People are only just finding out what paprika is actually made from
Topics: Food and Drink
Gerrard Kaonga
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
Topics: Food and Drink
Now we might all brag about our food cooking skills, but even if you might make a mean dish, chances are you don't know exactly where your seasoning comes from.
I hope it goes without saying you season your food and get creative when it comes to cooking.
Let's be honest, it's the best way to live - making a banging meal that you can brag about, share on Instagram and stroke your full belly as you lay in a food coma.
One of my favorite seasonings to add is paprika but even I have to admit, I didn't always know where it came from...
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Paprika is pretty brilliant, to be honest. Great on chips, great on food, essentially the ultimate seasoning and as well as tasting good, it is actually quite healthy for you as well.
It's loaded with nutrients, can help reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease, promotes healthy vision, reduces inflammation, improves immunity and can even help with those gassy problems.
Paprika is also loaded with vitamin A, capsaicin, and carotenoid antioxidants.
What's not to love?
A lot of folks use paprika to take their cooking to the next level, so you'd think they would have an idea of what it's made of.
You might be aware many spices and herbs are named after the plant from which they hail, with cumin powder made from dried cumin seeds, for example.
But there's no such thing as a paprika seed, nor a root or even a tree.
If we want to get into the nitty gritty of all this, the name ‘paprika’ stems from the ingredient it’s made from: pepper – or sweet red peppers, to be precise.
But with all this, a lot of confusion has come about online, as many believed paprika came from a plant.
Essentially, red peppers are dried within an inch of their life and then ground down into a spice - subsequently creating paprika.
An Instagram post by Australian food company Nutraorganics detailed this, as they penned: "Learning that Paprika is just dried and crushed red bell peppers was really shocking.
"I don't know why I thought there was a Paprika tree somewhere."
Many have since flocked to social media in shock after finding out what paprika is made from.
"Learning that Paprika is just dried and crushed red bell peppers was really shocking," one person said.
Another added: "Like I dunno why I thought there was a Paprika tree somewhere."
On the other side of the spectrum, some social media users were left baffled that people had only just realized this as they believed it was ‘common knowledge’.