Oddly enough, Hungarian cuisine has almost no appetizers, but ham with horseradish and goose liver fried in lard are quite popular. Preference is given to hearty dishes and soups. The variety of soups in Hungary is great, and among the residents themselves, soups made from chicken, meat, and fish are especially in demand. And one of the first places in popularity is occupied by simple chicken broth.
The leading role in traditional Hungarian cuisine is, of course, played by paprika. It is present in the most famous dishes of Hungary – goulash, perkelt, tokány, fish soup.
Hungarian goulash with paprika
Paprika is added to salami both for appearance and for taste
Vegetable stew with sausages is also not without paprika
In Hungarian national cuisine, preference is given to hearty dishes
But don't be surprised if you taste paprika even in a dessert like Hungarian marzipan
Paprika is a powdered seasoning made from ripe red Capsicum annuum peppers of mildly hot varieties. To make the powder, the red pepper fruits are first dried and then ground.
The pungency of paprika powder is determined by the proportion in which the capsaicin-containing pepper seeds and membrane partitions from the pods are used. Depending on the variety used and the proportion of seeds, the powder can be conditionally divided into different categories by pungency. On the Scoville scale, paprika can have from 0 to 1000 heat units.
Hungary is the main supplier of paprika
Red bell pepper, from which paprika is made, is grown mainly in Hungary, the USA, Spain, and Turkey. But it is Hungary that is the main supplier of paprika. Paprika was brought to Europe from Central America, but when grown in a different climate, it lost some of its pungency and became sweeter.
Ground paprika contains sugar, so when frying it without the necessary amount of liquid, paprika quickly caramelizes and burns. Due to its lower content of aromatic substances compared to other types of pepper, paprika is also used as a coloring agent in the production of meat products, particularly sausage.
Lots of paprika means lots of salami
Each type of paprika is made from different varieties of pepper
In Hungary, where paprika is most widely used, it is divided into seven main types based on spiciness, heat, and taste: delicate paprika (from light to dark red, almost not spicy, medium grind); noble sweet paprika (popular dark red variety, has a subtle aroma, slightly spicy, medium grind); semi-sweet paprika (light matte red, medium heat, sweet taste, high sugar content, caramelization prevents frying in fat); special paprika (bright red sweet spice of fine grind with a mild taste; high sugar content); rose paprika (pale red, medium grind with strong aroma and medium heat); mild paprika (from light to dark red powder of medium-fine grind, lacking heat but with a soft taste); hot paprika (yellow-brown-red spice of medium-fine grind with burning heat).
Dmitry Volynets.
Photo by the Hungarian Tourism Office, from the archive of
Zagranitsa and open sources on the Internet.