Up until a couple of centuries ago, the only people who could afford spices were aristocrats.
Spices were rare, they were picked in foreign lands and perilously shipped by land or sea. But at some point, the poor began to grow, harvest and, most importantly, use their own spices.
And that’s where paprika comes in, at least according to “The Paprikas Weiss Hungarian Cookbook.” Authors Edward Weiss and Ruth Buchan make the case that after Hungarian peasants were introduced to paprika in the 16th century by Turkish invaders, they began growing their own. As Weiss puts it, “paprika was the first democratic spice.”
It was so popular among the common people that the Hungarian nobility began using it, too. It is now considered the unofficial national spice of Hungary — it’s practically the national religion. It is also an essential ingredient in the cuisines of Spain and Portugal, and it is an important ingredient in berbere, a spice mix used commonly in Ethiopia.