SC - Period Chili

[Varju at aol.com]

In a message dated 1/13/1999 9:50:26 AM Mountain Standard Time,
TerryD at Health.State.OK.US writes:

<< Trager places the introduction of paprika into Hungary as 1529 when the
 Turks first took Buda.  The date is open to question, but the Turks were
 engaged in military activities there through the 16th Century and
 intermittently during the 17th Century, so its introduction via the Turks is
 very likely.
  >>

Sorry about my earlier tuncated reply to this. . .I was getting a little too
much feline help while typing :->

The Hungarains are pretty definite about the Turks introducing paprika, in
fact the joke is that it is the only good thing the Turks did.  The main
problem with knowing when paprika was introduced is that the Turks ruled most
of Hungary from the Battle of Mohacs in 1527 to 1711.  There are any number of
romantic stories about how it was introduced but no hard facts.  At some point
in the late 1600's paprika began to appear in the cookbooks of noble families.
There is some speculation that the peasants began using paprika as a seasoning
first, because it was easy to grow and readily availible, but again to hard
proof.

Everything else I know about paprika is less historically. . .there are seven
modern types of paprika from sweet to hot, the most prized being sweet rose
which is a notch hotter than the mid-range paprika. 

Noemi
Windkeep, Outlands
Cheyenne, Wyoming
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