Paprika - Paprika the Hungarian Spice

Common Name and Species

Paprika is from Central European words for pepper.  Paprika - a spice made from any of several varieties in Capsicum annuum. 

Origin and History

By the mid to late 1500s chile peppers reached the Balkans and shortly after Hungary (which then included Transylvania (the deep red color of paprika would have sated Vlad the Impaler (Dracula) and avoided much carnage and suffering; unfortunately paprika showed up 100+ years too late). Paprika proved a good cheap substitute for black pepper (Piper nigrum) and the Hungarians embraced paprika wholeheartedly, to the extent that one wonders how they managed to cook before paprika's arrival. Szeged paprika is the Hungarian paprika most widely available in the US. While we highly recommend Szeged paprika if you can find Kalocsa paprika try it.

Description

In Hungary where they take paprika very seriously indeed, paprika must be like the Hungarians themselves: "fiery, spicy and temperamental."

Paprika is an ambiguous term. It can refer to a commercial spice -
• Paprika the spice: A deep red or orangish red, pungent, powdered condiment consisting of the ground, ripe pods of any of several varieties chile peppers belonging to the species Capsicum annuum.
  Or paprika can refer to a chile pepper or a chile pepper plant -
• Paprika: any relatively mild (but not too mild) chile pepper in the species Capsicum annuum. In Europe it sometimes means any sweet chile pepper that does not look like a block or bell pepper.

In Hungary after they harvest the paprika peppers, the paprika peppers are aged for two to three weeks which allows their color and flavor to deepen. After the paprika peppers have finished aging they are washed, dried, and ground into paprika.

Commercial cultivation - Zones and Regions

The chile peppers that are used to make paprika are grown world-wide but mostly in temperate zones. The two principal producers of paprika (the spice) are Hungary and Spain.

How Used or Sample Recipe

Hamgurger the right way:
• Add at least one ounce of a good hot paprika (we recommend Szeged paprika) to
• two pounds of freshly ground chuck,
• two cloves of garlic crushed in a garlic press,
• a teaspoon of thyme, and
• 1 Tablespoon of kosher salt.
• Mix together in a large bowl using a potato masher.
• Form into six-ounce patties.
• Dust each patty with paprika.
• Broil until barely cooked.

Additional Resources

The Paprika Museum makes its home in Kalocsa (where paprika is the town's life blood), and the city celebrates its famous spice with the Paprika Festival each year in early fall (end of September beginning of October).

Check it all out in Chile Magazine.