What is Paprika?

True pepper is made from the pepper plant, which has the scientific name of Piper nigrum. But a great many other kinds of pepper are obtained from plants of entirely different families.

For example, there are the red peppers, or chillies. They belong to the genus capsicum. There are also cayenne peppers and tabasco peppers. Still ,another kind, bell peppers, are called pimientos when canned in oil. Pimientos is the Spanish name for the pepper plant. And finally there is paprika, which is a red pepper produced from the bell pepper. When these are ripe, they are red and hot, but are milder than many other kinds. That's why paprika can be used more freely than other kinds of pepper.

Pepper is considered to be the most important of all the spices in the world. After salt, it is the seasoning most used for food. In ancient times, and during the Middle Ages, only the rich could afford to use pepper. It had to be carried by caravan from the Far East, and this made it so expensive that a kilo of pepper was considered a fitting present for a king!

In some ways pepper was like gold. People could pay taxes with pepper, and it was given as tribute to rulers by their subjects. When an army conquered an enemy and soldiers were given a share of the spoils, pepper would be one of the great rewards they would receive.

The Portuguese were so anxious to find a way of getting pepper at lower cost that they tried to find a sea route to India. After they found the way around the Cape of Good Hope, the cost of pepper in Europe dropped a great deal. Today, of course, pepper costs so little that we don't even think twice when we buy it.

Pepper comes from the fruit or seeds of a climbing shrub. Black pepper is made by picking unripe berries and drying them until black. White pepper is made by removing the outer coat before grinding.