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Is 'paprika' the English word describing mild red condiment consisting of the dried finely ground pods of various sweet peppers? I have noticed that 'paprika' is rarely used for this pourpose by other cooks.
Note: I am a cook in foreign country.

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Tastes better on cookingSE. Suggest migrating. – Kris Apr 20 '12 at 17:44
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@FrustratedWithFormsDesigner: This does not "sort of fit"; the question is verbatim from the Merriam dictionary. – Shyam Apr 20 '12 at 17:56
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@FrustratedWithForms: In Hungary, when you go to a restaurant, there are three condiments on the table: salt, pepper, and paprika. – Peter Shor Apr 21 '12 at 0:02
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@waiwai933 - How is this NARQ? Who can claim that it's difficult to tell what is being asked, or that it cannot be reasonably answered; when three people have reasonably answered it? This seems unfair. – user16269 Apr 21 '12 at 7:39
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@DavidWallace: 4 people, if you include Peter Shor's excellent and enlightening comment. – J.R. Apr 21 '12 at 11:09
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closed as not a real question by waiwai933♦ Apr 21 '12 at 3:39

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

3 Answers

up vote 5 down vote accepted

Is paprika a condiment? The dictionary clearly indicates that it is:

Definition of PAPRIKA : a usually mild red condiment consisting of the dried finely ground pods of various sweet peppers; also : a sweet pepper used for making paprika

Moreover, a condiment is defined as:

Definition of CONDIMENT : something used to enhance the flavor of food; especially : a pungent seasoning

With that out of the way, I'd like to make a side note:

In the U.S. the word condiment is often used to allude to spreads, such as ketchup, mustard, relish, and mayonnaise, and not so much to spices like paprika. If we asked Bob, "We're having a cookout, would you bring the condiments?" he would almost assuredly bring mustard, he might bring salt and pepper. The likes of parsley, chives, paprika, thyme and cinnemon are customarily referred to as herbs and spices, not condiments, and I doubt Bob would bring them, not unless we made a special request. Although the dictionary clearly would not agree to such a narrow application of the word condiment, some of this usage bias is still evident, such as when you perform a search on Google Images, or look up the term condiment on Wikipedia (yes, Wikipedia mentions seasoning, but, aside from salt and pepper, doesn't list any other spices among its various examples).

I realize some of this may be above and beyond the O.P.'s initial inquiry, but I found the ensuing conversation rather interesting (especially the remark, "What confuses me is that I am not familiar with paprika being used as a condiment"). That comment piqued my interest, I did some research, and I'm sharing my findings here.

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Great answer +1 & accept – Xavier Vidal Hernández Apr 20 '12 at 20:35
up vote 4 down vote

All you need is to put that in quotes in Google. And lo, you get paprika!

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As Frustrated said, not all people understand 'paprika' with the meaning I have described. However, as Frustrated said, my question - probabily - is more indicated for cooking.SE, as your answer demonstr. So -1 – Xavier Vidal Hernández Apr 20 '12 at 17:52
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Your words are present verbatim in the link I have. This is the maximum you can expect in ESE, provided this was a genuine question. – Shyam Apr 20 '12 at 17:57
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If all you wanted was an alternative to paprika, then you should have mentioned the word in your question instead of making it look like a single-word-request. – Shyam Apr 20 '12 at 17:58
I edited the question in order avoiding that other people could have your bad thought. – Xavier Vidal Hernández Apr 20 '12 at 19:27
I suggest you to see the great J.R.'s answer. – Xavier Vidal Hernández Apr 20 '12 at 20:38
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up vote 4 down vote

Yes, "paprika" or "ground paprika" is certainly the correct word for the red powder.

Be careful in Australia though, because there, the word "paprika" is also used to mean the vegetable itself, known in other English speaking countries as "capsicum" or "green/yellow/orange/red pepper". I haven't encountered this usage in any other country.

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