What is red paprika? Sweet paprika benefits and harm. Ground paprika. Method of making spices

What is paprika?

Paprika is a seasoning ground from dried sweet fleshy pepper Capsicum annum of red varieties.

Red capsicum paprika is a plant of the nightshade family, reaching a height of 1.5 m. In its homeland, it is a perennial subshrub, and in temperate countries it is cultivated as an annual plant. The shoots are erect, branched, the stem is woody at the base. White flowers are located in places where the stem branches, usually one at a time. The fruits are green pods with seeds that turn red as they ripen.

Ground red pepper (paprika) is used as a spice, for which the core and seeds are removed, and the pulp is dried and ground into powder, which has a characteristic bright red color and a slightly sweetish taste with a hint of bitterness. The main supplier of paprika is Hungary, where it is produced 12-13 tons per year.

ORIGIN OF PAPRIKA.

The homeland of red capsicum (paprika) is South America. Currently, this crop is grown mainly in the USA, Spain, Turkey and Hungary. Pepper - "Indian Red Salt" - sailed to Europe on Columbus's ships. And the compatriots of the Great Navigator gasped: a pinch of pepper was enough to give a bitter taste to a barrel of water! Early Spanish explorers brought red pepper to Europe, where the plant gradually grew larger, lost its pungent flavor, and became the "sweet" paprika. In Hungary (where this word comes from) they prefer a hotter variety (the seeds are not removed from the pods) Koenigspaprika - literally: “royal paprika”. This brick-red powder, characteristic primarily of traditional Hungarian cuisine, is so widely used in different countries and housewives and professional chefs, that it seems as if it has always been there. Meanwhile, before the discovery of America, where pepper was already well known by that time, in Europe they did not know about it at all.

PAPRIKA'S WAY TO HUNGARY.

Many people still think that red sweet pepper - paprika has been a typical attribute of Hungarian cuisine since ancient times. In fact, Hungarian cookbooks early XIX centuries this vegetable is not even mentioned. All attempts by the Hungarians to establish the exact route of paprika from distant lands to the sunlit plain near Kalocsa and Szeged in Hungary usually ended in failure. Did Columbus bring it from the Indian cuisine of Central America to Spain, from where it reached Hungary along mysterious paths? Or was it brought by the gypsies who traveled a long way from India? Or maybe somewhere in the depths Ottoman Empire, which at one time owned large spaces in Arabia and North Africa, the Turks met her and brought her with them during the campaign against Hungary? We don't know. But it is known for certain that paprika first came to Hungary in the 17th century - during the troubled times of war, when the entire plain was in Turkish possession and the Sultan was steadily expanding his lands in the Szeged region. Paprika arrived in Hungary at a time when the former medieval greed for spices had waned. Venice had already lost its glory as a trading center, and the Portuguese monopoly on spices was transferred with all its economic consequences to the Dutch from the General East India Company. One could assume that under these conditions, the “Indian pepper”, which was brought by Columbus and which thrived in Mediterranean gardens, would conquer Europe with lightning speed due to the cheapness of this seasoning. But it turned out to be completely different. The red Indian peppers hung around Spanish peasant huts did not seem exotic and unique enough to the rich.

They stuck to their love for expensive black pepper, and the red one migrated mainly to pots common people. Based on this fact and the historical situation of the 17th century, it is very likely that paprika was first brought to Hungary by the Turks. But the Hungarians did not adopt the Turkish designations: “karabiber” for pepper and “kirmitsi” for paprika. They found the right word in Serbo-Croatian language. From “papar” they made “paparka”, and from “paparka” they eventually appeared "paprika". To this day, the pimiento grown in Spain is identical to the South American plant, while the Hungarian paprika corresponds to a variety found in India and produces a smaller fruit, but with a particularly characteristic aroma. While the Turks remained in the country, the Hungarians were not very interested in Turkish pepper. Only after their expulsion did village cuisine begin to attract paprika, which became widespread in folk cuisine only towards the end of the 19th century.

At first paprika were used mainly for decorative purposes: the original plants decorated large garden and park ensembles. Then they discovered medicinal properties burning fruits, the corresponding tinctures and ointments began to be used as effective remedy against rheumatism. As it turned out later, it was the pepper's most pungent component, the alkaloid capsaicin, that was at work; On the basis of this substance, a popular painkiller is still produced today - a special patch that activates blood supply to the skin. In its familiar ground form (and under the name “Turkish,” which was natural for that time), paprika became established in Hungarian cooking only two hundred years ago. The modern Hungarian word paprika is clearly of Slavic origin - it is a corruption of the Latin piper, which came to the Hungarians via the Bulgarians; that’s why, by the way, we call it large bell pepper. Without paprika there is no modern Hungarian cuisine. At the same time, various shapes and colors are known under the same name. fresh pepper(Capsicum annuum), used in salads or pickled, and a powdered dry mixture that imparts its characteristic spiciness and flavor to a wide variety of Hungarian dishes.

VARIETIES OF PAPRIKA.

In Hungary, seven varieties of paprika powder are currently produced, and the spiciness of the seasoning depends on the production method, in which capsaicin, which imparts spiciness, as well as the coloring agents capsanthin and carotene play a major role. The color of ground paprika varies greatly depending on its spiciness. Typically, the redder and brighter the paprika, the sweeter it is. Ground paprika has a sweetish-spicy aroma; it can taste either quite sweet or fiery-spicy. In addition, paprika - most often produced in Spain - is smoked.

Noble sweet paprika- one of the most consumed varieties. Quite dark and rich in color. Medium grind powder with a delicate aroma.

Delicacy paprika- medium redness and medium fine grind. Pleasant to the taste without being spicy. Emphasizes the own taste of the dish without “clogging” it.

Semi-sweet paprika- relatively light in color, matte in color, with a characteristic smell of spices, medium pungency. Due to the sugar content, never fry in fat.

Special paprika- has a bright red color, has a pleasant taste, sweetish and soft. The grind is fine.

Pink paprika- medium grind powder. It belongs to the piquant and rather spicy varieties, which should be used very carefully and carefully.

Delicate variety It is a light red powder of medium fine grinding and is distinguished by its shine. His characteristic feature is already expressed in the name of the variety: it is devoid of pungency, but not the specific aroma of the seasoning.

Spicy variety differs from others in its color. It is a yellowish or light red-brown powder of medium fineness. Unusual gourmets will find it scorchingly spicy.

RESEARCH ON THE BENEFICIAL PROPERTIES OF PAPRIKA

At the end of the 1920s, the Hungarian scientist Albert Szent-Györgyi, together with a team of his Hungarian and American colleagues, managed to identify, probably the most understandable to a person without medical and chemical education, vitamin C. B laboratory research Szent-Gyorgyi was helped by a product that the Hungarian knew and loved from early childhood - paprika. This is how food sometimes leads to a Nobel Prize.

These elegant, colorful fruits are a valuable source of vitamin A, with red peppers containing 10 times more than green peppers. As for vitamin C, one medium-sized sweet pepper can easily satisfy the daily requirement of an adult. The actual nutritional value of this storehouse of vitamins is low - only 15 calories in every 100 g. Pepper stimulates the appetite, improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, and strengthens the functioning of the pancreas. Paprika has a good effect on blood circulation and helps with rheumatism.

PAPRIKA PRODUCTION IN HUNGARY

To begin with, I note that there is a version in the world that it was the Hungarians who came up with the idea of grinding paprika into powder. How true it is is unknown...
Paprika production in Hungary is a separate issue. But I will try to make do with a little information. Hungarians not only consume their paprika generously, they also grow it. On an industrial scale, this occurs in the south of the country; the main “pepper” centers are cities Szeged on the Tisza River and Kalocha, near the Danube. As the fruit ripens, the color of the fruit changes from rich green through various shades of brown to bright red.

Growing and especially harvesting paprika in the traditional peasant farm- heavy manual labor. It needs to be collected individually, and you have to walk around the plantation several times, since these fruits do not ripen at the same time.

Then the harvested crop is scattered on special platforms directly in the sun to dry, after which it is manually strung into large, picturesque garlands, piercing each pepper at the very stem with a long, thick needle. During the harvest season, bunches of bright red peppers, hanging from under the roofs of houses and special awnings, as well as from fences and hedges, decorate a good half of rural Hungary.

In addition to the aesthetic side, this process also has a technological meaning: natural drying in the cool autumn sun helps preserve the classic aroma of paprika. Of course, women do all this; They usually do a kind of selection work - on long winter evenings they pick out seeds from the best pods in order to sow them in separate plots next season.

Once upon a time, immediately before eating, the required amount of dry pods was simply crushed with a pestle and mortar. Many housewives still adhere to this method, considering it optimal for preserving all the beneficial properties of paprika. A modern factory uses huge stone millstones, where the gap between the rubbing surfaces can be adjusted, which determines the degree of grinding. Certainly, industrial production with its automatic washing, drying and machine grinding, it produces a more uniform final product, but the aroma and taste are slightly different. The pungency of the powder also depends on the proportion in which pepper seeds and partition membranes from the pods are used: they contain that very caustic component - the alkaloid capsaicin. It is also known that the maximum pungency of the pod is concentrated closer to the root. Hungarian housewives successfully use this simple secret in their kitchens, adjusting the degree of spiciness of the next dish; Of course, on an industrial scale it is impossible to take into account such subtleties.

VARIETIES OF PAPRIKA ON SALE

There are several main varieties of paprika powder, ready to use. They differ primarily in the degree of pungency, as well as in shades of color and aroma, and fineness of grinding (fine grinding - őrlemény - 0.5–0.6 mm). In Hungary, paprika is also sold in the form of a paste, packaged in tubes. Moreover, the term “sweet” (edesnemes) or “semi-sweet” (feledes) when applied to paprika means only a low degree of pungency. But if the packaging says “spicy” (eris), then the contents should be used with extreme caution.

Hungarian paprika is considered the best in the world. How to choose the right paprika? Read the packaging and try it if possible, because paprika can be hot, like cayenne pepper. The inscriptions on paprika packaging are most often in Hungarian, but these are the words you need to learn to distinguish: "Kulonleges" And "Rozsa"- sweet with a slight pungency, pinkish-red color; "Csemege» - sweet, very aromatic, very rich red color: "Edesnemes"- similar to csemege, but less aromatic; "Csipos" - quite spicy, reddish-brown; "Eros" - the hottest variety, light brown in color. Smoked paprika is usually not spicy; in addition to drying it in the sun, it is treated with smoke. And she gives light goulash the aroma of a steppe fire. Good paprika has rich red color And slightly sticky to the touch. Because ground paprika retains the flavor and aroma about 6 months, then you need to buy it outside of Hungary in sealed packaging. In Hungary itself it is often sold in small embroidered canvas bags and traditionally in tin cans.

PAPRIKA STORAGE

Like any other spice, paprika requires special storage conditions in a dry, cool and dark place. Sunlight kills the taste and aroma of paprika. The optimal period for its use is six months after grinding, then it gradually fizzles out and fades. Hungarian chef's advice: “A good paprika should be bright red. Dirty Brown color indicates that it’s time to throw away the paprika.”

PAPRIKA IN COOKING

Paprika is used in Mexican, Spanish, Hungarian, and German cuisine. Included in barbecue mixtures, the main spice in goulash, chili and used in Indian, Moroccan and European cuisines.
Paprika goes well with meat, especially pork, chicken, vegetables, especially tomatoes and cabbage, cheese, cottage cheese, eggs, fish and seafood. They put paprika in goulash, chili, soups, sauces, salads, stuffed eggs, rice, and ground meat dishes. Ground paprika can be very hot or softer, but always has a sweetish taste. Sweet red peppers have large, short and fleshy fruits. Its best variety, Bulgarian, is bright red when fully ripe. Unripe sweet pepper is green in color, its taste is mild, not spicy (except for small seeds, which have significant bitterness), it is used for cooking vegetable dishes and as a seasoning. Typically, sweet peppers are much larger and more rounded in shape, while hot peppers are pod-shaped, although there are notable exceptions. For example, almapaprika, that is, “apple paprika”, which resembles small yellow apples in appearance, is usually sweet, but there are also very spicy varieties, they are most often found in traditional Hungarian marinades.

And here cseresznyepaprika(charesnyapprika), which actually looks like a very large ripe cherry, is distinguished by its rare pungency. Proper Use paprika involves following some simple culinary techniques. The simplest way The only way to ruin a dish with paprika is to let the spice fry, then it will immediately become bitter. Strange as it may sound, paprika has a high sugar content, so when ground without the required amount of liquid, it quickly caramelizes and burns, acquiring a completely unappetizing brown color and a bitter taste. It imparts its taste and color to food best in a hot, fatty environment, so it is advisable to first dilute the required amount of ground paprika in hot oil or (even better) in melted lard - the Hungarians always do this. If this spicy mixture is poured into the main dish shortly before cooking, the degree of spiciness will be lower while maintaining the desired color. You can further smooth out unwanted spiciness by simply sprinkling ground paprika on almost finished food. Paprika is also used in the food industry as a dye.

Excessive pepperiness of a dish detected in a timely manner can be partially muted by adding a little sugar to the dish. But it is useless to drink water that is too peppery; it is better to drink something dairy like yogurt or strong alcohol: it neutralizes hot oils and acts as a pain reliever. You can also try to light the fire in your mouth with regular bread. But all this suffering is not in vain - it is believed that hot pepper stimulates the centers of joy and pleasure in our brain, quenches pain and generally acts as an aphrodisiac.

PAPRIKA IN HUNGARIAN COOKING

Probably the most famous dish of Hungarian cuisine is the thick meat soup - goulash and its version with potatoes, cooked in a bograch (kettle).

The name of another national dish is percolt- comes from the Hungarian word for “fry”, that is, pieces of meat are pre-fried. Paprikash- a similar dish and differs only in that sour cream is added to it. For Tokanyi meat, cut into strips, is stewed in its own juice. It is impossible to imagine Hungarian cuisine without paprika, and it is impossible to prepare many typical dishes of Hungarian cuisine, first of all fish soup "khalasle"", for which the surroundings of Lake Balaton are famous, and classic goulash. These dishes owe much of their famous richness and characteristic color to ground paprika, which also acts as a thickener, influencing their consistency with its quantity.

IN traditional recipes It is recommended to use this ingredient not “at the tip of a knife,” as we are used to, but in teaspoons and even tablespoons, and for goulash its quantity was determined in old cookbooks very simply: “sprinkle the contents of the pot with a thick layer of ground paprika.”

Contrary to our widespread misconception, real goulash is not the second, but the first course, i.e. The soup is just very thick. And what we used to call goulash, i.e. stewed pieces of meat with paprika and onions, called “perkelt” by the Hungarians; it can be prepared from almost any meat, although beef is preferable. The word itself gulyas(pronounced "guyash") means "shepherd", which clearly indicates the common origin of this dish. In a restaurant menu it usually goes like this: gulyas leves, that is, “shepherd's soup.” During the very popular competitions in Hungary for the best goulash, it is cooked over an open fire - this is exactly how real shepherds always cooked it on real pastures. Special dishes are also important, in which only the right goulash can be prepared: these are round cauldrons and even cauldrons (depending on the number of eaters) on a tripod; open flame covers them from all sides, creating optimal temperature regime, basically unattainable on modern stoves. In such a pot on a fire, goulash always turns out richer, and its consistency is more creamy than in a pan on the stove. By the way, these bowlers never do not cover with lids.

The goulash recipe is quite simple. At the bottom of the pot, first fry in lard onion, then put meat there, cut into cubes with a side of 1.5–2 cm, after which they are sprinkled with a “thick layer” of paprika. Then the meat is stewed until half cooked, only then you can add a little water, vegetables and roots - carrots, sweet peppers, tomatoes, parsley root, celery, and a little later potatoes; everything is cut into cubes, similar to meat. Shortly before readiness, throw into the classic goulash soup "chipetke" (csipetke)- these are small pieces of tough dough, manually plucked with the thumb and middle finger from a thinly rolled sheet; in a plate, out of habit, they are perceived as cereal, and sometimes these pieces of dough are twisted with your finger in the form of a tiny roll. A few minutes after the chipettes float to the surface of the soup, it is ready. Some cooks add a little more paprika at the very end - not for strength, but for aroma. It is considered bad form to use flour as a thickener; a competent cook sooneradd an extra spoon of paprika. In stylish Hungarian restaurants that claim to be authentic... national cuisine, this dish is served in stylized cauldrons reminiscent of its origins. There is always a saucer with dry paprika pods nearby - in case the soup does not seem spicy enough. It is good to add ground sweet red pepper to mashed potatoes in combination with garlic, coriander, basil, savory, bay leaf powder.

AND JUST A FEW THOUGHTS ON THE TOPIC OF PAPRIKA.....

It could well be said that the mentioned dishes are “young”, they are no more than two hundred years old, and they are a kind of “remnants of the Turkish era.” It looks like some belated gift from the Ottomans to all the Hungarians between Timisoara and Chegetvár, Mohács and Budapest. But that's not true.

"Once upon a time there was a bograch..."- this is how the stories about the origin of all goulash and paprikash should begin. And this would be the story of a simple cauldron with a handle that accompanied the Hungarians from the beginning of their journey. A history that, as far as it can be traced, covers at least three millennia - millennia full of hardships, wanderings, wars, migrations, conquests, enslavement, millennia full of transformations that led from a primitive nomadic life to the beginnings of agriculture and animal husbandry, and in ultimately to settling down. “Bograch” traveled together with the pre-Hungarian tribe from the foothills of the Urals and the Ural steppes through the kingdom of the Khazars, the Caucasus, along the northern shores of the Black Sea and further across half of Europe to the Danube Bend. It is not known exactly what the nomadic tribes cooked in their camp cauldron. But it is clear that it was food like soups, which were cooked from stored supplies, as well as collected herbs, roots and mushrooms. And among the supplies there was "torhonya» - small hard flour balls, as well as dried fish and air-dried meat cut into cubes.

Well... I'm done... and I hope that this knowledge will be useful to many readers of this site.

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The article was prepared at the beginning of 2011 based on materials from various Russian-language sites. And I should indicate them, but, sorry, I don’t remember... and I didn’t know such rules then.

Paprika- a seasoning made from... The pepper pods are first dried and then ground into powder. The core and seeds are removed, and the pulp is dried and ground into powder, which has a characteristic bright red color and a slightly sweetish taste with a hint of bitterness.

The benefits of paprika seasoning for the human body are due to its rich content of vitamins and nutrients.

Photo of paprika seasoning

Nutritional value of 100 grams of paprika *

100 grams of paprika seasoning contains 14.14 grams of protein, 53.99 grams of carbohydrates, 12.89 grams of fat, 34.9 grams, calorie content = 282 kcal.

The taste of paprika adds an extra touch of piquancy to soups, sauces, rice, salads, meat (especially pork and chicken), vegetables, cheese, fish, seafood and even cottage cheese. The seasoning is included in barbecue mixtures and is used as a coloring agent in the food industry.

The optimal time to add spices to any dish is at the end of cooking. This helps preserve all the beneficial properties, taste and color of paprika.

Hungarian paprika

Types of paprika

Today, paprika is the main spice of Hungary and the country's population produces seven varieties of it, differing in pungency and color. The spiciness and taste of the seasoning depend on the manufacturing method, in which capsaicin, which imparts spiciness, as well as the coloring substances capsanthin and carotene, play a major role.

noble sweet paprika- a popular variety of dark red color, the seasoning has a delicate aroma, slightly spicy, medium grind.
gourmet paprika- from light to dark red color, almost not spicy, medium grinding. The seasoning has a sweet and fruity taste.
delicate paprika- from light to dark red color, medium finely ground powder, devoid of pungency but with a mild taste.
hot paprika- yellow-brown-red spice, ground medium finely, with a scorching pungency.
semisweet paprika- light matte red color, medium pungency, sweet taste; the seasoning has a high sugar content, the caramelization of which does not allow it to be fried in fat.
pink paprika- pale red in color, medium grind with a strong aroma and medium pungency.
special paprika- bright red, finely ground sweet spice with a mild taste; has a high sugar content.

Making paprika at home

If you wish, you can make your own paprika seasoning. To do this, you need to take a red pepper, remove the seeds and core from it, wash it and leave it to dry. When the pepper becomes dry, you can grind it in a mortar. Then you will know exactly what your seasoning is made of. If you buy paprika, the color of the paprika should be bright red or brownish-reddish. The bright color of the seasoning indicates its quality.

How to properly store paprika

Paprika should be stored in a carefully sealed container in a dry, dark and cool place. The most optimal would be a refrigerator. The usual shelf life is no more than 6 months.

Contraindications. Paprika seasoning should not be used if you have heart rhythm problems, coronary disease heart disease in severe form, hypertension, hyperacid gastritis (with increased acidity of gastric juice), stomach ulcers and duodenum, exacerbation of chronic kidney and liver diseases, nonspecific ulcerative colitis, chronic hemorrhoids, acute pancreatitis and cholecystitis, insomnia, epilepsy.

WHAT IS PAPRIKA?

Paprika is a seasoning ground from dried sweet fleshy pepper Capsicum annum of red varieties.

Red capsicum is a plant of the nightshade family, reaching a height of 1.5 m. In its homeland, it is a perennial subshrub, and in temperate countries it is cultivated as an annual plant. The shoots are erect, branched, the stem is woody at the base. White flowers are located in places where the stem branches, usually one at a time. The fruits are green pods with seeds that turn red as they ripen.

Ground red pepper (paprika) is used as a spice, for which the pepper pods are first dried and then ground into powder. The core and seeds are removed, and the pulp is dried and ground into powder, which has a characteristic bright red color and a slightly sweetish taste with a hint of bitterness.

ORIGIN OF PAPRIKA.

The homeland of red capsicum (paprika) is South America. Currently, this crop is grown mainly in the USA, Spain, Turkey and Hungary. Pepper - "Indian Red Salt" - sailed to Europe on Columbus's ships. And the compatriots of the Great Navigator gasped: a pinch of pepper was enough to give a bitter taste to a barrel of water! Early Spanish explorers brought red pepper to Europe, where the plant gradually grew larger, lost its pungent flavor, and became the "sweet" paprika. In Hungary (where this word comes from) they prefer a hotter variety (the seeds are not removed from the pods) Koenigspaprika - literally: “royal paprika”. This brick-red powder, characteristic primarily of traditional Hungarian cuisine, is so widely used in different countries by both housewives and professional chefs that it seems as if it has always been there. Meanwhile, before the discovery of America, where pepper was already well known by that time, in Europe they did not know about it at all.

PAPRIKA'S WAY TO HUNGARY.

Many people still think that red sweet pepper - paprika - has been a typical attribute of Hungarian cuisine since ancient times. In fact, Hungarian cookbooks from the early 19th century don’t even mention this vegetable.

All attempts by the Hungarians to establish the exact route of paprika from distant lands to the sunlit plain near Kalocsa and Szeged in Hungary usually ended in failure. Did Columbus bring it from the Indian cuisine of Central America to Spain, from where it reached Hungary along mysterious paths? Or was it brought by the gypsies who traveled a long way from India? Or maybe, somewhere in the depths of the Ottoman Empire, which at one time also owned large areas in Arabia and North Africa, the Turks met it and brought it with them during their campaign against Hungary? We don't know. But it is known for certain that paprika first came to Hungary in the 17th century - during the troubled times of war, when the entire plain was in Turkish possession and the Sultan was steadily expanding his lands in the Szeged region.

Paprika arrived in Hungary at a time when the former medieval greed for spices had waned. Venice had already lost its glory as a trading center, and the Portuguese monopoly on spices was transferred with all its economic consequences to the Dutch from the General East India Company.

One could assume that under these conditions, the “Indian pepper”, which was brought by Columbus and which thrived in Mediterranean gardens, would conquer Europe with lightning speed due to the cheapness of this seasoning. But it turned out to be completely different. Red Indian pepper hanging around

Spanish peasant huts seemed insufficiently exotic and original to the rich.

They remained with their love for expensive black pepper, and the red one migrated mainly to the pans of the common people. Based on this fact and the historical situation of the 17th century, it is very likely that paprika was first brought to Hungary by the Turks. But the Hungarians did not adopt the Turkish designations: “karabiber” for pepper and “kirmitsi” for paprika. They found the right word in the Serbo-Croatian language. From "papar" they made "paparka", and from "paparka" eventually appeared "paprika". To this day, the pimiento grown in Spain is identical to the South American plant, while the Hungarian paprika corresponds to a variety found in India and produces a smaller fruit, but with a particularly characteristic aroma. While the Turks remained in the country, the Hungarians were not very interested in Turkish pepper. Only after their expulsion did village cuisine begin to attract paprika, which became widespread in folk cuisine only towards the end of the 19th century.

At first paprika were used mainly for decorative purposes: the original plants decorated large garden and park ensembles. Then the medicinal properties of the burning fruit were discovered, and the corresponding tinctures and ointments began to be used as an effective remedy against rheumatism. As it turned out later, it was the pepper's most pungent component, the alkaloid capsaicin, that was at work; On the basis of this substance, a popular painkiller is still produced today - a special patch that activates blood supply to the skin. In its familiar ground form (and under the name “Turkish,” which was natural for that time), paprika became established in Hungarian cooking only two hundred years ago. The modern Hungarian word paprika is clearly of Slavic origin - it is a corruption of the Latin piper, which came to the Hungarians via the Bulgarians; that’s why, by the way, we call it large bell pepper. Without paprika there is no modern Hungarian cuisine. At the same time, fresh pepper (Capsicum annuum) of various shapes and colors, used in salads or pickled, and a powdered dry mixture that gives characteristic spiciness and taste to a wide variety of Hungarian dishes are known under the same name.

VARIETIES OF PAPRIKA.

Noble sweet paprika- one of the most consumed varieties. Quite dark and rich in color. Medium grind powder with a delicate aroma.

Delicacy paprika- medium redness and medium fine grind. Pleasant to the taste without being spicy. Emphasizes the dish’s own taste without overpowering it.

Semi-sweet paprika- relatively light in color, matte in color, with a characteristic smell of spices, medium pungency. Due to the sugar content, never fry in fat. Special paprika is distinguished by its bright red color, has a pleasant taste, sweetish and soft. The grind is fine.

Special paprika- has a bright red color, has a pleasant taste, sweetish and soft. The grind is fine.

Pink paprika- medium grind powder. It belongs to the piquant and rather spicy varieties, which should be used very carefully and carefully.

Delicate variety It is a light red powder of medium fine grinding and is distinguished by its shine. Its characteristic feature is already expressed in the name of the variety: it is devoid of pungency, but not the specific aroma of the seasoning.

Spicy variety differs from others in its color. It is a yellowish or light red-brown powder of medium fineness. Unusual gourmets will find it scorchingly spicy.

RESEARCH ON THE BENEFICIAL PROPERTIES OF PAPRIKA

The Hungarian scientist received Nobel Prize for researching the vitamin composition of paprika.

PAPRIKA PRODUCTION IN HUNGARY

To begin with, I note that there is a version that it was the Hungarians who came up with the idea of grinding paprika into powder.

How true it is is unknown...

And the production of paprika in Hungary is a separate issue. But I'll try to get by with a little information. Hungarians not only consume their paprika liberally, they also grow it. On an industrial scale, this occurs in the south of the country, the main “pepper” centers are the cities of Szeged on the Tisza River and Kalocha, not far from the Danube. As the fruit ripens, the color of the fruit changes from rich green through various shades of brown to bright red.

Growing and especially harvesting paprika in a traditional peasant farm is hard manual labor.

It needs to be collected individually, and you have to walk around the plantation several times, since these fruits do not ripen at the same time. Then the harvested crop is scattered on special platforms directly in the sun to dry, after which it is manually strung into large, picturesque garlands, piercing each pepper at the very stem with a long, thick needle. During the harvest season, bunches of bright red peppers, hanging from under the roofs of houses and special awnings, as well as from fences and hedges, decorate a good half of rural Hungary. In addition to the aesthetic side, this process also has a technological meaning: natural drying in the cool autumn sun helps preserve the classic aroma of paprika. Of course, women do all this; They usually do a kind of selection work - on long winter evenings they pick out seeds from the best pods in order to sow them in separate plots next season.

There are several main varieties of paprika powder, ready for use. They differ primarily in the degree of pungency, as well as in shades of color and aroma, and fineness of grinding (0.5–0.6 mm). In Hungary, paprika is also sold in the form of a paste, packaged in tubes. At the same time, the term "sweet" (edesnemes) or "semi-sweet" (feledes) in relation to paprika it means only a low degree of pungency. But if the packaging says “spicy” (eris), then the contents should be used with extreme caution.

PAPRIKA STORAGE

Like any other spice, paprika requires special storage conditions in a dry, cool and dark place. Sunlight kills the taste and aroma of paprika. The optimal period for its use is six months after grinding, then it gradually fizzles out and fades. Hungarian chef's advice: "A good paprika should be bright red in color. A dirty brown color means it's time to throw away the paprika."

PAPRIKA IN COOKING

Sweet red peppers have large, short and fleshy fruits. Its best variety, Bulgarian, is bright red when fully ripe. Unripe sweet pepper is green in color, its taste is mild, not spicy (except for small seeds, which have significant bitterness), it is used for preparing vegetable dishes and as a seasoning. Typically, sweet peppers are much larger and more rounded in shape, while hot peppers are pod-shaped, although there are notable exceptions. For example, almapaprika, that is, “apple paprika”, which resembles small yellow apples in appearance, is usually sweet, but there are also very spicy varieties, they are most often found in traditional Hungarian marinades.

And here cseresznyepaprika(paprika), which actually looks like a very large ripe cherry, is distinguished by its rare pungency. Proper use of paprika involves following some simple culinary techniques. Strange as it may sound, paprika has a high sugar content, so when ground without the required amount of liquid, it quickly caramelizes and burns, acquiring a completely unappetizing brown color and a bitter taste. It imparts its taste and color to food best in a hot, fatty environment, so it is advisable to first dilute the required amount of ground paprika in hot oil or (even better) in melted lard - the Hungarians always do this. If this spicy mixture is poured into the main dish shortly before cooking, the degree of spiciness will be lower while maintaining the desired color. You can further smooth out unwanted spiciness by simply sprinkling ground paprika on almost finished food. Paprika is also used in the food industry as a dye.

PAPRIKA IN HUNGARIAN COOKING

Probably the most famous dish of Hungarian cuisine is the thick meat soup - goulash and its version with potatoes, cooked in bograche (kettle).

In traditional recipes, it is recommended to use this ingredient not “at the tip of a knife,” as we are used to, but in teaspoons and even tablespoons, and for goulash its quantity was determined in old cookbooks very simply: “sprinkle the contents of the pot with a thick layer of ground paprika.”

Contrary to a widespread misconception among us, real goulash is not a second course, but a first course, i.e. The soup is just very thick. And what we used to call goulash, i.e. stewed pieces of meat with paprika and onions, called “pörkölt” by the Hungarians; it can be prepared from almost any meat, although beef is preferable. The word itself gulyas(pronounced "guyash") means "shepherd", which clearly indicates the common origin of this dish. In a restaurant menu it usually goes like this: gulyas leves, that is, “shepherd's soup.” During the very popular competitions in Hungary

The best goulash is cooked over an open fire - this is how real shepherds always cooked it on real pastures. Special dishes are also important, in which only the right goulash can be prepared: these are round cauldrons and even cauldrons (depending on the number of eaters) on a tripod; an open flame covers them from all sides, creating an optimal temperature regime, which is, in principle, unattainable on modern stoves. In such a pot on a fire, goulash always turns out richer, and its consistency is more creamy than in a pan on the stove. By the way, these bowlers never do not cover with lids.

The goulash recipe is quite simple. At the bottom of the pot, first onions are fried in lard, then meat cut into cubes with a side of 1.5–2 cm is placed there, after which they are sprinkled with a “thick layer” of paprika. Then the meat is stewed until half cooked, only then you can add a little water, vegetables and roots - carrots, sweet peppers, tomatoes, parsley root, celery, and a little later potatoes; everything is cut into cubes, similar to meat. Shortly before being ready

Classic goulash soup tossed "chipetke" (csipetke)- these are small pieces of tough dough, manually plucked with the thumb and middle finger from a thinly rolled sheet; in a plate, out of habit, they are perceived as cereal. A few minutes after the chipettes float to the surface of the soup, it is ready. Some cooks add a little more paprika at the very end - not for strength, but for aroma. It is considered bad form to use flour as a thickener; a competent cook sooneradd an extra spoon of paprika. In stylish Hungarian restaurants that claim to offer authentic national cuisine, this dish is served in stylized cauldrons reminiscent of its origins. There is always a saucer with dry paprika pods nearby - in case the soup does not seem spicy enough. It is good to add ground sweet red pepper to mashed potatoes in combination with garlic, coriander, basil, savory, and bay leaf powder.

AND JUST A FEW THOUGHTS ON THE TOPIC OF PAPRIKA.....

It could well be said that the mentioned dishes are “young”, they are no more than two hundred years old, and they are a kind of “remnants of the Turkish era”. It looks like some belated gift from the Ottomans to all the Hungarians between Timisoara and Chegetvár, Mohács and Budapest. But that's not true.

“Once upon a time there was a bograch...” - this is how the stories about the origin of all goulash and paprikash were supposed to begin. And this would be the story of a simple cauldron with a handle that accompanied the Hungarians from the beginning of their journey. A history that, as far as it can be traced, spans at least three millennia - millennia full of hardships, wanderings, wars, migrations, conquests, enslavement, millennia full of transformations that led from a primitive nomadic life to the beginnings of agriculture and animal husbandry and ultimately to settling down. "Bograch" traveled together with the pre-Hungarian tribe from the foothills of the Urals and the Ural steppes through the kingdom of the Khazars, the Caucasus, along the northern shores of the Black Sea and further across half of Europe to the Danube Bend. It is not known exactly what the nomadic tribes cooked in their camp cauldron. But it is clear that it was food like soups, which were cooked from stored supplies, as well as collected herbs, roots and mushrooms. And among the supplies there was "tarhonya" - small hard flour balls, which I will talk about in the recipe "Seven Chiefs' Towel", as well as dried fish and sliced air-dried meat.

Well, I’m done... I hope this knowledge will be useful to many housewives and cooks on this site...

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The article was prepared at the beginning of 2011 based on materials from various Russian-language and Hungarian sites. And I should indicate them, but, sorry, I don’t remember... and I didn’t know

No dish can be imagined without spices. Hungarian cuisine is famous for its unique recipes with a well-known seasoning – paprika. It gives the recipe a refined look, spicy taste and subtle aroma. Many people know another name for the spice – capsicum.

The taste of the spice may vary. Most often used:

A noble sweet spice that has a dark color and a barely noticeable odor.
Pink – gives the recipe a spicy aroma and piquant heat.
Delicious. In cooking, medium grinding is used, while the taste of paprika is gentle and not spicy.
Tender – light red with a soft and pleasant taste.
Semi-sweet – specific smell and medium degree of pungency. When working with it, you should be careful, because due to the high sugar content it can burn in the pan.
Spicy – the seasoning has a red-brown color and gives the dish a fiery taste.
Special – sweetish seasoning with a delicate aroma.

Each variety is in demand in certain recipes and is rich in nutrients.

Ground paprika

The spice is in demand when preparing the following dishes:

All recipes with meat - an exquisite flavor combination is obtained by stewing.
In almost all Mexican recipes.
A little spice is added to seafood dishes.
To give the first courses a unique taste, it is recommended to add a pinch of spice.
To create a marinade, the seasoning is combined with coriander, basil, prunes, dill and parsley.
Cottage cheese and cottage cheese acquire an exquisite taste.

The spice goes well with many spices and goes with almost any recipe.

Sweet paprika

Seasoning preparation:

You will need several red pepper pods, choose the variety according to your taste.
Remove seeds and internal bridges.
Leave the pepper to dry.
You can grind the seasoning in a mortar or using a coffee grinder.
The mixture is stored in a dry place.

Many people are interested in why the spice is so in demand? Beneficial features seasonings:

Speeds up metabolism.
Strengthens the body's protective properties.
Helps improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract: eliminates flatulence, cramps and stomach cramps.
Strengthens the mucous membrane.
Promotes hematopoiesis and is an excellent prevention of vascular blockage.
Has a calming effect.
Stimulates hair and nail growth when used topically.

There are a number of diseases in which ground red pepper should be used carefully.

We offer you to prepare delicious hungarian goulash, which the whole country adores. To create a dish you will need:

Beef shoulder – 600 grams.
Potatoes – 800 grams.
Onion – 3 pcs.
Garlic – 4 cloves.
1 pod each of sweet and hot pepper.
A small spoon of cumin.
Ground paprika - 3 heaped spoons.
Salt to taste.
Greenery.

Preparation:

Remove all veins from the meat. The product is cut into strips or cubes and fried.
Chop the onion and fry over medium heat. Add garlic and cumin.
Cut the pepper into strips.
Peel the potatoes and cut into 1.5 x 1.5 cm cubes.
Add pepper to the fried meat and onions.
Add paprika.
Add 2 glasses of water.
When the mixture boils, add potatoes and chili cut into rings.
Salt the dish.
Reduce heat, cover the ingredients with a lid and simmer for 40 minutes.
After the specified time has passed, the goulash is removed from the heat and left for 20 minutes.

To decorate the dish, sprinkle it with dill and parsley. You can see a photo of aromatic goulash on our website.

Paprika is a famous spicy seasoning made from the sweet red pepper Capsicum annum.

Description:

Red capsicum belongs to the nightshade family. The wild plant is a perennial shrub reaching a height of 1.5 m. It is cultivated as an annual herbaceous crop. The stem is erect, branched, woody at the base. The white flowers of this plant produce oblong green fruits that become fleshy and red as they ripen. Ripe red capsicum fruits are dried, the core is removed and ground into powder.

Properties and origin:

Paprika is an aromatic powder, bright red in color, which has a sweetish taste with a spicy bitterness. The homeland of red capsicum is South America. Also cultivated in Spain, Turkey, USA and Hungary. Paprika was brought to Europe by Columbus, he called it “Indian red salt.” In the Middle Ages, ground black pepper was worth its weight in gold; kings and nobles were treated to it. Simple people could not afford to buy this spice due to its high cost, so they used the paprika available at that time. In Hungary they learned about it in the 17th century. And today seven varieties of paprika are produced there. The hotter seasoning is in greatest demand; during its production, the seeds are not removed from the fruit. They call it “koenigspaprika”, which literally translates as “royal paprika”. No less popular are varieties such as noble sweet paprika, delicacy, semi-sweet and pink. Noble sweet paprika is a dark-colored, medium-grinded powder with a pleasant aroma. The delicacy is a red powder, medium-fine grinding, practically no pungency, and a subtle aroma. Semi-sweet paprika is a finely ground powder, lighter in color with a matte tint, with a slightly pungent, sweetish taste and spicy aroma. Pink paprika is a light red seasoning, medium grind, is a spicy variety and has a pleasant aroma. It is known that eating paprika improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, stimulates the appetite and stimulates the pancreas.

Application:

This seasoning is used mainly in Hungarian, Mexican, Spanish, Indian and German cuisines. Paprika is added to meat (especially pork), vegetable dishes, chicken, cheeses, cottage cheese, eggs. It is used in minced meat, goulash, sausages, rice, salads, and sauces. Paprika is used to flavor the taste traditional dishes Hungarian cuisine: “perkelt” (fried pieces of meat in sauce), “paprikash” (pieces of meat with sour cream), “tokanya” (stewed meat) and thick meat soup (made from goulash, with the addition of potatoes). The taste of potato and tomato dishes will be significantly improved by adding this seasoning. Paprika goes well with coriander, basil, garlic, savory and bay leaf. It is added to various sauces and marinades, barbecue mixtures.

The composition of red capsicum fruits includes the alkaloid capsacin, coloring components carotenoids, fatty oils, sugars, protein, essential oil, minerals, many vitamins B1, B2, B6, C, P, E, PP, provitamin A. It is known that red pepper contains more vitamin C than lemons and currants.

Chef's Tips:

It is recommended to season mashed potatoes with paprika; this dish will become more piquant and aromatic. It must be remembered that paprika, when cooked, can give the dish a slight shade of red. That is why paprika is used in cooking not only as a seasoning, but also as a food coloring. High-quality paprika should be red. It should be stored in a dry, dark place.