spain from the small, round ripe type of pimentos - which can range from bright red to rusty brown depending on its strength and heat. Both pimiento and paprika are very good sources of Vitamins A and C.