We're stocking up on meals, pre-birth, and today made a double batch of our favorite stew. The recipe calls for a hefty helping of paprika. Spices should not necessarily be increased in direct proportion, but I like paprika, so I doubled the quantity—and then, as I usually do, threw in a bit more.
Some of Janet's spices are labelled in English, but most in the Swiss triumvirate of German, French, and Italian. This jar had but a one-word label: "paprica." Perhaps paprika is the same in every language.
Or not. The spice in that jar was decidedly not paprika as I have always known it. Picture a pot of stew seasoned with a heaping tablespoon of red pepper....
The stew was delicious. Even Joseph liked it. (Then again, he asks for "spices" on almost everything.) Hot pepper worked. But it's a good lesson in taking care when cooking in another country. What if "paprica" had actually meant "ginger"?
It probably would still have been a yummy stew. Just don't mix up the spice rack with the cleaning cupboard and you're probably fine. ;)
Red pepper instead of paprika sounds good to me. My kind of stew!
Might fly in West Africa, perhaps?
