Did you know what paprika is actually made of?

Virgin Radio

8 Mar 2023, 13:45

Are you a fan of paprika? Many people are just finding out what it's made from.

Did you know what the spice is made of?

The bright red powder adds heat, smokiness and sweetness to many dishes.

Many people have never stopped to think where it came from.

For example, cumin powder is made from dried cumin seeds.

Cinnamon is made of the inner bark of tree species from the genus Cinnamomum.

The name ‘paprika’ comes from the ingredient it is made from - pepper.

Sweet red peppers!

The name comes from the Hungarian word ‘paprika’, a ‘diminutive from Serbo-Croatian papar "pepper," from Latin piper or Modern Greek piperi’.

One social media user confessed they thought it came from "paprika trees."

We've all been there.

“Learning that Paprika is just dried and crushed red bell peppers was really shocking,” they tweeted.

“Like I dunno why I thought there was a Paprika tree somewhere.”

More than 15,000 retweets and 170,000 likes have clocked up so far, so it seems they're not alone.

Another added: “Like I could’ve sworn there was a paprika plant.”

“I just pulled this out, which was obviously sent to me by my mother in one of her random packages, and OMG,” they said.

Someone else owned up: “You’re not as bad as me who didn’t realize guacamole is just avocados. I always thought it tasted familiar. SMH.”