Cyklon is a Polish heirloom bred for one job: making paprika. Most of the warm red dust behind goulash, bigos and chorizo comes from a chilli of this type, thin-walled, deep red and mild to medium, and Cyklon has been selected for it over generations. Village rafters across eastern Europe used to hang with strings of these through autumn.

The thin walls are what matters. A thick-walled chilli dries slowly and unevenly, while these dry cleanly on a string in two or three weeks and grind to a powder brighter and more aromatic than anything from a jar. It was bred for cool northern European summers and ripens early enough to be dependable here.