Paprika
Spice made from the pods of Capsicum annuum, an annual shrub belonging to the nightshade family, Solanaceae, and native to tropical areas of the Western Hemisphere, including Mexico, Central America, South America, and the West Indies. Early Spanish explorers took red pepper seeds back to Europe, where the plant gradually lost its pungent taste and became "sweet" paprika.
C. annuum is cultivated throughout most of the world for its pods, often called chili peppers, or chilies. The species includes most of the sweet peppers and many of the pungent, strong-flavoured types. Depending on the variety, the pods may be 0.5 inch to 1 foot (12.5 mm to 0.3 m) in length, with a long, round, or conical shape, and yellow, brown, purple, or red colour. A spongy central column bears the flat, kidney-shaped seeds.
Crops are planted in early spring and harvested in the summer and fall, when the pods are glossy and ripe. The pods are then dried and ground to produce paprika. When mild paprikas are made, the central core is first removed.
Paprika has some sugar content, varying with the variety, and is richer in vitamin C than the citrus fruits. Pungency is imparted by the nitrogen compound capsaicin, which is usually lower in C. annuum than in other plants of the same genus. A colouring agent, oleoresin of paprika, is extracted from the ground pods and used to impart bright red colour to meat and sausage products and to other processed foods.
The rose paprika of Hungary is generally considered the finest variety. It is made from choice dark red pods that have a sweet flavour and aroma. A sharper Hungarian variety, Koenigspaprika, or king's paprika, is made from the whole pepper. Historically, the central European varieties were more pungent, but they now exhibit a sweetness similar to Spanish paprika. Hungarian paprika is characterized by a hotter taste, achieved in recent times by adding hot, red capsicum pepper to ground paprika.
Paprika is a popular seasoning in many cuisines. Its bright colour makes it an excellent garnish for nonsweet, light-coloured foods. It is frequently used in the cooking of Spain, Mexico, and the countries of the Balkan Peninsula. It is especially associated with Hungarian cuisine and is essential for such hot, spicy, Hungarian stew dishes as gulyás (called goulash in the United States), pörkölt, paprikás, and tokány.
This page translated into Hungarian on
. Click
on this underlined address to have it in Hungarian.
2000-October-06
Need to help? (It's free and easy!)
Questions? eMail me from the first page!