Sweet Paprika?

There's sweet paprika, which is not hot, and hot paprika.

Then there's smoked paprika, which is also really good, and which can also be sweet or hot.

 

If you're shopping and find paprika which isn't marked hot or smoked, it's sweet paprika. 

BDL

 

Actually, paprika is available in a range of heats, depending on the specific pepper or peppers used. An Hungarian housewife is likely to have a whole shelf of them.

Just because a pepper-based powder isn't hot doesn't make it sweet. In fact, that's true with a lot of things. Sweet and hot are not opposites. And so it is with paprika. Unless otherwise marked, in American markets, it will be Spanish paprika, which doesn't fit either category. Hungarian sweet paprika is a whole nuther animal. Once you taste it you'll never confuse it with any other kind.

 

Hungarian and smoked are my favorites - won't bother with any others usually. Depends on the dish,  Smoked only came onto my top ten list a few years ago, once i found it in the local "spicery" (not sure on the proper term for that). Yum!  for things like sausages, stews, braises etc.  Hungarian I tend to use as part of a dry rub, love the stuff.

 

I believe they are - in this case. You often see resellers classify their paprika from sweet to mild to hot. Maybe the confusion (sweet as in not-hot, not sweet as in sugary) comes from the French word "doux", which is used to describe things that are not spicy, but which can also be used to indicate things that are sweet (in the sugary sense).
[*]
In Hungary during the 19th century, two brothers named Palfy began experimenting with various combinations of peppers and recipes. They discovered that by removing the stalks and seeds from the pepper pods they were using removed the capsaicin, or heat, from the paprika and created a sweet paprika. The Palfy brothers than introduced their new concoction to a French chef who began using it in his cooking. Sweet paprika has a larger market than the hot varieties.

Source: http://www.ehow.com/about_5109883_definition-sweet-paprika.html

 

There is a store in Yorkville(Germantown 86th street ) New York that all they sold was Paprika, at least 100 different kinds Hungarian , Polish, etc

 

My hungarian friend brought me back about 4 kinds of paprika and they are all different in taste. So there are many kinds of hungarian paprika.  unfortunately the packages were all written in hungarian, though i have the names on the jars. 

 

Hmm , gonna have to look harder, never seen "hot " paprika around here. I personally dont taste alot of difference between the paprikas we find here other than the smoked one. Some are dark dark red and others and orange red, brands I guess.

 

same with Chili powders, why the dramatic color differences?

 

Two things contribute to the colors, Quetex: The variety of pepper used (plus, in the case of commercial chili powders, the percentage of other ingredients), and time.

All powdered, dried peppers darken over time, particularly if they're exposed to light, heat, and air.

With paprika, the bright, orange-red usually indicates a sweeter paprika. Hot and non-sweet paprika with be darker. And smoked the darkest of all.

But remember, these are trend lines, not absolutes, and it's quite possible to have a bright, orangy-red paprika that's hotter'n blazes.

BTW, what we call chili powder would just be another paprika in Hungry.

 

(sweet as in not-hot, not sweet as in sugary)

But that actually is what we're talking about. Well, not exactly sugary. But sweet paprika is made from peppers with a high brix number, such as the Hungartian Boldogi Spice pepper. When you dry and grind them, you get a sweet (sweet to the taste) paprika. On the other hand, if you were to grow the so-called heatless jalapenos, and dry and grind them, you'd get a powder that is neither sweet nor hot.

Contributing to the confusion is nomanclature. What we call chili powder would merely be a paprika in Hungary. So, when I grind the Ancho peppers I grew this year, we would call the result a mild chili powder. But Hungarians would call it a mild paprika.

On top of all this is the question of smoking. Any paprika can be smoked. In theory that adds an additional flavor level. Personally, I think smoked paprika is a trendy thing that contributes nowhere near the change in flavor the celebrity chefs who tout it would have us believe. But what do I know?

 

I frequently use smoked paprika. I always use "pimentón de la Vera" from Spain. The brand is very wellknown; La Chinata, comes in small red metal square tins.

You have to use it very sparingly or the whole plate will taste like... chorizo. In fact, the main spice in chorizo is smoked paprika.

La Chinata has a website too; www.lachinata.com

 

I use it too, Chris, both commercial versions and ones I make myself.  Just not with the wild abandon of the TV personalities.

F'rinstance, I might use it when making a venison paprikas. But for a chicken parprikas I'll use more of a Spanish style, or even a sweet one.

Just as an aside, for those who don't know, there are two versions of chorizo. Chris is talking about the cured, dry sausage, from Spain, not the raw stuff from Mexico.

 

We can get both kinds of chorizo from our deli, but they both get eaten "raw". I know one is meant to be cooked. However, we all love the soft chewyness of it and cant resist picking at it. Is it not cured enough to be not exactly raw?

I too play safe with La Chinata. It makes a chilli amazing by adding a big spoon of both the sweet and hot. Delia smith advocated the brand on her UK tv programme back in the 90's and the shops suddenly couldnt keep up with demand. ..Same with everything she endorses.

I guess that goes for every celeb chef...Pay me enough and i'll have ur product flying off the shelves.

Anyway...

Sweet paprika is my favourite.

Use a pan u can use on the hob and in the oven

Take 1lb brisket. Seal really well in hot oil

remove the meat and add onions and garlic. Brown

reduce a glass of red wine put the beef back

Add a tin of cherry tomatoes (or bog standard)

Add 1 cup of reduced beef stock, 1 heaped tblspn sweet paprika, 1 tsp sugar, a big pinch of dried oregano and a couple of bay leaves. S&P

Stick the lid on and put in a gentle oven for 4 hours

When its falling apart, break it up with a couple of forks.

Put the pan back on the hob reduce the gravy.

use in place of the usual fajita filling with crisp lettuce, red onion and creme fraiche

This is my own recipe, but im aware it's probarbly an established dish..Thats par for the course. When are we ever as innovative as we think we are/img/vbsmilies/smilies/licklips.gif

Ps. It's messy, 'cos there's still a bt of sauce, so plenty of napkins

 

   Just as an aside beside the side...

   Within Spanish chorizo there are different types.  One is a group that will stand up to cooking while the others are meant for slicing or just serving.

 dan

 

KYH said a raw one and a cured one. The one you call "raw" is actually cured and meant to be eaten like that (I assume, if you're tlaking about soft chewyness). The really raw one, and not cured or anything, you wouldn't like "like that". It's not really even a sausage, the casing is just an excuse to keep everything together, the instant you cut it all its contents will spread in your skillet, and Mexicans typically cook it with eggs. It's really good cooked, but I don't think anyone would ever eat that stuff raw.

 

   It depends bughut.  If you're talking about eating a Spanish cooking chorizo, like th type used for paella, then you're fine to eat it "uncooked" in a dish.  If you're talking about eating a Spanish slicing chorizo, like the type you may find on a charcuterie platter, you'll be fine.  If it's one of the different shapes, sizes or spice blends that fall within the other two types of Spanish chorizo you're fine.  If it's what we, in America, call Mexican chorizo...uncooked, yuk!  You should be cooking it first.

  what types are you talking about?

 dan

 

I think it's time for us to have a pantry-raid at KY's place.  I'm sure he can fit a hundred or so of us at his table and we'll pass around the spices .

 

But who's gonna do the dishes?