A A versatile seasoning, paprika is used to add deep red hues to pale food or a subtle spiciness to dishes from paella to goulash. Although a distinct strand of paprika cultivation and preparation has emerged in Spain, it is most famously associated with the cuisine of Hungary. Curiously, though, the pepper plant from which paprika is derived, capsicum annuum, is native to lands on the far side of the Atlantic and was completely unknown to Europeans little more than 500 years ago. So, how did this spice come to be so entwined with the culture of a landlocked country more than 10,000 kilometres away? Paprika's story begins together with that of its close relatives - the tomato, the potato and tobacco - with Columbus' voyages to Central America at the turn of the sixteenth century. For thousands of years, the fields of southern Mexico had been scattered with plants whose fruits the Spanish visitors soon witnessed being used for medicinal purposes by natives in the region. Unsurprisingly, they joined the range of exotic goods exported to Spain, although demand paled in comparison to luxury items like chocolate and coffee. From Spain, traders took the plants further into the Mediterranean and eventually to the vast Ottoman Empire, on whose northern frontier sat a vassal state which consisted of much of modern Hungary.

B For some time, the people of Hungary had little interest in the alimentary value of the plant's fruit, which at that time was much spicier than the bell peppers and paprika powder we now know, but the plant itself became highly prized by the aristocracy for aesthetic reasons. The most notable example of this is in the late sixteenth century accounts of a member of the Hungarian royal family, Margit Szechy, who decorated her garden with a plant described as 'red Turkish pepper', assumed to be the earliest example of Hungary's most famous ingredient. The fruit's first practical use in Hungary was as a cure for intermittent fever, for which it proved effective. It took quite some time before its culinary potential was discovered, although it is believed that shepherds and other inhabitants of rural areas began adding the fiery powder to their food by at least 1748. Word spread to peasants in more urban areas and finally the spice went full circle as the aristocrats themselves took to using it in their food having found the peasant foods flavoured by paprika, such as goulash, particularly flavoursome.

C By the end of the 18th century, two towns - Szeged and Kalocsa - had emerged to compete for the title of 'paprika capital' of Hungary, the reason for their monopoly being the amount of sunshine required for the plants to thrive, which their location in the south of the country was famed for. The continued traditions of paprika preparation established at this time can be noticed in villages across the south, where masses of harvested peppers threaded onto long pieces of string are hung from houses and along garden fences to dry. In certain areas, this process would have taken place in a beehive oven - a small domed hut with an internal heat source - in which the pepper pods would remain until they 'rattled', at which point they would be ground by pestle and mortar.

D Around the turn of the nineteenth century, a kulu - a larger grinding tool activated by a pedal and originally used for hemp processing - began to be used. As demand for greater quality increased, so the process became more refined with crushing stages being repeated numerous times, creating a finer powder. This led to the Palffy brothers technique - the so-called 'splitting process' - involving the removal of stalks and seeds from the pods, leaving a semi-sweet paprika. The reason for this change in flavour is that the seeds contain capsaicin, the component which gives peppers their piquancy (and which is even more plentiful in chili peppers). This breakthrough ultimately led to the prevailing arrangement of paprika into six classes ranging from delicate to hot.

E Further developments in grinding occurred over the second half of the nineteenth century. Steam and electrically-powered mills began to be used in order to meet growing interest beyond Hungary's borders, due in part to celebrated French chef Auguste Escoffier's use of the spice in his Parisian restaurants. By 1950, the entire process, including plowing, cultivating, harvesting and drying had been mechanised as large-scale production of the spice began, although by the end of the century demand had begun to subside, resulting in a decline of mechanical harvesting and a return to manual picking on some farms.

F With an increase of public awareness of the nutritional value of ingredients, it is of comfort to learn that paprika has much to offer in this capacity. Dr. Szent Gyorgyi's 1937 Nobel Prize-winning inquiry into the vitamin C content of pepper pods revealed they contain approximately seven times the immunity-boosting compound of oranges, although much of this is destroyed as the peppers are processed. It is nonetheless an excellent source of beta-carotene and potassium, which can be used to fight cholesterol, and the potential of creams containing capsaicin to aid in the reduction of joint pain and muscle stiffness has also led some nutritionists to suggest to elderly patients the use of the spice as a seasoning.

A A common phenomenon in literature, writer's block might be regarded as a dead-end for the creative mind. A psychological condition meaning writers are unable to create new work, writer's block is historically well-documented through a plethora of famous creative minds whose pools of inspiration dried up suddenly and, seemingly, inexplicably. Few are the writers - professional or otherwise - who can profess to never having suffered from it, yet the causes and possible treatments of this affliction are far from clear-cut.

B Western understanding of creativity and what it encompasses has changed over the centuries. In Ancient Greece, art was concerned with imitating something already in existence, hence adhering to rules rather than freedoms. No term existed then for our modern-day understanding of creativity. However, the poet was considered an exception to these 'rules' and later, in Roman times, imagination and inspiration came to be viewed as shared traits among visual artists as well as poets. Throughout the Renaissance, creativity continued its struggle for recognition and was first applied in a modern day context in the seventeenth century. Although this instance only related to poetry, throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the concept developed into what we recognise it as today: the use of imagination and original ideas in the creation of new things. In short, it is inventiveness.

C The term 'writer's block' was originally coined in 1947 by Edmund Bergler, a Freudian psychoanalyst, who believed it to be a psychological block requiring therapy to recover from, considered by many a rather vague conclusion. However, empirical research in the seventies and eighties by Yale psychologists Jerome Singer and Michael Barrios supported his conclusions. Singer and Barrios took a diverse group of writers both 'blocked' and not, who underwent a series of psychological tests. They discovered four groups among the blocked writers, their main common factor being unhappiness and depression. Of the four groups, the first were overly self-critical leading to a lack of motivation to put pen to paper, whereas the second displayed concern about being compared to and criticised by others. A third group were found to lack originality and suffered from feeling constrained by the rules to which they felt they must adhere. The final group showed narcissistic tendencies, extrinsically motivated and craving admiration and recognition. Although the research unearthed fresh data, its conclusion was less so: keep writing, doodling, putting anything on paper to prove the talent still exists and waiting for inspiration - the muse - to strike.

D This echoes a quote of Picasso's, that 'Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working', a concept introduced by Graham Wallas years prior to Singer and Barrio's research. Inspiration, or 'illumination' as Wallas terms it, is outlined as the third of a four-stage creative process model in his 1926 publication The Art of Thought, preceded by 'preparation' and 'incubation', and followed by 'verification'. Based on empirical research of inventors and polymaths, this model was later paralleled by Michael Cowley in his 1958 model of the four stages of writing. Both agree that 'illumination' is only possible after the preceding two stages. According to Wallas, the preparation stage concerns research and planning, after which 'incubation' occurs. Wallas describes this as 'voluntary abstention from conscious thought' about the issue at hand while one patiently waits for a 'flash' or 'click' of inspiration, admitting that forcing the muse's hand is not possible. After this finally arrives, 'verification' takes place, which, in the writer's context, concerns the editing and re-editing process.

E Yet to get to that stage, the writer's block, or the stress causing it, has to be removed. Under stress, the human brain puts the limbic system rather than the cerebral cortex in control. The former is responsible for emotion, behaviour and the 'fight or flight' response and better deals with stress than the latter, which plays a key role in cognition, awareness, thought and language. The result of this change is a shift in brain function away from creativity and the arrival of the long-awaited inspiration. Suggested coping strategies range from meditation and group discussion, to free writing and brainstorming, techniques suggested by the aforementioned researchers, psychologists and creative geniuses.

F Some historical cases of writer's block exemplify its debilitating nature. Eighteenth-century poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge produced his best work during his twenties, after which he resorted to opium and became deeply depressed at the loss of his literary 'gift', whereas American novelist Truman Capote is believed to have had a nervous breakdown later in life, contributing to the perpetual 'unfinished' status of his masterpiece Answered Prayers. Horror novelist Stephen King suffered a four-month bout while attending university during which he took to alcohol and soap operas, while English musician Sting was unable to write songs for almost a decade, eventually finding his cure by revisiting his childhood hometown. It would appear, therefore, that each case of writer's block is as individual and unique as the work created in its absence. The only real way to overcome it, as Picasso believed, is to keep working until inspiration finds us.