One thing you will find in the kitchens of Burgenland descendants all over the world is paprika. In the US, it will most likely be imported from Szeged, Hungary although some is produced both in Spain and California (heaven forbid a Burgenländer should use any but Hungarian!). I was always fascinated by my grandmother’s spice cabinet and I remember seeing that red, white and green Szeged paprika can from when I was little. This bright red spice is essential for „gulyas“ and many other Burgenland recipes. Certainly borrowed from the Hungarians, it is an essential part of Burgenland cuisine.In many BB newsletter articles I mention paprika as one of the cornerstones of Hungarian cuisine. Paprika, lard and onions are Hungarian food building blocks. I was recently reading the book „Peppers“ by Amal Naj, Vintage Books, Random House, 1993. In the first chapter of this book the author develops the history of the unique spice paprika. Native to Brazil, it was brought to India by early Portuguese traders. The Turks of the Ottoman Empire later invaded India and besieged the Portuguese colony of Diu near Calicut. They brought back the „Calicut“ pepper (chile pepper-many varieties have since been developed, both sweet and hot) which then went north with Ottoman soldiers to their conquered territories in Hungary. From there it was introduced to the rest of Europe. The story is that a Hungarian harem girl, released from Turkish captivity in Buda (pest) when the Turks were eventually driven from Hungary, returned to her village with some seeds and showed farmers how to cultivate the chile pepper. Stronger than the more expensive black pepper (the peppercorn or piper nigrum), it quickly became the spice of the poor. Later sea blockades during the Napoleonic wars cut off the trade in black pepper and other spices and forced the upper classes to take to chile pepper pods as well. They were quickly won over. According to an Hungarian saying „One may yearn for fame, another for wealth, but everyone yearns for a paprika goulash.“ The area around Szeged and Kalocsa has a micro-climate particularly well suited to chile pepper production. In 1989 Hungary produced 62,000 tons of these peppers, most dried and turned into the powder called paprika. By comparison the worldwide production of black pepper, which is what Columbus was after when he stumbled onto chiles, amounted to some 200,000 tons. Sweet paprika is most often used but there is a hot one called half-sharp which can be obtained from spice houses (I like to buy paprika and other spices from Penzseys Spices of Muskego, Wisconsin. ) I bought some half-sharp recently and it is as hot as cayenne pepper. Not too long ago my wife was making a goulasch and grabbed the half sharp paprika by mistake. Oh-such a goulasch! We often add paprika to other dishes (cabbage salad, potatoes, beef and chicken dishes, etc. ) for both color and flavor. It is our special Burgenländer condiment. When I see that red color I think of the Burgenland and my stomach grumbles.
 

by G. Berghold <GBerghold@aol.com> Editor BB News