Cherries and Cheeses: Extremadura

Overview

After cooking two quick tapas – one with a local cheese from Extremadura, the other with the region’s cherries – José makes a sweet escape to the startlingly beautiful cherry fields of Extremadura, meets the cheese makers (and the sheep) responsible for the decadent creamy cheese known as Torta del Casar. After giving a pinch of pimentón—Spanish paprika —to the traditional Extremadura salad known as Cojodongo, José’s inspired to return to the region to visit the fields and factories where the unique sweet and smoky Spanish spice is made. And he reveals why a French culinary tradition must pay thanks to a small monastery here.