Hungarian Paprika

[Claire]

My last house guest brought me a package of three little bags of paprika she picked up in ... well, Hungary. I'm not desperate, more curious (I'll just use them by taste). She said she's pretty sure one is smoked, one hot, one sweet (this jives with what I know about paprika). There are three containers that all look the same, and I'm looking for anyone who might know the difference. I'm looking at the words, and the difference seems to be that one says "csemeny" (in a green container), one says edesnemes (in a white container), and one csipus (red container). There are accents on all these words I cannot reproduce here. Most of the other words on the packages seem the same, so I assume these particular words differentiate between the types. I use the brands of Hungarian paprika readily availabe in this country, and we wouldn't be terribly upset if a dish I made tasted smoky instead of hot instead of sweet. But anyone know?

[Andy M.]

Put a dab of each on your tongue (one at a time) and taste it. The smoky one should smell smoky right out of the container. The hot one will burn your tongue...

[SharonT]

Claire – sorry to interrupt with off-topic note but thought you might like to know that you can reproduce special characters by using the number pad. For example, with the number lock on, hold down the ALT key and press 130 on the number pad. This results in an é, as in édesnemes. Here is a table of Accent Marks

Enjoy the Hungarian paprikas.

[buckytom]

edesnemes is sweet hungarian paprika; i'm not sure which of the other 2 is hot or smoked. i thought all hungarian paprika was dried over smoke, so i'm not sure what is meant by smoked paprika.
hot should have the word "eros" on the label.

or you could use andy's battery acid test and taste. i would think a red can would be hot.

[urmaniac13]

We bought a book on Hungarian cooking not long ago, so I looked it up. Bucky is right, Edesnemes is the sweet mild one, most known outside Hungary as the "Hungarian Paprika".
Csipus (it was written in this book as CsipOs...) is the hot and pungent one, and it sounds like quite potent.
I couldn't find anything "csemeny", but the word "csemege" is used quite often, including among the description of some of the paprika variations. "csemege" seems to mean "delicate", however there are a few variation of "csemege" paprika, ranging from sweet to semi-hot. However you are given the typical sweet version and hot version, I risk a guess that this one is something in the middle, but you may want to have a taste test first...

I have been reading this book and discovering many aspect of the Hungarian cooking, seems to be a very interesting and intriguing cuisine, I would love to start exploring them actually in the kitchen

[daisy]

The ordinary Hungarian Paprika is the one used in Hungarian Goulash, quite sweet and aromatic. I like it sprinkled on jacket potatoes, with sour cream and chives. The Hot Hungarian is used much the same way as Cayenne Pepper, with a similar bite. I've never used the Smoky one.

But here's a site with lots of Hungarian recipes for you:

http://fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=hungarian

Do keep your spices in airtight containers in a cool, dark place, because they'll lose their colour and flavour quickly otherwise.

[bethzaring]

you lucky devil, Claire.......a few years ago I brought back 100g of the sweet, from Hungary, and it definitely is the edesnemes

[Claire]

Thanks for the help! Main reason for asking, rather than opening and tasting, is that I have two cans of paprika -- hot and sweet -- open right now, so didn't want to open them any time soon. I won't use a lot of paprika until the weather cools, most eastern European dishes I make are pretty heavy, cool-weather meals (cabbage rolls, goulash, etc). Anyway, I didn't want to open them and start tasting, preferring to keep them sealed until I need them. The last smokey paprika I bought was SO smokey that it was really only good for using on things you want a real barbecue type flavor for. I did open one from curiousity, and thought it was the smokey, but wasn't sure since it was so much more subtle that the last smoked paprika I bought. SharonT, thanks for the accent marks info; it comes up in my life more often than you'd think, given that I don't really speak any foreign language, at least not well!

[mitmondol]

I know, this is an old thread, but I just found it!
Let me answer the question
csipos = hot
csemege =mild with a rich paprika flavor, color can vary
edesnemes = bright red, mild, slightly pungent

There is also rozsa, kulonleges, feledes, csipos csemege. These are the names of the mass produced paprika. Many people make their own and the variations are endless there.I get mine by the lb from a farmer in Hu.

There is NO smoked paprika in Hungary. That would be Spanish.
I looked at the above mentioned website, and just what I thought!
Please do not believe those are authentic recipes. I am not saying they can not be good, but most of them are far from being real Hungarian.In some cases even the ingredients would not be used..
Anyway, being Hungarian, I would be happy to answer any question in the subject.

[Jeekinz]

Originally Posted by mitmondol

Anyway, being Hungarian, I would be happy to answer any question in the subject.

How 'bout a goulash recipe?