Paprika is in the air is the title of a collection of essays, short stories and articles written by Zsigmond Móricz, early-20th century writer and columnist, which he wrote during his numerous visits to Szeged, Paprika Town. Many decades later the writings recreate Szeged people before the war, and the reader can’t help but marvel…
Paprika is in the air is the title of a collection of essays, short stories and articles written by Zsigmond Móricz, early-20th century writer and columnist. In September 1936 he goes deep into Paprika Town and marvels at the sight of red people in red clothes, with red hair, red hands and faces. Like red…
Paprika is in the air is the title of a collection of essays, short stories and articles written by Zsigmond Móricz, early-20th century writer and columnist. Móricz was non-native to Szeged and the stories reflect his visions and experiences of Szeged the city and its people between the 1910s and 1930s. In August 1936 he…
Zsigmond Móricz, early-20th century writer and columnist visited Szeged in 1913. Szeged was a new and upcoming town then, just barely rebuilt after the Great Flood. He loved to sit and talk to local people, seek out what they were like, what made them Szegedi. In his prose collection called Paprika is in the…
After the previous post I’m continuing with translating another literary text written by early-20th century writer and columnist, Zsigmond Móricz. The original and full stories In Hungarian appeared in his prose collection called Paprika is in the air. From the writings we get to know Szeged the city and its people in the 1910s through the insights…
In this Paprika & Chili blog I have already written about representations of paprika in Hungarian literature. Now I’d like to continue with a series of literary texts written by early-20th century writer and columnist, Zsigmond Móricz. The stories appeared in his prose collection called Paprika is in the air. Móricz was non-native to Szeged, but…
Last week we started an article about processing of hot paprika in the past. This time let’s follow the topic! First the pre-dried red fruit was taken off the garland, the green stalk was removed, the pod was cut up and the seeds, the pith, the ribs, the glands that produce the capsaicin and the bad…
It is October and we are in the middle of paprika harvest and processing. Among autumn to-dos is paprika processing, which today is by no means easy and quick but a lot easier than in the past. Until the 1930s all paprika pods were naturally hot and it was local farmers in the mid-19th century…
Szeged Lowertown has always been a separate entity within Szeged city. Its homogeneous Hungarian population followed strict Roman Catholic ethics and made a living from agriculture. Among their most famous crops were tobacco and paprika. The two most important characteristics by the end of the 19th century were their religious faith and the sweet paprika spice called…
Szeged writers have been using the paprika plant in their literary works in a number of ways. Literary representations are not about plant philosophy but serve as symbolic links with Szeged the city, its puszta (farming) areas and people. On 1 August we just celebrated the birthday of Sándor Bálint (1904-1980), the man who has…
We proudly announce PaprikaMolnár’s Paprika Museum is on TV, or rather, on Youtube! CNN’s Great Big Story production group wanted to know why Hungarians are so obsessed with paprika. So, they came to Budapest, went to Paprika Market, ate nothing but paprikash and spent a day with us in PaprikaMolnár’s museum and factory and listened to…
Despite its New World origins, paprika is an essential part of Hungarian culture and identity. A good example of its physical appearance on traditional objects is the famous kalocsai embroidery, which includes red paprika fruits among vividly colorful flowers on white cloth. Kalocsai embroidery is a relatively young invention. The first embroideries in the 19th…