posted 29 October 2004 11:13 AM
Hungary has temporarily banned the sale of paprika after a toxic substance was found in stocks. Adulteration with imported paprika is suspected: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3961791.stm
Is this another example of globalisation running amok? I remember during the BSE scandal, Argentina and Australia, huge meat producers, had to block the sale of meat products imported from Europe ...
From: Se non ora, quando? | Registered: Apr 2002
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Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560
posted 29 October 2004 11:17 AM
Good grief! Hungarian food without paprika? Might as well cook Italian food without garlic.
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001
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skdadl
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 478
posted 29 October 2004 11:23 AM
What is paprika made from? A kind of chili pepper?
There are stores here that import from Hungary. I think right away of Elizabeth's, on Bloor, super Hungarian butcher -- the second generation who moved out to the suburbs come back in on the weekends to buy their meat there. And Elizabeth's import Hungarian everything, chocolate, spices, tinned food, etc.
There used to be so many good Hungarian restaurants on that stretch of Bloor. I loved the Blue Door (was it Blue?), beside/behind the Europa. The Europa had the proper dining tables with white linen; the Blue Door had long wooden tables and was always full of politicos and grad students. Those were the days, my friend ... etc.
posted 29 October 2004 12:11 PM
Here is another article on pepper: http://www.theepicentre.com/Spices/paprika.html Actually there are Hungarian peppers from sweet to hot, but the hot is much less so than the hotter chile peppers. Indeed the fragrance is a specific aspect of Hungarian paprika, made from a largish horn-shaped pepper. I found some similar semi-hot peppers at the Jean-Talon market recently - and have used most of them already! Hope I can find more while there are still good local peppers.
From: Se non ora, quando? | Registered: Apr 2002
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kingblake
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Babbler # 3453
posted 29 October 2004 12:11 PM
There's still one hungarian place on Bloor. I've been meaning to try it, but just haven't gotten around to it.
What an odd story!
From: In Regina, the land of Exotica | Registered: Dec 2002
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Hinterland
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4014
posted 29 October 2004 12:11 PM
Hungarian paprika is the only one worth using. I don't find other paprika of much use at all, except to give your deviled eggs that 50's oh-so-classy garnished look.
posted 29 October 2004 12:14 PM
skdadl, not to mention the coffee and tortes found throughout the old Austro-Hungarian K + K empire...
A friend has recently moved back to Vienna. Another was in Budapest recently. I'm not even particularly fond of sweets, but those are divine.
From: Se non ora, quando? | Registered: Apr 2002
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skdadl
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Babbler # 478
posted 29 October 2004 12:31 PM
Oh, Hinterland, tell me your technique for sprinkling on to the devilled eggs. I put some on a knife blade and then tap-tap-tap over the eggs, but inevitably I jerk a bit, and then there are splodgy bits.
From: gone | Registered: May 2001
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Gentlebreeze
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Babbler # 4562
posted 29 October 2004 12:49 PM
Wow, that is awful. I adore real paprika.
Oh, and I believe the finest Hungarian establishment in Toronto is "Paprika" on Bathurst, between Wilson and Lawrence. Amazing, authentic food.
From: Thornhill | Registered: Oct 2003
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andrean
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Babbler # 361
posted 29 October 2004 01:10 PM
The Hungarian restaurant on Bloor Street is called the Country Style. I've only eaten there once, many years ago. I was so disappointed with the stuffed pepper (tasted like it had a can of condensed tomato soup poured over it as the sauce) that I never went back. I suppose I ought to have given them another chance but I was living on St Clair Avenue at the time where there used to be a wonderful place called the Budapest Diner. It seems no longer to exist, to my dismay.
The oddest Hungarian restaurant in the city (it may well just be the oddest restaurant in the city) is in the Kensington Market. It's called The Hungary Thai and serves, you guessed it, Hungarian and Thai cuisine. My dear friend and I dined there in the spring on a wonderful platter of schnitzel, cabbage rolls, pad thai noodles and spring rolls. You wouldn't think they would be so complementary, but apart from a little oilness, it was all very, very good.
quote:Originally posted by andrean: The Hungarian restaurant on Bloor Street is called the Country Style. I've only eaten there once, many years ago. I was so disappointed with the stuffed pepper (tasted like it had a can of condensed tomato soup poured over it as the sauce) that I never went back.
I've only been there once too. But the meal I had was quite good - chicken paprikash. Yum!
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001
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al-Qa'bong
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Babbler # 3807
posted 30 October 2004 12:19 PM
This news must be shattering in Hungary.
A Magyar friend of mine keeps salt and paprika shakers on his kitchen table, which I've always found amusing.
From: Saskatchistan | Registered: Feb 2003
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N.Beltov
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4140
posted 30 October 2004 12:22 PM
a peck of paprika on your potatoes is a pleasure.
From: Vancouver Island | Registered: May 2003
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Hinterland
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4014
posted 30 October 2004 12:34 PM
quote:Oh, Hinterland, tell me your technique for sprinkling on to the devilled eggs. I put some on a knife blade and then tap-tap-tap over the eggs, but inevitably I jerk a bit, and then there are splodgy bits.
I have a nifty little Paprikastreuer I picked one time at a delightful little boutique in Garmisch-Partenkirchen ...he replied, with just a touch of effortless snobbery.
Email this thread to someone!
posted 29 October 2004 11:13 AM
