Red Spice In Red China

 "If you like to cook, somehow you can't go to the store to get a spice container of paprika anymore. That's because there isn't any, the shelves are bare.

[There's] a reason: Turns out China has the corner on the global paprika market, controlling 70% of the supply, Xinjiang, China, to be exact.....Other spices potentially to be impacted by disruptions to production and distribution include paprika, star anise and chilli."

Monica Showalter, American Thinker, 9-20-20

Yes, yes, Desperate knows what you're thinking. Paprika? Like, for Hungarian goulash? Who cares? I hate Magyar cuisine, anyway.

Oh, really?

"The tragic shortage of paprika has been a disaster for us," says  Henderson "Rhode Island Red" Smith of NADEP, the National Association of Deviled Egg Producers. "Bad enough we had a shortened picnic season, and now this? How are we ever going to get anyone to eat a deviled egg again?"

Martha Checkerboard of Martha's Gourmet Picnics ("Everything But the Ants") agrees.  "Let's face it, deviled eggs are basically little mayonnaise boats," she says. "I mean, come on, egg yolks and mayonnaise? Can you say 'Yuck?' Without that little dash of paprika on top, no one would look twice at them."

Star anise consumers are also concerned. "We're all right for now, but what about our Christmas party?" said Kitty Kane, leading Washington hostess and author of "Kitty Treats.". "I can't make my Christmas punch without star anise.  I can't even mull wine without it. What are my guests supposed to do, talk to each other sober? Please! Have you ever met those people? This is a crisis. A full-blown crisis!"

As to the chilli shortage, Desperate considered interviewing cooks from Great State of Texas, but decided it would be imprudent to be the one to break the news to them.

Are there any volunteers?