Farmer Peter
“Preserving the taste of my grandmother's paprika and passing on my land to my children healthier than it is now, that's the most beautiful thing there is. Even if it's very hard work.”
Paprikapoeder mild gerookt | Mildly Smoked Sweet Paprika
€7,99
50 grams, powder
Quantity
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Single Origin
Unsprayed
100% Spice
Short supply chain
Lightly smoky, rich in umami, and fruity
Gently fry in oil to allow the flavour to infuse well into the food at the beginning of a preparation.
Do not let it burn, or it will become bitter.
Very suitable for marinating tofu or vegetables.
Ideal for adding umami and depth to vegetarian dishes.
Smoked paprika is a loner. If you want to combine it with other spices, pair it with savory flavors like cumin.
Looking to buy mild smoked paprika powder? This special variety instantly adds more depth and a subtle smoky flavour to any dish. Delicious in marinades, stews, shakshuka, hummus, and roasted vegetables.
The paprika powder has a mild, smoky aftertaste and is naturally rich, warm, and fruity. The smoking process gives it a savourier taste than the usual sweet variety, adding extra depth.
Farmer Peter Szabó manages to continue the traditional Hungarian production of paprika powder, despite competition from China and a shortage of farm labourers. He succeeds as one of the few farmers, thanks to his great passion for the taste of high-quality paprika powder and his commitment to regenerative agricultural methods. For the smoking process, Peter uses wood from local acacia and oak trees, chamomile flowers, and the greenery that remains after the corn harvest.
How is this chain structured?
All our chains have their own story. Their own piece of land, their own farmer. It is grown and processed in a specific way. Join us on a journey into the story behind this taste.
The paprika is grown in the Kalocsa region, one of two major regions in Hungary where paprikas for paprika powder are cultivated.
Bell peppers are the fruit of a green annual shrub of South American origin. Peter cultivates bell peppers on fields and harvests approximately 7000 kilograms of bell peppers each year. His goal is to use only organic fertilizer and regenerative agricultural methods.
Due to a specific insect that targets bell pepper blossoms, Peter is currently forced to use crop protection; otherwise, he would have suddenly lost most of his harvest, and his business would not have survived. He has been honest about this, and we have decided to work together to find a more sustainable alternative. That is what we understand by partnership with our farmers.
Growth cycle: March-October
Dried: October/November
After harvesting, the peppers are hung in nets for four weeks to ripen further. These ‘salamis’ hang in the sun, and the fruits develop their full flavour during this time. Peppers are full of sugars, which makes it difficult to dry or smoke them without burning them. Even at low temperatures, things can go wrong, so Peter works very precisely. He never dries, grinds, or smokes his peppers above 55 degrees – according to him, that is the magic threshold for the best flavour. Everything takes longer as a result, but the taste makes it worthwhile.
Interestingly, Peter always grinds the seeds of the peppers along with the rest, because they contain an oil that makes the peppers last longer and taste better. The white seed stalks are removed as much as possible during grinding, as they can give a bitter taste.
Let's make an impact!
Each supply chain not only has its own story but also its own challenges. We would be happy to tell you what impact we make per chain and how we deal with specific challenges.
Peter is one of the few farmers who still works according to traditional farming methods with norms and values deeply rooted in Hungarian culture. By promising him purchase volumes, Peter knows he can count on a certain sales volume at a good price, allowing him to continue farming in this way.
Despite the significant role paprika powder plays in Hungarian culture, its production is declining. More and more farmers are stopping growing paprika because it is a labor-intensive process, and the import of paprika from China causes market prices to fall below production costs.
There is little research into organic alternatives for crop protection for paprika (and chili). Furthermore, these must also be accepted by the Hungarian authorities before they can be used 'safely'. This makes it challenging to implement an alternative. A challenge we are taking on together with farmer Peter.
Due to climate change, temperatures are getting higher in Hungary. This year it was 48 degrees Celsius. Because Peter's fields are next to a river, he can irrigate them sufficiently. But if temperatures rise even further, alternatives must be found to protect the paprika from the heat.
Frequently asked questions
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Air, light, and moisture are detrimental to the quality of your spices. Therefore, store them in a tightly sealed jar or tin that is opaque (or in a dark kitchen cupboard or drawer). Also, do not store them above your stove, as cooking fumes can reach them there. Always ensure that you transfer spices from a repack into a tightly sealable jar or tin as quickly as possible.
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The shelf life of spices is primarily determined by the loss of flavor that occurs over time, as they generally don't spoil otherwise. We use a shelf life of 2.5 - 3 years after harvest. This depends partly on the time of bottling and also whether they are whole spices that you grind yourself or pre-ground powder.
Spices in the supermarket are often already 2-3 years old before they are even bottled and then get a shelf life of another 3-5 years. Always use your senses to determine if they are still good. At some point, there will simply be no flavor left, which would be a waste of a good meal!
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We do not have organic certification, even though our spices do meet these standards. All farmers work in harmony with nature and without pesticides, but the certification process is unfortunately very expensive. For small farmers, it is actually unaffordable. And we want to show them that it is worthwhile to grow spices sustainably. That there are people willing to pay for a quality natural product and that they don't first have to make a huge, impossible investment in the form of a certification.
Some of our farmers do have the certificate, by the way. Cooperatives, for example, can apply for the certification process jointly, which makes it a lot more affordable. But to be allowed to state this on the packaging, our entire chain would also have to be certified, including the sheltered workshop where the spices are packaged. This is currently not possible, as they also work for other non-organic producers. So, in short: no, we are not officially certified, but the quality and way of working are at least just as good.
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Single Origin means that a product comes from one specific place. Often, harvests from different locations, sometimes even from different countries and different years, are mixed together. Traders do this to develop the cheapest possible product with a consistent taste. With us, you know exactly where your spices come from, right down to the name of the farmer. This also means that the quality can sometimes vary, as it is a natural product after all. For example, one year it may be drier than another, which can cause a change in taste. But our farmers always strive for the highest possible taste experience, and you can taste it!
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We always strive to purchase the latest harvest. Of course, it can sometimes happen that we still have some harvest in stock while the new harvest is already available. So we cannot always guarantee that you will receive the very latest harvest, but we do strive for that as much as possible. On the packaging, you will find a QR code to a page where you can find out exactly when your spices were harvested and when they were filled into the tins/bags. With this, we aim for complete transparency in our process.
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We ship to most European countries, but this will, of course, incur higher shipping costs. Would you like to order from a country, but it's not possible? Please contact us so we can look into the options.
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At the Siza Social Workplace, they do their utmost to pack the parcels the day after the order. If it's busy, it might take a day longer. They don't work on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, so if you order on a Thursday, for example, it will take a bit longer for your parcel to be shipped.
Once the parcels are ready, they are picked up by the Groene Rijders and delivered by their bicycle couriers in the areas they serve, or outsourced to PostNL. Depending on the workload, they also aim to deliver within 1 business day.