Re: [CH] Thailand and Hungary
M. & L. Doster (mld@theworks.com)
Sat, 27 Jan 2001 07:07:39 -0800
Concerning Hungarian peppers, some of the seeds are available in the US.
Last year I grew two types, Hungarian Hot Apple and Kalosca Sweet Spice
Paprika; both from Shepherd's Seeds. The second one must be a misspelling
and probably should be "Kalocsa", one of the two major pepper growing
regions in Hungary (along with Szeged). Some pictures of the major Hungarian
varieties can be seen in seed catalogs and in the common books on peppers.
Anyway, the best information I have come across is in the book Culinaria
Hungary. The word in Hungarian, "paprika", means both the pepper pod and the
ground up pepper (what we know as paprika). The book lists the following as
the main types of peppers:
1. To"lteni valo' paprika (pepper for stuffing), sweet or medium hot
peppers,
2. Bogyiszlo'i (banana pepper; I think this is the Hungarian yellow wax
pepper) aromatic very hot pepper,
3. Almapaprika (apple pepper; alma means apple in Hungarian and these are
somewhat shaped like an apple) sweet or very hot, often pickled in vinegar,
4. Kosszarvu' (ram's horn) sweet, aromatic peppers,
5. Cseresznyepaprika (cherry pepper) very hot,
6. Hegyes ero"s (cayenne pepper),
7. Paradicsompaprika (sweet bell pepper).
In the above Hungarian names, " means that the preceding vowel (o or u) has
an umlaut like in German, and the accent sign ' is not an accent sign but
means that the preceding vowel is pronounced long (in Hungarian, the accent
is always on the first syllable).
Also, sweet ("edes" in Hungarian) means not hot, and "ero"s" means hot.
The book also list seven types of paprika (the ground up peppers): 1.
special, 2. mild, 3. delicatess, 4. sweet, 5. semisweet, 6. rose, and 7.
hot. The Hungarian isn't given for these.
I think the Hungarians use peppers more than any other nationality in
Europe. Paprika is used in almost all dishes, sometimes in tablespoon
amounts. I'm not sure how frequently hot peppers are used. Many of the
Hungarian peppers are hot, although usually they are medium hot (and not
very hot).
Interestingly, I once had a kimchee stew in a Korean restaurant that
reminded me of Hungarian cuisine (because the Hungarians like using
sauerkraut besides paprika).
--Mark
-----Original Message-----
>Hi Podarinos,
>
>I have a question. My familiy is travelling to Hungary and Thailand soon
and
>I asked them if they could bring back some peppers. Does anybody know the
>local names for peppers or has pictures of Thai and Hungarian peppers to
>show to them so if they see them they can bring them home to me? Thanks in
>advance!
>
>Miss Dewi
>ALL FOR CHILES AND CHILES FOR ALL