Paprika is the ground bright red powder from sweet and hot dried peppers. It is much milder than cayenne pepper with a characteristic sweetness, and it is a favourite ingredient in European cookery.Hungarian or Spanish, hot or sweet, smoked or unsmoked, these clay-red powders all bring a distinct flavour to the dishes they are added to.reparation. In Austria and Hungary, paprika is a main flavouring in meat stews such as goulash. Eastern Europeans use it to flavour venison stews and soured cabbage and other vegetable dishes.