Ground paprika from Szeged

Among the unique delicacies of Hungarian cuisine, the ground paprika and its usage are definitely the most important Hungarikums. The Hungarian cuisine is famous for the ground paprika from Szeged and the ground paprika from Kalocsa. But how are they made?

Röszke, Paprika Molnár múzeuma 10 éves.
Fotó: Frank Yvette

From paprika harvest to grinding

The ground paprika is made from spice paprika and cherry paprika.Only red plants can be used, so the paprika is harvested in 3 waves. The raw paprika after-repened stored in bags, crates orhanged on the walls.

It is ground after washing and drying. The last stage of this is the “redding” stone, when due to rubbing the oil content of the paprika seed exits from the core fragment, dissolving the dye content of the skin, which recolors all particles.

After grinding, the ground paprika is conditioned and rested. Then comes the reduction of germ content, whenthe processed plant is treated with heat dependent on microbiological condition, after which the paprika is egalitized and qualified and then packed in sachets.

What is paprika splitting?

The area around Szeged, the valley of the River Tisza, is particularly suitable for the cultivation of paprika: the high number of hours of sunshine, the soil conditions, the experience of Szeged people all contributed to the success of paprika affecting the color, tasteand aroma. By the end of the 19th century,broken, crushed, ground and wholepaprika had become the leading commercial commodity of Szeged.

Until the 1940s, Hungarian paprika was naturally hot. For sweet and semi-sweet grinds, the hot parts of the raw material must beremoved.This process was paprika splitting- the core was cut out, the crops were rippedopen, inside out, and the septas were scraped out by hand. Between the two world wars, more than 10,000 people had a job as paprika splitters, 20 pepper mills operated, each with at least 15-20 employees. At least 10,000 people produced the peppers and countless merchants worked to get the ground paprika from Szeged to almost everywhere in the world.

There was no other industry in Szeged that employed so many people, so besides its taste, the outstanding performance also makes it a true Hungarikum.

Photo: http://szegedtourism.hu