COATO D.O. PIMENTON DE MURCIA: Writers always write about the piqiullo pepper or the cute dry smoky pimenton/paprika with the saint on the can in hot or sweet flavor. But these writers neglect one of the fundamentals of the Spanish kitchen: the sweet PIMENTON DE MURCIA. This is a pimenton/paprika made from the famous Nora pepper of the Murcia (an area close to Valencia). 80 % of all the Nora peppers eligible for the DO PIMENTON DE MURCIA are processed at the COATO cooperative located in the rich fertile Guadalentín valley. 65 pepper farmers founded the COATO Cooperative in 1979. It has since grown into an organization that has over 23,000 hectares under cultivation in crops as diverse as peppers, olive oil, almonds and fresh vegetables. Their production plant is the perfect synthesis of modern sanitation combined with hand-destemmed production, and air-dried quality with a flash steam process at the end to sanitize the product. The COATO plant is where modern meets old fashioned and the end result is perfect pimenton de Murcia.