We were having friends over for a bit of wine drinking and, coincidentally, dinner. It was a fine June Saturday afternoon and evening, so I opted to convert an old favorite – Puerto Rican Pork Roast – into a marinated and grilled filling for street tacos.
I planned on using my Rice Vinegar Coleslaw for the tacos; but thought they could probably use a little sumpin’ sumpin’ more to pull it all together.
Then, I came across this sauce.
A little bit sweet, a bit smoky, and a bit spicy, this paprika sauce was a hoooge hit with all gathered around the dinner table.
The original recipe(s) I found all seemed exactly the same, and most claimed pride of origin so, to stay out of that particular cat fight, I made a few changes to the recipe(s) – 
like cutting back 25% on the sugar called for – and changed the name to Pápa Sauce, in honor of the Hungarian paprika used.
It really is quite good, easy to make, and, stick around to the end, ’cause I have a kinda cool option for it that cranks this sauce’s usability up to about 20 on a ten point scale.
INGREDIENTS
•1 cup ketchup
•3/4 cup sugar
•1/4 cup white vinegar
•3 tbsp hot sauce
•3 tbsp water
•1 tbsp paprika
Whisk all the ingredients together in a medium saucepan and cook, stirring often, over low heat until the mixture comes to a boil.
Allow to simmer, still stirring often for five minutes, then remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Transfer to a jar and stash in the fridge overnight to allow the flavors to really develop, then serve as you will.
Like I said, pretty frikkin’ terrific on my street tacos, but…
and this is an option I did not offer my dinner guests because I tried it just after I whipped it together and it was *ok.*
The next day, however, after resting in the fridge, and then schmearing it over leftover taco shells for dinner?
Oh. My. GOOGLE this is good!
Simply whisk a couple of tablespoons of the cooled Pápa sauce into a couple of tablespoons of your favorite mayonnaise, then stash in the fridge overnight.
Pretty awesome and – and this is where we kick this sauce up to 20 or so on most rational scales – go ahead and fergettabout your ‘secret’ sauces for burgers or pizza or sammiches or… hmmm… salads?
This creamy bit o’ goodness will be your go to for sauce for all your summer needs.
And mebbe into the fall and winter, too.
But, back to the tacos…
So. To recap.
Creamy Pápa Sauce spread on the toasted street tortillas; then Rice Vinegar Coleslaw, grilled Puerto Rican Pork, a drizzle of the regular Pápa Sauce, and a slice or two of Pickled Avocado.
Nice.