Hungarian Paprika Production in Szeged Rubin
Hungarian Paprika Production in Szeged Rubin

Hungarian Paprika

Paprika photo by César González Palomo
Paprika photo by César González Palomo

Paprika is considered as the national spice of Hungary, and therefore it’s one of the most common items for sale in the Budapest Market Halls. It is a powder made from dried, deep red paprika pods of various kinds of Capsicum annuum peppers.

Since the plant arrived in Hungary in the 16-17th centuries, Paprika became the symbol of Hungary’s cuisine and is an essential component of the everyday dishes like Porkolt (stew), Goulash, Chicken Paprikás, and Halászlé (fisherman’s soup), but you will not be surprised to learn that truffles, for example, Vosges milk chocolate (so much praised by Food & Wine magazine) also uses Hungarian paprika from Kalocsa to achieve an amazing flavour “I’ve tried this Milk Chocolate Truffle Collection and can confirm that both the Budapest truffle (made with Kalocsan paprika and 62% cacao dark chocolate) and Black Pearl truffle (made with ginger, wasabi, 62% cacao dark chocolate, and black sesame seeds) are otherworldly!” – Danielle St. Pierre, Commerce Editor

If you fancy tasting the real Hungarian Goulash soup, we recommend to book a Guided Market Hall Tour, where your dream can come true!

The color of the spice varies from mild to bright red and even brownish color, depending on the type of pepper.
Due to the climate, and geographical conditions Hungarian paprika has a bright color and unique rich flavor that allowed Hungary to become one of the leading producers in the world.

Where?

Budapest Central Market Paprika and Garlic photo by César González Palomo
Budapest Central Market Paprika and Garlic photo by César González Palomo

Kalocsa and Szeged are the capitals of Paprika production in Hungary. These south regions have the highest amount of sunny hours a year, and the plants need lots of sunshine to get ripe and sweet. Ripe peppers are harvested in September.
The surrounding towns and villages are organizing Paprika Festivals and Fairs to celebrate the Harvesting period, with music, dance and delicious paprika meals.
The Paprika harvesting villages are adorned with fresh, threaded paprika strings, hung from porches and gates.
Kalocsai and Szegedi Paprika are listed Hungaricums. (Hungaricums are special items from Hungary, that characterize the Hungarians by their uniqueness and high quality).

Related: Which Is The Best Hungarian Paprika And Why?

Types of Paprika

Hungarian Sweet & Hot Paprika photo by Ali Eminov
Hungarian Sweet & Hot Paprika photo by Ali Eminov

The grades of Hungarian paprika are édesnemes (it’s the most popular paprika type, with the brightest color, made only from the finest yield and often hand cleaned), csemege (delicate and mild), csípős csemege (more pungent), csípősmentes csemege (delicate and mild), félédes (semi-sweet with medium pungency), rózsa (mildly pungent and grounded, pale red),  különleges (“special quality”; mild and finely grounded and vibrant red colored),  and erős (hottest and light brown to orange)

“There is something about paprika itself that makes it synonymous with ‘Hungarian.’ ‘Fiery,’ ‘spicy,’ ‘temperamental’—all these adjectives suggest both paprika and the national character,” writes George Lang in The Cuisine of Hungary.

Paprika Sauces

Piros Arany- Hungarian Mild or Hot Pepper paste
Hungarians love paprika, it fits almost every traditional meal. A true classic of the Hungarian kitchen is Piros Arany (Red Gold) which is a mild or hot paprika paste with vibrant crimson color. It is ready to eat with sandwiches or cold plates but it gives a nice paprika taste to cooked meals too.
Piros Arany is a popular product on the domestic market since 1963.

Édes Anna – Hungarian Crushed Mild Pepper
The second most popular paprika paste on the Hungarian Market after Red Gold. It is sold in small jars and can be added to any paprikash style meals or sandwiches.

Erős Pista is hot the pair of Édes Anna, it is also crushed paprika paste but the main ingredient is hot paprika. It is used in spicy Goulash or Fisherman’s soup but it fits to almost every hot dish.

Meals with Paprika

The four pillars of Hungarian spicy meals are the famous gulyas, and porkolt, the stewy paprikas and tokany.

Chicken Paprika

Paprika Chicken with Nokedli photo by Tim Venchus
Paprika Chicken with Nokedli photo by Tim Venchus

Paprikás csirke (pronounced paprikash cheerke) or Chicken Paprikash is a classic meal around the country.

In Hungary, this dish is usually eaten with Galuska (spaetzle, Hungarian mini dumplings), and a Cucumber Salad or Pickles, but it tastes good with pasta or rice too.

It is very simple to make, you will need only a few ingredients: chicken drumsticks and thighs, onions, flour – all-purpose, goose fat or cooking oil, sour cream, salt, pepper and of course paprika. You can also add some tomatoes and peppers if you like.

Using the basic Paprikash Method can be applied to any other meat, fish or mushrooms.

 

Paprika Catfish (Harcsapaprikas)

Catfish Paprikash photo by Molesworth II
Catfish Paprikash photo by Molesworth II

Paprikash Method:

Heat the lard (or oil) in the pot, add the 1 or 2 chopped onions, and stir them until the onions are glossy (Use 2 small onions for 500 g of meat and 3 or 4pcs for 1000 gr of meat).
Remove the pot from the heat and add the grounded paprika (so the paprika doesn’t burn and become bitter). You can add some chopped tomatoes too (1 or 1 pcs).
Place the chicken pieces in the pot and add salt, pepper and a bit of water.
Cover the pot, and cook for about 30-45 minutes in medium/ low heat. If the Paprikas is too juicy, remove the lid.
When the meat is cooked mix the sour cream and flour in a bowl  (you can add some cream too).
Remove the chicken pieces and add the sour cream mixture to the paprika sauce and stir until smooth. Cook for 5 minutes, until the flour is cooked too. Put the meat back to the sauce  and garnish with sour cream

Fisherman’s Soup

Bogracs photo by Cacuci Cristian
Bogracs photo by Cacuci Cristian

Fisherman’s soup or ‘Halászlé’ is a paprika-based river fish soup, with paprika (often hot).
The soup was originally prepared by fishermen along the rivers, using fresh caught fish, most often carp, pike, catfish, and perch, (ideally, a mix of all four, give the soup more flavor).
It tastes the best prepared in ‘Bogracs’ (kettle above open fire) as it has a bit smoky taste as well. Fisherman’s soup is a traditional Christmas Eve dinner but also eaten in the summer or in any fishing season. There are ‘Halászlé’ Festivals around the country in the summer months.

Following the Hungarian proverb “as many houses, as many customs”, this meal exists in many versions.
In the Danube region, in Baja and the surrounding areas Fisherman’s soup is served with handmade noodles and never mashed onions and fish pieces, but in the Tisza region and in Szeged the soup is served with fresh bread and some of the fish pieces and onions are mashed in the soup to give a rich texture.

Goulash (Gulyas)

Bogracs photo by DurhamDundee
Traditional Goulash by DurhamDundee

The meal was originally prepared by the herdmen in Puszta in hanging cauldrons, over open fires. Nowadays it is a popular meal in the country and we recommend you try it in Budapest!

Read more about Goulash and find a lovely recipe here.

Fancy to taste Hungarian Meals? Join us at one of the Tasting Tours in Budapest.

Types of Goulash in Hungary:

Bográcsgulyás: the meat is cooked with beans in open fire
Lowland (Alfoldi) Goulash: enriched with parsnips, carrots and kohlrabi

Szegedi Goulash: made with vegetables and egg noodles (Csipetke)
Kolozsvári Goulash: made with sweet cabbage
Serbian Goulash: made with savoy cabbage, flavored with marjoram
Csángo Goulash: cooked with sauerkraut.
Bean Goulash: enriched with beans and with smoked meat

Pörkölt – Stew

Beef Porkolt with Nokedli photo by Terekhova
Beef Porkolt with Nokedli photo by Terekhova

The Paprikash method was already common in the 17th century. Porkolt became from herdmans meal to one of  Hungary’s national dishes. Paprikas meals are still popular in weddings and weekend lunches. There is no Sunday without Porkolt– said a speech from Csongrad shire.

Porkolt is similar to Gulyas, but it is thicker like a stew as the meat is cooked with less water.
It is common to enrich the stew with peppers and tomatoes.
Porkolt is usually served with Nokedli (Hungarian mini dumplings), noodles or rice.

To make the porkolt, sauté the onion in the oil until golden. Remove from the heat and add the paprika (removing from the heat ensures the colour and flavour is released without burning). Stir for a minute then add the meat. Make sure that the meat is covered with the onion-paprika mixture. Now we can add the water. Simmer until slightly reduced. Add the salt, garlic and paprika paste and stir well. Simmer until the meat is tender.

The most popular Porkolts in Hungary:

Chicken porkolt
Veal porkolt
Beef shin porkolt
Chicken gizzard porkolt
Pork trotters porkolt

Hungarian Sausages

Paprika Sausage

Hungarian Paprika Salami photo by Torben Heidenreich
Hungarian Paprika Sausage photo by Torben Heidenreich

There are thousands of different Sausage (Kolbasz in Hungarian) varieties in Hungary.
One ingredient is common in all Hungarian sausages, it is the Paprika. No true Hungarian salami or sausage exists without authentic, Hungarian red, grounded paprika.

We can find smoked or fresh sausages. Fresh Sausage for Baking (Sütő kolbász, Sütnivaló kolbász) is a traditional “Street food” in Hungary. Served with fresh bread, mustard and pickles, it is a hearty meal. Thy it at one of the tasting tours.

Dried and/ or Smoked Sausages are available to buy and they make a lovely present from Hungary.

Interested to read more about the tasty paprika sausages and salamis? Click here.

 

About Budapest Market Hall

8 comments

  1. We had a wonderful time visiting Budapest. Would love to return some day. I purchased some very delicious paprika whie there and would love to know how to order more.

    • Budapest Market Hall

      Hello Linda!
      The well-known paprika brands are Kalocsai or Szegedi paprika.
      You might search online if they offer to ship to your location!

  2. Estive no mercado de Budapeste em 2001. Fiquei com a imagem das lojas do mercado com muita paprika.
    Comprei um molhe enorme de paprika e várias embalagens que trouxe para Portugal. Adorei aquele sabores, mas como a quantidade que trouxe era muita, houve parte que se perdeu.
    Há dias encontrei perdido em casa umas vagens dessa paprika. O sabor ainda lá estava, passados 19 anos.
    Tentei fazer sementeira, contudo era tarde demais, as plantas não nasceram. Gostava de ainda encontrar paprika de Budapest.

    • Budapest Market Hall

      Dear Eliseu,
      você pode pedir sementes on-line, recomendamos que você navegue na Internet para encontrar fontes ou visite Budapeste no futuro.

  3. do u have the sweet bread along with the prune and nut cookies with powdered sugar?

    • Budapest Market Hall

      Hello Muriel,
      i think you mean kurtoskalacs (chimney cake): yes, you can find it in Budapest Great Market Hall and some other places too (at major metro stations there are some special sellers of the pastry, e.g. on Deak Square)

      • how can I buy online?

        • Budapest Market Hall

          Hello Dennis,
          Thank you for your comment on where to purchase Hungarian paprika.
          In Budapest, we would suggest buying in grocery stores where the prices are not pushed up (unlike in gift shops), but please select your paprika with care.

          We recommend getting authentic Hungarian paprika from verified groceries and online shops. Kindly check the packaging of the product as sadly more and more paprika products show a mixture of Hungarian paprika with other cheaper paprika from elsewhere in the EU (typically mixing Hungarian paprika with Spanish, Chinese etc. paprika) e.g. 40% Hungarian Paprika and 60% Spanish paprika. These are not terribly bad, but not top quality. By diluting the original 100% HU paprika with a cheaper version the product loses the special flavours (along with the originality stamp issued by the Hungarian state).

          The grading of ground paprika is taken absolutely seriously in Hungary (with the same seriousness as a major brand is protecting its products and brand name). Paprika grading is carried out by the National Agricultural Quality Testing Institute and its regional paprika grading departments. We would suggest checking if the country of origin is Hungary only, for the highest level of authenticity as well as the level of grading, where 1st class is of course the top grade. In Hungarian the packaging would show, e.g.

          country of origin: Hungary / Termohely: Magyarorszag.

          The grading of ground paprika is carried out by the National Agricultural Quality Testing Institute and its territorially competent paprika grading departments

          Class: 1st Class / Osztaly: 1. osztaly or even Premium Quality / Minoseg.
          Szeged / Kalocsa – two towns and regions in Hungary to remember when buying your paprika spice.

          If you have a chance to get Szegedi/ Szeged or Kalocsai / Kalocsa paprika you will be surely happy as these are the top quality regions for paprika growing in Hungary.

          Now the last bit, equally important is the flavour: sweet or hot paprika, smoked or any other flavours (there is a longer list, again, carefully laid out by Hungarian law). For practical purposes the most important is to buy sweet / edes or hot / eros depending on your preference.

          There are so many food & gift shops in Budapest as well as international online groceries these days. We would suggest picking one where you can see that the online / offline store is trustworthy and the pictures of the paprika show the front and back of the packaging to double check the claim ‘Hungarian paprika’

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