Two Countries But A World Of Flavor: Paprika

I Know This Stuff

My earliest memory of using paprika as a professional cook was on a broiler station in northern Michigan. We broiled a side of Lake Michigan whitefish, an amazing and delicious fish, which was far too large for any one person to eat. On the top we sprinkled, with a heavy hand, paprika to give the highly sought white fish some color. If that seems stupid to you on several levels, welcome to the party.

Many years would pass between then and a time when I sought to make a dish with paprika. That is not to suggest I never used it; I did. But, I never used it to be the lead in a dish.

A dish which features paprika cannot just be any old dish. It has to have provenance, as they say, some real cultural cred. I was happily in possession of George Lang’s book, The Cuisine of Hungary. I made a dish I was certain I had eaten dozens of times at home when my mom made it: Goulash, or, Gulyàs. Sadly, over the course of many years that book, as well as others, have found new homes. Moving forces unpleasant decisions. Happily, my memory of that proper dish still remains and was worth the time to make it properly. If you are to take on any dish which makes paprika the star, get the good stuff.

The Good Stuff

Anything done well is often the bench mark for excellence. In the case of bourbons—I don’t care for them, but I know something about them—Pappy Van Winkle sets the bar high as well as the price. Vanilla and cardamom and nutmeg are also rich with the best and the other stuff. So, how do you know?

Start with the name and the price. If it is Frank’s Super Cheap-o Spices, expect little.  Look for packaging indicating a specific country and a designation to the heat level or color in the container.

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Oh the places it will go

Hungary certainly has done much with and for paprika, but that’s not the only country to make excellent paprika.

Paprika seems to have originated in Mexico and was then taken to Spain.[1] The Spanish have made much use of paprika is sausages-chorizo and salami, and paella. More on Spain in a bit. From Spain paprika made its way to Africa and Asia and then through the Balkans which were under Ottoman rule.[2]

Hungary dries their peppers in the sun: Spain dries them by smoking them over oak embers. The smoky flavor greatly enhances the paprika flavor, but offers nothing to the heat. That is a separate element.

The Spanish variations are three: Pimentón dulce, sweet; pimentón adridulce, mildly spicy; and pimentón picante, spicy. In Spain, pimentón is the name of choice for the herb and the plant, not paprika.

The Hungarians are more complex with their assortment.

• Noble sweet (Édesnemes) – slightly pungent (the most commonly exported paprika; bright red)
• Special quality (különleges) – the mildest (very sweet with a deep bright red color)
• Delicate (csípősmentes csemege) – a mild paprika with a rich flavor (color from light to dark red)
• Exquisite delicate (csemegepaprika) – similar to delicate, but more pungent
• Pungent exquisite delicate (csípős csemege, pikáns) – an even more pungent version of delicate
• Rose (rózsa) – with a strong aroma and mild pungency (pale red in color)
• Semi-sweet (félédes) – a blend of mild and pungent paprikas; medium pungency
• Strong (erős) – the hottest paprika (light brown in color)[3]

Since pretty much any dried pepper can, and may, be used for grinding into paprika, the variations of heat are dependent on how much or little of those other chilies are used. The type of pepper grown for paprika makes a difference. The most commonly used sweet pepper is the tomato pepper, which is still part of the Capsicum species.[4]

Don’t Burn The Smoked Paprika

Of the zillions of recipes in the millions of books and blogs and whatnot, very few, I think, offer sound advice on what to do with dried spices and herbs to get the most flavor from them. Certainly paprika offers color, even to superb white fish which needs it not.  Flavor, baby, is why we cook.

With any dried spice or herb or mixture of them, add some water to form a paste. There is no real worry about adding too much, since the beauty of this is the water evaporates. Well, Mr Smarty Pants, why do that then?

This is why.

When the dry spice enters a hot pan, it burns pretty quickly. Burn is not a pleasant flavor and is nearly impossible to remove. The addition of the water in the dry herbs and spices is like adding liquid time. The volatility of water is known: 212 degrees. At that relatively low temperature, the steam created activates the flavors of the herbs and spices before they turn to carbon. The wet herbs and spices can then be allowed to start to develop a bit of color that is brown, not black, and that’s the building blocks of flavor. Just like building anything, you have to start at the bottom. In food, the bottom is the first few stages of cooking. It is very difficult to get deep flavor after the dish is made.

That works with all dry herbs and spices and is especially useful in curry dishes where you do want to get some caramelization on everything before adding the liquid which stops the high-heat cooking.

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What To Do Now?

I’m sorry I cannot share that Goulash recipe. However, with Memorial Day and summer upcoming, I will share a dry rub mix for your grilling meats.

Paprika is fine on top of pasta or potato salad. It is pretty. It is also an excellent source of flavor.

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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paprika

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paprika

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paprika

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paprika