By Amy Grant
February 24, 2022
Source: Gardener's World Photo / Image Source: Unsplash,
Familiar in many foods from the famous Hungarian goulash to a dusting atop deviled eggs, have you ever wondered about paprika spice? For instance, where does paprika grow? Can I grow my own paprika peppers? Let’s read on to learn more.
Where Does Paprika Grow? Paprika is a variety of mild pepper (Capsicum annuum) that is dried, ground, and used with food either as a spice or garnish. Most of what we are familiar with comes from Spain, or yes, you guessed it, Hungary. However, these are by far not the only countries that grow paprika peppers and, for the most part, Hungarian paprika is grown in the United States.
Paprika Pepper Info It isn’t known exactly what the derivation of the word paprika arises from. Some say it is the Hungarian word meaning pepper, while still others say it is from the Latin ‘piper’ meaning pepper. Whatever the case, paprika has been used in a variety of cuisine for hundreds of years, adding a serious boost of vitamin C to dishes. In fact, paprika peppers have more vitamin C than lemon juice by weight. Another interesting bit of paprika pepper info is its use as a hair color. By itself, it imbues hair with a reddish hue, and combined with henna unleashes the fiery red head. Paprika is available in several incarnations of the pepper.
Regular unsmoked paprika is called Pimenton. There are gradations of regular paprika from mild, moderately spicy, to very spicy. Contrary to what you might think, the red color of the spice does not correspond to how spicy it is. The darker, browner tones of paprika are actually the spiciest while the red-toned paprikas are milder. The spice also comes as smoked paprika, my favorite, which is smoked over oak wood. Smoked paprika is delicious in everything from potato dishes to eggs and pretty much any meat. It also lends vegetarian cuisine another layer of flavor, resulting in truly robust dishes.
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