Paprika question

[Isaac Wingfield]

I've seen several recipes for some-kind-of-meat paprikash. I've cooked
several of them, even. Every one of them calls for "sweet" paprika.

Now, I have a can of that, but I also have a can of "hot" paprika, so I
know that both kinds exist. I have never seen a single recipe that calls
for even a partial amount of hot paprika, however.

So the question is, what would be *authentic* for seasoning a paprikash?
Is the emphasis on sweet only some kind of "tweak" for the wimpy
sensibilities of modern Americans?

Pulled some pork paprikash out of the freezer tonight. Dumped it on a
batch of home-made from scratch spaetzle. Yum! Better than noodles by a
country mile. (I put some of that hot paprika on mine; double yum.)

Isaac

 

[Wayne Boatwright]

On Thu 08 Dec 2005 09:18:39p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Isaac
Wingfield?

> I've seen several recipes for some-kind-of-meat paprikash. I've cooked
> several of them, even. Every one of them calls for "sweet" paprika.
>
> Now, I have a can of that, but I also have a can of "hot" paprika, so I
> know that both kinds exist. I have never seen a single recipe that calls
> for even a partial amount of hot paprika, however.
>
> So the question is, what would be *authentic* for seasoning a paprikash?
> Is the emphasis on sweet only some kind of "tweak" for the wimpy
> sensibilities of modern Americans?
>
> Pulled some pork paprikash out of the freezer tonight. Dumped it on a
> batch of home-made from scratch spaetzle. Yum! Better than noodles by a
> country mile. (I put some of that hot paprika on mine; double yum.)
>
> Isaac
>

Traditional Hungarian paprikas usually calls for sweet paprika, with a few
recipes including a small amount of the hot paprika. If you're tweaking, I
say use what you prefer.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
_____________________________________________

A chicken in every pot is a *LOT* of chicken!

 

[Dan Abel]

In article <[email protected]>,
Isaac Wingfield <[email protected]> wrote:

> I've seen several recipes for some-kind-of-meat paprikash. I've cooked
> several of them, even. Every one of them calls for "sweet" paprika.
>
> Now, I have a can of that, but I also have a can of "hot" paprika, so I
> know that both kinds exist. I have never seen a single recipe that calls
> for even a partial amount of hot paprika, however.


Paprika, bell peppers, chile pepper, and cayenne pepper are all
varieties of peppers. Black, white, green and pink peppers are
something different.

The first group have slightly different flavors. I would use whatever I
had. Since you have both hot and sweet paprika, I would suggest using
whatever amounts make you and yours happy.

--
Dan Abel
[email protected]
Petaluma, California, USA

 

[Sheldon]

Isaac Wingfield wrote:
> I've seen several recipes for some-kind-of-meat paprikash. I've cooked
> several of them, even. Every one of them calls for "sweet" paprika.
>
> Now, I have a can of that, but I also have a can of "hot" paprika, so I
> know that both kinds exist. I have never seen a single recipe that calls
> for even a partial amount of hot paprika, however.
>
> So the question is, what would be *authentic* for seasoning a paprikash?
> Is the emphasis on sweet only some kind of "tweak" for the wimpy
> sensibilities of modern Americans?
>
> Pulled some pork paprikash out of the freezer tonight. Dumped it on a
> batch of home-made from scratch spaetzle. Yum! Better than noodles by a
> country mile. (I put some of that hot paprika on mine; double yum.)

Two woids; personal taste.

Penzeys new product, Smoked Spanish Paprika, is not only excellent,
it's addictive, even my cats love it. So far I've sprinkled it on a
potato omelet and in minestrone soup. Next will probably be rubbed on
a roasting chicken. Definitely is not fake smoked flavor, claims it's
oak smoked, and it is. I bet it will be great in pea soup when you
don't have a ham bone.

Sheldon Creosote

Sheldon

 

[Victor Sack]

Isaac Wingfield <[email protected]> wrote:

> I've seen several recipes for some-kind-of-meat paprikash. I've cooked
> several of them, even. Every one of them calls for "sweet" paprika.
>
> Now, I have a can of that, but I also have a can of "hot" paprika, so I
> know that both kinds exist. I have never seen a single recipe that calls
> for even a partial amount of hot paprika, however.
>
> So the question is, what would be *authentic* for seasoning a paprikash?
> Is the emphasis on sweet only some kind of "tweak" for the wimpy
> sensibilities of modern Americans?

I have answered a similar question some months ago. See
<http://groups.google.com/group/rec.food.cooking/msg/a409e893f26eb9c8>.
In the list of paprika varieties, I forgot to include fél-édes
("semi-sweet").

To summarise: Sweet varieties are supposed to be used for cooking, often
in very large amounts; hot ones are added to the already cooked dishes,
to suit individual preferences.

Victor