Different Types of Paprika and How to Use Them
Depending on when you were born and how much TV your parents allowed you to watch, your first exposure to pepper may have come from Nick Jr. ‘s Clues to Blue Show. Born to Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper (so glad she kept her name), this young spice was the youngest member of the Blue Key family until her brother Cinnamon was born.
If you haven’t watched Blue’s Clues, this is probably the first time you’ve encountered paprika on a filled egg. In fact, until I was 20, these were the only two places I encountered brick red spice. I got a lot of cooking tips from my grandmother, a woman who was heavy on bacon butter and fat and whose spice rack was filled with salt, pepper, garlic salt, and a pill bottle filled with saccharin tablets. But pepper isn’t just the finishing touch to boiled eggs. The rusty red powder contains a variety of (peppers) and can be sweet, smoky, or downright hot, depending on where it comes from and what peppers it is made from.
Three main types of pepper
Paprika is made from a mixture of dried ground red peppers, including but not limited to cayenne, Aleppo, poblano, and bell peppers. Paprika can be categorized by taste, region, or mixtures thereof. If you buy peppers at a grocery store in the United States, you will most likely find three main types of peppers: sweet, smoked, and hot, but you may also come across Hungarian peppers (a topic that can be very interesting). complex nuances) and Spanish paprika (pimenton).
Bell peppers are the most common. It’s what you’ll find in seasoned eggs and potato salad, and it has a mild, fruity, slightly pungent and bitter flavor without noticeable warmth. You can use it in large quantities without overpowering other flavors in the dish, and it gives a beautiful red hue to anything you add it to. It’s good in goulash and good in stew.
Hot peppers are just peppers cooked with hot peppers. It’s not as hot as pure cayenne pepper, but it can work great, especially if – like me – you grew up on boiled eggs. Use it when you want some fruity, tangy warmth. I like it on fried shrimp and sprinkle with creamy sauces.
Smoked paprika is what it sounds like: it’s made from peppers that have been dried and smoked on oak, and it’s a good ingredient to use if you want to give your food a smoky flavor without actually smoking anything. Often referred to as “Spanish paprika” or “pimenton,” real pimenton is prepared using traditional techniques from specific regions of Spain. Not all smoked paprika is Spanish, and not all Spanish paprika is smoked – you can buy Hungarian smoked peppers, for example, or Spanish peppers dried in the sun or oven dried . When heated, smoked peppers can be soft (pimentón dulce), medium (pimentón agridulce), or hot (pimentón picante).
What about Hungarian pepper?
Paprika is Hungary’s national spice and is taken seriously. A quick glance at the paprika page on Wikipedia tells us that there are eight different varieties of Hungarian peppers, including Édesnemes (noble sweet), csípős csemege, pikáns (spicy gourmet delicacy) and erős (strong). If you live in the United States, you are unlikely to be able to collect all eight. Most of the Hungarian paprika sold in the US is Édesnemes, which is rich and sweet without much warmth. If you’re looking for a high quality all-purpose pepper, the Hungarian sweet is for you.
How to use each type of pepper
I could list a whole bunch of sweet, smoked, or hot pepper dishes, but I prefer a less didactic approach. While each pepper has its own traditional uses, there is no law that forbids you from using smoked paprika in a recipe that calls for a sweet tooth, or sprinkling hot paprika on a potato salad. I always have Hungarian sweet and pimentón agridulce on hand, and I use them interchangeably, depending on my mood. (Smoky material is great for boiled eggs.)