Arbequina Olives at Harvest The key ingredient in Pafritas is pure, Spanish virgin olive oil, supplied by Kel Grupo from the Aceite de la Rioja DOP. Carlos Aldama founded the 150-acre farm of Arbequina trees in Quel, the southeast corner of Rioja, in 2000. Today Kel Grupo is one of the most important producers in the area, using cutting-edge farming and extraction techniques to achieve the very best quality oils. Environmentally minded, they purify wastewater for reuse and use by-product olive stems to heat the facility. Pafritas crisps are fried in this olive oil, to which they owe their freshness, stability and exemplary taste. | LÃa the Truffle Dog Trufar Selección is a small, family business that supplies our winter black truffles, Tuber melanosporum. Trufar Selección's precious winter black truffles are harvested by José Manuel and Eduardo with their gifted truffle dogs LÃa and Iris. These famed truffles are farmed across ten hectares of holm and Portuguese oak trees in Teruel, Aragon, a region responsible for around 70 per cent of the world's production of winter black truffles. Their little farm is set at 1250 metres above sea level, with trees planted between 2013 and 2016. For every harvest, the family selects spores from the best specimens. These are then used to inoculate the trees for the next season. | Pimentón de La Vera, Smoked Paprika Pafritas 'La Riojana' crisps are peppered with one of the world's most precious paprikas, Pimentón de la Vera. Supplied by family business El Rey de La Vera, this prized spice is produced throughout the northern parts of Cáceres in the province of Extremadura. Pafritas uses the highest grade agridulce-style paprika, made from the Jaranda and Jariza varieties that were brought to Europe from the Americas on Columbus' third journey are. At harvest, the peppers are hand-picked before being transferred to double storey drying houses. Holm and acorn oak is set alight on the ground floor, with the peppers piled on the second. The two levels are separated by a grate that allows the peppers to be slowly smoked and dried over eight to 15 days. An enormous amount of care goes into this precious PDO product – to enjoy them on potato crisps is a privilege. The ultimate taste of Spain. | Piment d'Espelette Peppers Production for these exceptional, highly sought-after Gorria peppers is centred around only 10 villages, one of which is Espelette, in the French part of the Basque Country. They are France's only protected denomination of origin (PDO) pepper and originally arrived from Mexico, with written records dating to the mid 1600s. Harvest takes place in autumn when the peppers are hand-picked and strung beneath the outdoor eaves of farmhouses for a minimum of 15 days. They undergo a quick pass through an oven to consolidate their flavour before being ground. Piment d'Espelette are sweeter than they are spicy, though they still boast a lively heat. The nuanced, complex flavour of these peppers pair perfectly with virgin olive oil-fried potato crisps. |