Paprika is a dried, ground spice made from a member of the capsicum family. Various brands from various nations have differing degrees of hotness, but it’s generally a far milder, sweeter capsicum than some of its more rambunctious relatives.
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Sprinkled on a cold dish, it’s just a colorful garnish. When heated, however, paprika releases essential oils containing complex flavors and scents.
The Golden Duck family restaurant (4801 N. Milwaukee Ave., 773-205-7300) offers a Chicken Paprikash ($10.95) that pretty much obscures the flavors and scents mentioned above.
The restaurant, Polish at heart in a Polish neighborhood, has taken a turn into the neverland of “Continental” cuisine, where many nations are saluted but nothing is quite true to its country of origin. Described on the menu as “Breast of chicken simmered in Hungarian paprika, topped with sauteed peppers and pimentos and served with rice pilaf and fresh vegetables,” the dish arrived covered in a cheese sauce that totally “velveeta-ized” any subtle tastes beneath.
A more successful interpretation was at Mirabell (3454 W. Addison Ave., 773-463-1962). This German restaurant, bedecked with murals of the Old Country and with eight beers from there on tap, identifies its Chicken Paprikash, $13.95, as a “Hungarian delicacy” and describes it as “Pan fried with sweet paprika and red wine sauce, served with spatzl [egg noodles].”
Here, the sauce is a brick red paprika color and full of paprika flavor with a nice afterburn, not a fire, just embers. Put out the remains of heat with an excellent apple strudel.
With paprika in shakers on the tables, paprika in almost every dish and paprika on the sign over the door, Paprikash Hungarian Restaurant (the name of the restaurant as published has been corrected here and in a subsequent reference in this text) (5210 W. Diversey Ave., 773-736-4949) seemed a logical place to sample the dish.
Paprikash comes two ways: chicken, $12.50, and veal, $14.50. Both are wonderful, the complexity of the velvety sauces played against a canvas of bland–but not tasteless–spatzl (called nokedli in Hungarian) that is made fresh daily. Of the sauces, the one with the veal is slightly darker and heartier. The waitress explained that that was due to the difference in meats, the presence of porcini mushrooms with the veal and the addition of veal sauce.
Sunday nights, there’s a band: a violin, string bass and cimbalom (a Hungarian dulcimer).
Desserts here are stunning–from sour cherry strudel to walnut-cream and rum-raisin-filled crepes topped with chocolate sauce and served flambeed. Save space.
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Paprikash
What it is: Chicken, or veal, cooked in a sauce with paprika.
What it costs: $10.95-$14.50