I Bet You Did Not Know | 44

I Bet you did not know that although paprika is the symbol of Hungary's cuisine the plant was brought to the country by the Turks only in the 16-17th centuries.
Mavi Boncuk |

Tomatoes, peppers, green beans and paprika migrated from the New World to Spain, then to the Ottoman Empire. Paprika powder is produced by grinding the dried deep red paprika pods of the pepper plant (Capsicum annuum L. is the botanical name).The species is a source of popular sweet peppers and hot chili fruit, and numerous varieties are cultivated around the world. Despite being a single species, Capsicum annuum has many cultivars, with a variety of names. In American English it is commonly known as the chili pepper or bell pepper. In British English, the sweet varieties are called peppers and the hot varieties chillies, whereas in Australian and Indian English the name capsicum is commonly used for bell peppers [1] exclusively and chilli is often used to encompass the hotter varieties.[2]

Hungarian Wax: Wide, semi-hot variety used in Hungarian cuisine. Frequently pickled. Also commonly dried, ground and presented as "Paprika."

Aleppo: Grown in Syria and used, in coarsely ground, dried form, as a spice that is also called Aleppo pepper. The most common form found is crushed flakes, which are typically slightly milder and more oily than conventional crushed red peppers, with a hint of saltiness and a slightly raisin-like flavor. These burgundy colored peppers have a fruity, yet earthy, warm flavor that is a cross between cumin and cayenne.

• Aleppo pepper: bright red, slightly chocolaty, slightly salty and medium hot
• Halaby pepper: these are crushed Aleppo pepper flakes

Urfa crushed Red Pepper: Also known as Isot pepper, this wonderful crushed chile from the Turkish town of Urfa is similar to Aleppo crushed red pepper. Though Urfa chiles are called “red” pepper they actually are purplish black in appearance. These premium peppers are picked and cut, dried in the sun by day, then wrapped and sweated at night for more than a week. This sweating process gives the chile a rich, earthy flavor and smoky aroma. Turkish sun dried peppers are produced from a variety known as Topepo, or “tomato” pepper in Turkey. This round shaped red pepper resembles a tomato. Peppers are harvested in Turkey in late summer.

Maras crushed Chili Red Pepper (TR Maras Kirmizi Biberi): Less acidic than Aleppo and is milder than the hottest Middle Eastern chili flake, Isot or Urfa. Marash is relatively high in essential oils feeling almost wet to the touch with a fruity, hot tart flavor. Due to their high oil contentthey are best stored in the refrigerator.

• Kirmizi pepper: described as a cayenne pepper, but still grainy
• Maras pepper: bright red and fruity flavor and is medium hot
• Urfa pepper: dark, sultry red-brown in color and tastes of clay and smoke and the good earth

[1] Bell pepper generally refers to the sweet, block-shaped chile types with four lobes. The term bell was first mentioned in 1699 by an English pirate named Wafer, who found them growing in Panama.

[2] Food writer John Willoughby writes for the New York Times and loves to hunt down new ingredients. He's found some ground red pepper so flavorful he's sworn off supermarket paprika. John says many of the best peppers come from Syria and Turkey.

Here's some of John's picks:
Aleppo: From northern Syria, the warm, earthy flavor is a cross between cumin and cayenne.
Maras: From northern Syria as well, the dark flakes (not ground powder) are very sweet with a trace of molasses and some heat.
Urfa: These bright red pepper flakes from Turkey have a sweet berry flavor.
Pimenton de la Vera: This pepper from Spain has a smoky flavor with some heat, somewhat like a chipotle but milder.