Paprika. It’s one of the world’s best-known culinary treasures. Most recipes call for amounts in the teaspoons or tablespoons, rather than pinches. Paprika best releases its flavor when heated, but don’t sauté it!   

          This spicy treasure goes back to information in the Szeged (sāy-jed)  Paprika Museum in Hungry. Records there show, “Thanks to Columbus and his wide travel the paprika pepper plant arrived in Hungary in the second half of the 16^th century. At first it was kept as an ornamental plant, later they discovered it eased rheumatic illnesses and acute fevers. Not until almost a hundred years later, Hungarians started to cultivate the plant as an herb.” Now Szeged paprika is sold all over the world. In 1879, Auguste Escoffier, a French chef of grand hotels, brought it to western Europe for use in the noble kitchens at Monte Carlo. Raymond Sokolov in his book, Why We Eat What We Eat, points out most of Northern Europe never cooked with hot spices, and  “ … the first two Hungarian paprika recipes did not appear in print until 1829.”  

Paprika is the pods of Capsicum annuum, an annual shrub belonging to the Solanaceae nightshade family. A true New World pepper, it is native to the Western Hemisphere,  and the countries of Mexico, Central America, South America and the West Indies. Pods range from a half-inch long to a foot in round and conical shapes of yellow, brown, purple and red color. Harvested only when glossy, thus ripe, they must be gathered three or four times each year. Some of the peppers do not taste hot, others can be quite  hot. Ripe paprika contains up to 6% sugar. In some instances, red pepper (cayenne) is added to heat up Hungarian paprika. There are three different grades of paprika:  rose or first quality, strong or second quality and commercial or third quality. Paprika retains its color and flavor from six to eight months. Store in cool, dark place.

Today, Hungary and Spain are the two main centers for paprika farms, the former credited with the richer peppers. They are also grown in South America and California. Wherever harvested, the peppers are ground between stones and steel cylinders. Frication creates heat which releases essential oils and enhances flavor and color. All supermarkets carry mild paprikas, and ethnic markets carry the more pungent varieties. Paprika paste is available in tubes, and sales for the Szegedi Paprika Company have doubled in recent years.  

Paprika is high in vitamin C but loses some of this vitamin during to heat applied in processing. It is also an excellent source of beta-carotene which the body converts into vitamin A. In 1937, a Hungarian professor, Szent-Gyorgi, received a Nobel Prize for Medicine by finding a new vitamin in the pepper which he named vitamin P. It is a water-soluble bioflavonoid which promotes healthier blood vessels.   

USES FOR PAPRIKA: 

• Paprika peppers are used by commercial food manufacturers in cheeses, processed meats, sausages, including chorizo, tomato sauces, chili powders, stuffed into olives and soups. Its main purpose is to add color and can legally be referred to as “natural color” on the product’s label.

• At home use it in salads, soups, stews, fish, poultry, meats, vegetables, pate, dried beans, cheese, egg dishes sauces, eggs and Indian Tandoori dishes. 

• Increase paprika’s flavor by roasting in a dry skillet or add to hot water, mix and add mixture to dish. Do not sauté, as its high sugar content makes it take on a bitter taste.

• Halaszle is a traditional Hungarian fish soup made with onion, sweet peppers, tomato and lots of fresh piquant red paprika.

• Hungarian cooks use paprika in chili, chicken, eggs, guacamole and vegetable casseroles. Also in goulash and Paprikas Csirke (recipe below). 

• Mild paprika and an equal amount of tumeric can be a substitute for annatto seed flavoring.

RECIPE:
June Meyer’s Authentic
Hungarian Chicken Paprikas
(Csirkepaprikas)

2                      onions, chopped

4 T.                  shortening, corn oil or lard

     3 T.                   Hungarian paprika

1/8 t.                     black pepper or whole pepper corns

2 t.                        salt

4 to 5 lbs.              chicken disjointed, use legs, thighs, breast and back for best flavor   

1 1/2 cups             water

1/2 pint                sour cream 

• Brown onions in shortening.
• Add seasonings and chicken, brown 10 minutes.
• Add water, cover and let simmer slowly until tender.
• Remove chicken
• Add sour cream to drippings in pan.
• Add thickening, a mixture of 1 T. soft butter and 1 T. flour to drippings.
• Serve over egg noodles

 © Marty Martindale, 2003, Largo FL

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