Paprika

Flavour and aroma

sweet, fruity, earthy, slightly bitter if burnt. Sweet, fruity pepper; mild unless labelled hot.

Heat

Very mild

Forms

ground

How to use it

• bloom in fat · Tadka (tempering) technique

  Stir into warm, not smoking, fat off the heat or over low heat for 15–30 seconds, then add liquid at once. Paprika's sugars scorch quickly and turn bitter; Hungarian cooks take the pot off the heat before adding it to goulash.

• use raw

  Dust over devilled eggs, potatoes, hummus or fish as a finishing spice.

• Hungarian goulash and chicken paprikash
• Spanish chorizo, patatas bravas and paella
• Turkish dishes and dips
• Rubs and roasted vegetables
• Colouring oils and dressings

Identifying good quality

A fine powder from bright red (sweet) to brick red; hot paprika may be more orange-red. It should smell sweet and peppery. Brown, dull paprika is stale. Labels to know: sweet (édesnemes, dulce), half-sweet (agridulce), hot (csípős, picante).

• Not to be confused with Smoked paprika: Smoked paprika is made from oak-smoked peppers and smells strongly of smoke.
• Not to be confused with Cayenne / chilli powder: Cayenne is much hotter and more orange.
• Not to be confused with Kashmiri chilli powder: Kashmiri chilli powder is deeper red and a little hotter.

Origin and history

Origin: Capsicum is native to the Americas; paprika as a ground spice was developed in Hungary and Spain.. Grown and used: Grown in Hungary (Szeged, Kalocsa), Spain, Serbia, China, Peru and elsewhere; used across Central Europe, the Balkans, Spain, Portugal and Turkey..

Chillies reached Europe after 1492 and spread through Spain and the Ottoman lands. By the 18th–19th centuries Hungary had developed paprika into its national spice, graded from sweet (édesnemes) to hot (csípős). In the 1930s the Hungarian scientist Albert Szent-Györgyi isolated large amounts of vitamin C from Szeged paprika peppers, work recognised by the 1937 Nobel Prize.

Well documented

In masalas, pastes and sauces

• Berbere spice blendMasala15 g per batch
• Ras el hanoutMasala6 g per batch
• Cajun seasoningMasala15 g per batch
• Tex-Mex chili powderMasala6 g per batch
• HummusSauce0.6 g per batch
• ZaaloukSauce3.4 g per batch
• Msabbaha (warm whole-chickpea hummus)Sauce1 g per batch
• Roasted red pepper hummusSauce2 g per batch
• Amba (Iraqi mango pickle sauce)Sauce3 g per batch
• Homemade tomato ketchupSauce1 g per batch
• Romesco sauceSauce1.1 g per batch
• Mojo picón (Canarian red mojo)Sauce2.3 g per batch
• Kansas City-style barbecue sauceSauce6.8 g per batch
• Thousand Island dressingSauce0.6 g per batch
• ChimichurriSauce2.3 g per batch
• Peri-peri sauceSauce2.3 g per batch
• ChermoulaSauce3.4 g per batch