- [Narrator] This is Buda,
(whooshing) and this is Pest.
Together it makes Budapest.
This is the River Danube, this is some paprika,
this is a huge Parliament building,
and this is some paprika.
They have a delicious selection of fruits,
and oh my God, there's paprika.
Pa-pri-ka, paprika! (popping)
I mean, it's everywhere.
This has to be a thing. (popping)
(calm jazz music)
This is a paprika pepper.
Once it's cut, dried, and grinded down, it makes this:
paprika powder. (ethereal chimes)
And here in Hungary, it's a big deal.
Known to locals as the Red Gold,
this spicy ingredient is in pretty much everything.
Hungarian goulash, chicken paprika, stuffed cabbage.
I mean, in some places, it's even next to the salt.
Here at the Great Market Hall of Budapest,
well, you guessed it.
- We have a huge range of paprika from all over the country.
We use it for almost every Hungarian food,
and it's very delicious.
We even have a museum and a festival dedicated to paprika.
- [Narrator] Really?
- Yes. (whooshing)
- Welcome to PaprikaMolnár Museum.
My name is Anita Molnar, and I am the paprika historian.
(popping) Paprika is a very common
Hungarian spice that was created
about 200 years ago in this region, in Szeged.
It is a spice; it colors your food red;
and we Hungarians tend to maybe overuse it, but we love it.
Originally, it was brought over to Europe by Columbus.
Therefore, the mother plant was definitely
some kind of a chili. (popping)
People who were trying it, they figured
it was a lot like black pepper.
For people who couldn't afford to buy
very expensive black pepper, they started to use
the fruit of this plant as a pepper substitute.
(plucky string music)
- [Narrator] But nowadays, it's not just used for food.
Isn't that right, Peter?
- Yes, definitely we have some paprika soap.
You know, the soap has some paprika aromas.
It doesn't hurt when you wash yourself. (laughs)
- [Narrator] But that's not all.
They've got paprika-flavored honey,
(popping) paprika-flavored palinka,
paprika-flavored chocolate. (catches breath)
- Everything paprika.
- [Narrator] Okay, back to the kitchen.
This stuff may be ancient, but it's on
some of the city's most modern menus.
- [Narrator] Let's try this.
Mm, oh my God.
So good.
(plucky string music)
(high-pitched vibrato note)