European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 22, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Is Michael Abrams drying peppers hang among Wicker baskets and leather goods at a souvenir shop near Hungary s Lake Balaton. Paprika scare threatens Hungary s essence by Carol  los Angeles times Reed was the motive. Housewives were the unwitting perpetrators. So far nearly four dozen diners have become victims stricken ill by paprika laced with Lead based paint. The consequences of Europe s latest pod tampering scandal Are Likely to afflict not just the body but also the soul of Hungary As a nation proud of its culinary culture finds its food under suspicion and Cooks from Sopron to Szeged Ponder How they will manage without their signature hungarian spice. Since 46 people were poisoned by tainted paprika last month police have rounded up 60 suspects. Sacks and tins of paprika have been swept from every store shelf and the government has banned All Domestic sales of the spice. Yet panic has mounted. A hungarian woman simply can t Cook without paprika insisted Anna Horvath a pensioner who travelled 40 Miles to Budapest to get a Cache of the Capsicum based  powder tested for traces of the poisonous paint. Paprika is the defining ingredient of hungarian cuisine it provides the distinctive flavor of the most popular. Dishes from its namesake Chicken. Paprika to every pot of goulash to the tangy Tomato Pepper compote called Lesco. Paprika gives hungarian sausage its Rusty color and a  the stuff adds flair to dishes finished off with a Dollop of sour Cream. In addition it is popular with foreign tourists who snap photos of strings of Bright red peppers hanging in the Sun and buy Little sacks of paprika to take Home As souvenirs. Paprika seeped into hungarian cooking Only about 200 years ago but each of this country s 10.5 million. Is Kathy Platt strings of Bright red peppers Are common sights around Kalocsa. Citizens now consumes on average More than a Pound of it each year. Now a tiny part of the National output has been laced with a red paint compound apparently to improve a sad looking lot and the country is up in arms. Worse than the culinary chaos disrupting millions of hungarian households for example is the disastrous taint the incident has on Hungary s reputation As a Safe place for travellers and a fun place to eat. Restaurants across Budapest report that some diners especially foreign tourists Are requesting that paprika be left out of the dishes they order. Government investigators Are not sure How much paprika was tainted with the toxic paint compound but they have seized nearly 2 tons of the doctored substance in the Kalocsa paprika Belt along the Danube River about f 0 Miles South of Budapest. The rest of the � tainted paprika had teen distributed to private traders who sold it to Market vendors. The police say they doubt those who did this knew How harmful the substance can be Emi Koncsek of the ministry for Trade and Industry said of the paint compound. Investigators believe that the perpetrators tried to save time and Money by artificially drying Ripe peppers instead of allowing them to naturally desiccated which can take up to a year. Peppers dried too quickly produce a less Brilliant red color when ground into spice food experts say which Likely prompted the tar Perers to add the paint agent to improve the looks of their. Product. A the first cases of paprika induced Lead poisoning occurred in Date August but the source was not traced to the tainted spice until nearly a month later. Hungary s paprika Supply used to be produced exclusively by two state owned plants but at least 70 Small private Mills have cropped up Over the last five years under Hungary s Post communist drive for entrepreneurship. The people arrested so far Are All associated with a handful of those fledgling private Mills. Free testing of Domestic stocks of paprika has been offered to Consumers but As the number of samples showing traces of toxic Lead residue increased panic ensued. About 12.5 percent of the samples we be tested have been tainted but 99.5 percent of them Are of the same origin said Eva Simon the testing department chief alluding to the stocks police have traced to the tampering ring in Kalocsa. Nevertheless growing hysteria Over the tainting incident prompted the government to intensify its actions. All Domestic sales of paprika have  banned and stores were ordered to take remaining quantities of the spice off shelves. Short subject Cooks ignore rules and steam ahead by Caroline e. Mayer the Washington Post when it comes to cooking rules Are made to be broken especially if those rules have been keeping you out of the Kitchen. So if you be been afraid to make Rice because you be been told you can t peek to see if it s done after All some valuable steam might escape the pot peek for goodness Sake. If you be refrained from making Lemon cakes and cookies because the recipes insist on fresh Lemon juice just use bottled juice. What do you think is in that bottle anyway and if you have stayed away from the Kitchen because you Haven t seasoned your Iron Skillet and you hate mincing garlic relax you can Tise the Skillet even if it has t been oiled As for the garlic use the kind you can buy already minced in a Jar. I be had it with All these rules says food writer Elaine Corn whose break the rules philosophy permeates her a Pumo be released Book now you re cooking. I want to throw Down the barriers and just get people into the Kitchen says the 43-year old Corn a food journalist and Cookbook writer whose Book offers a refreshing and realistic approach to cooking especially for beginners who have been hesitant to step into the Kitchen and pick up a pan. Pm an exasperated food professional who wishes More people would Cook but have realized through reporting that they be been turned off by a food Media so righteous about the right and wrong ways to Cook she said. Take pasta. Should you rinse it after you Cook it or not the ringers and non ringers scream at each other. Who cares it really does t matter. It s the same with whether you should add Salt and Oil to boiling water to Cook pasta. Pasta will Cook in boiling water whether there s Salt or Oil in i that s a scientific fact and it s irrelevant to the beginner who just wants to make a bowl of pasta so Corn eliminates these rules and instead offers a detailed but simple step by step approach in 150 recipes that should make even the most insecure Cook feel comfortable. From sophisticated dishes such As veal Piccuta to the most Basic hard boiled egg scorn does t make you feel ashamed to be a culinary know nothing. She guides you at every instance including detailed pictures showing you How to crack and separate an egg Devin shrimp mince garlic and chop onions. Corn even tells you How to arrange your Kitchen adopt the motto i Don t reach and i Don t Bend and when s a Good time to clean up. That s because she s found that cleaning up is one of the chief deterrents to cooking. _ there Are some things Cooks cannot avoid Corn notes. One of them is cleaning up another is chopping onions. In fact Corn lists chopping onions As one of the Kitchen s eight immortal chores the others mincing garlic cutting celery and carrots seeding and chopping tomatoes slicing mushrooms washing lettuce peeling potatoes and chopping Parsle Grunt work by any other name Corn says these tasks Are immortal because no Short Cut or machine has found a Way to kill them  learning How to Cook is a form of self improvement Corn said. It won t get you married if you re single or save your relationship if you re not but it will give you a. Self sufficiency that will give you an Overall Good feeling about yourself 22 the stars and stripes saturday october 22, 1994