Hungarian cuisine, spices, and the most popular dishes

Characteristic of Hungarian Cuisine

Advantages:

• Varied menus • Creative dishes• Rich flavour,aroma and texture• Easy to prepare

Disadvantages:

• Too many fat• Too much calorie• Not for people in diet• Heavy for the digestion system

• There are also a few unique Hungarian cooking methods that we use to prepare our dishes.

• Broiling should only be used for more tender chops and steaks since no additional tenderization will result. High surface temperatures result in extensive browning which give the meat a unique flavour.

• Charcoal broiling is a popular method suitable for cooking chops, steaks, chicken, ribs, kabobs, sausage, and sometimes roasts. Temperatures used in this method of cooking are usually lower than oven broiling.

• Roasting is appropriate for tender roasts. Meat should be protected during roasting by an external layer of fat or by aluminium foil to prevent excessive moisture loss which results in a dry finished product.

• For cuts of meat which are lower grade or tend to be tougher due to the cut, moist heat is the preferred method of cooking. Braising and pot roasting are both moist heat cooking methods where meat is cooked in closed containers with added water. Seasoning, sauces, and flour may be added during cooking to enhance the flavour or texture of the final product.

Spices we use in HungaryBlack pepper: This spice is from India. You can find black, white, green

Bay leaf: Ancient Greeks and Romans crowned victors with wreaths of laurel. Romans felt the leaves protected them against thunder and the plague, so, they started to use them in their meals. In

Hungary we put leaves to soups and for example to stuffed cabbage.

and pink ones. We often use them in stews, steaks and special Hungarian foods, for example in Gulash Soup.

Caraway: It’s a quite small spice, but it’s really strong. It’s from Europe. You can use it everywhere for example in breads, soups and steaks.

Majoram: It’s from Italy and Greece, so, it’s a Mediterran spice. You can use it as herb beer.You can find it in Hungarian foods e.g. welt or stews.

Red pepper: What ‘s this? You can read about this spice in the next page!

History of Hungarian paprika

The Turks introduced the pepper plant to Hungary during their rule in the 16th-17th centuries.

At first it was regarded and used as an ordinary plant and decorated the gardens. Shepherds and herdsmen who had more contact with the invaders started spice their meals with the fiery powder.

Then paprika got to the kitchens of the peasants. Aristocrats found the peasant foods flavoured with the red spice very tasty and slowly they started to use paprika too. By the 19th century paprika became a dominant spice in Hungarian kitchens and restaurants.

Hungarian paprikafacts

• -Paprika powder is produced by grinding the dried deep red paprika pods of the pepper plant (Capsicum annum L. is the botanical name)

• -It can be sweet, mildly hot and very hot,• -The fresh red pepper is rich in vitamin C

(150mg/100g paprika) and other important minerals.

Albert Szent-Györgyi (1893-1986) Hungarian scientist, was awarded the Noble prize in

1937 for discovering vitamin C. It has anti-scorbutic and other physiological effects. He and his colleagues worked at the laboratory of the

Szeged University. Szent-Györgyi and his collegues experimented with the paprika plant and they extracted vitamin C first in the world form the

vegetable.

Hungarian soups• Hungary is a soup-eating nation. A

complete three-course meal always starts with a soup. It can be a hearty meat soup like the world-famous goulash or a sweetish fruit soup.

• Almost every part of Hungary has its own way of making goulash.

• Újházy chicken broth (Újházy tyúkhúsleves) is another tasty Hungarian soup that you'll find on restaurant menus.

Gulash Ingredients for about 6 person: 2 1/2 lb beef; cut into 1 inch cubes      2 lg onions; roughly chopped      4 oz bacon; cut into small cubes      2 oz lard; (or neutral oil, not            -olive      2 tb wheat flower      2 tb paprika powder *      2    cloves garlic; crushed      2 ts thyme      1 cn (16 oz) peeled tomatoes;            -crushed, with juices      4 c  beef stock      1    green bell pepper; seeded            -and sliced      1    red bell pepper; seeded and            -sliced      1    salt and black pepper

Instructions

Fry bacon until light brown and fat releases. Add lard, beef and onions.Fry until beef is all brown. Sprinkle with wheat flower and paprika powder.Stir until fat has absorbed powders. Add the rest of the ingredients, plussome salt and pepper and stir well. Cover and let simmer for 1 1/2 hours.Stir occasionally and add water if sauce becomes too thick. Season withsalt and pepper and serve with boiled potatoes.

Hungarian Fish Soup

Ingredients for about 6 portions:1000 g different type of small fish (freshwater fish)

1500 kg carp (whole or fillets) 2 tablespoons lard

2 tablesppons 2 large onion

1 green pepper1 big potato, peeled

salt and ground black pepper to taste 1 tomato, peeled and diced

1 egg and flour for the noodles

Preparationsand

Instructions• Clean the fish.• Remove its teeth, tail, fins and

scales with a sharp knife.• Wash it with cold water.• Open up the carp at its belly

and remove the chitterlings.• Slice it up for 2 cm thick slices

and salt them.• Cut out the eyes from the head.• Peel the onions and dice them.• Peel the potato.• Dice the tomato.

• First of all we make a fish stock from the small fish and the head of the carp.

• Heat up the lard in a large pan and braise the diced onions.

• Sprinkle the onion with paprika and pour immediately about 3 L water into the pan to prevent paprika from getting burnt.

• Put the small fish, the head of the carp, the diced tomato and salt in the pan and cook it until the meat comes of the fishbone.

• Sieve the stock and bring in to the boil.• If you find it a bit thick, add some water.• Put the salted carp slices in the fish stock,

add slices of hot, green pepper, some salt if necessary and bring it to the boil.

• Grate the potato and add it to the soup. Cook it for 1-2 minutes.

• Beat up an egg add 1-2 tablespoons of flour and mix it until you get a batter. It should not be neither too thick nor too thin.

• Salt it a bit and cut nice ball shapes into the boiling soup with the help of a spoon. Cook it for 2-3 minutes.

• Hungarian fish soup is a substantial meal in itself, especially this version with noodles and grated potato

Hungarian Main DishesSoup is usually followed by some kind of meat

dish with potato, pasta or rice garnishing. Pickels or salad made from seasonal vegetables accompany meat dishes.

Pörkölt [pərkəlt] and paprikás are the most popular Hungarian meat dishes. Pörkölt is a ragout made from pork, beef or mutton or chicken with onions and paprika powder as the main spice.

Stuffed cabbage (Töltött káposzta) is a traditional delicious Hungarian dish that is often made for holidays like Christmas or Easter.

If you're vegetarian try főzelék [f3:zeleik] which is vegetables simmered usually in water and thickened with roux.

Lecsó

Ingredients 1    onion chopped fine

4 tb shortening5    green peppers

1/2 lb tomatoes5 tb uncooked rice

1/2 c  water1 c  sour cream2    eggs beaten

salt

Instructions:

Chop the onion very fine. Cook gently in the melted shortening until tender.

Remove the seeds and membrane from the peppers and cut into narrow strips.

Peel and core tomatoes and cut into pieces. Add to the onion and cook a few minutes.

Wash the rice well and add with the water. Let thiscome to a boil, add 1/2 cup sour cream. Simmer until rice and vegetables are tender.

Just before serving, add the remaining (sour) cream and the well beaten eggs. Season and serve hot.

Paprika chicken with dumplings

Ingredients• 1.2 kg chicken• 1 large onion• 2 tablespoons of oil• 1 green pepper• 1 tomato• 1-2 teaspoons of flour• 40-50cl sour cream• gnocchi tossed in butter to accompany• salt• pepper• 1 teaspoon mild to hot paprika

Instructions:Finely chop the onion and fry in the oil until transparent. Sprinkle with paprika, toss in the chicken that has been

jointed and fry for a few minutes over a strong heat until it becomes slightly brown.

Add a green pepper and a tomato, both sliced, salt and simmer in its own juice under a lid until tender.

Blend the flour in the sour cream and add to the meat, boil well and add salt if necessary. Serve with gnocchi tossed in butter.

StrudelA strudel is a type of sweet layered pastry with a filling inside, that became well known and gained popularity in the 18th century through the Habsburg Empire.Strudel is most often associated with the Austrian cuisine, but is also a traditional pastry in the whole area formerly belonging to the Austro-Hungarian empire.The pastry has its origins in the similar Byzantine Empire or Middle Eastern pastries (see baklava and Turkish cuisine), thus it is even related to the Balkan burek pastry. 

Hungarian desserts

BeigliThis roll, the beigli [‘bεjgli] is a Hungarian speciality. It is made mostly for Christmas or Easter. Traditionally it is filled with walnut or poppy seed filling, but nowadays new fillings are being experimented upon.

Hungarian Twisted

Doughnut February and carnival time cannot pass without csörögefánk [‘tsørøgεfαnk], this traditional Hungarian doughnut! Among the doughnuts this is a popular delicacy – the Hungarian Twisted Doughnut, which is, because of its shape also known as "Turnings".

Hungarian Wines

• The climate in our country and the soil are perfect for growing grapes and winemaking.

• Yet apart from Egri Bikavér (Bulls Blood) and Tokaji aszú most Hungarian wines are lesser known in the world.

• Some Hungarian wine producers make wines because they want to preserve the quality and fame of Hungarian wines.

•  There are 5 bigger and 22 smaller wine regions in Hungary.

Wines from TokajThe area where Tokay wine is traditionally grown is a small

plateau, 457m (1500 ft) above sea level, near the Carpathian Mountains. The soil is of volcanic origin, with high concentrations of iron and lime. The location of the region has a unique climate due to the protection of the nearby mountains.

Winters are cold and windy; spring are cool and dry, and summers are noticeably hot. Usually, autumn brings rain, followed by an  Indian summer, allowing a very long ripening period.

Types of Tokaji wine

• Dry Wines: These wines, once referred to as common, ordinárium, are now named after their respective grape varieties: Tokaji Furmint, Tokaji Hárslevelű, Tokaji Sárgamuskotály and Tokaji Kövérszőlő.

• Szamorodni: This type of wine was initially known as főbor (prime wine), but from the 1820s Polish merchants popularised the name samorodny("the way it was grown" or "made by itself"). Szamorodni is typically higher in alcohol than ordinary wine. Its alcohol content is typically 14%. There are two main types of Szamorodni: sweet and dry depending on how much sugar and botrytised grapes it contains.

Aszú: This is the world-famous wine that is proudly cited in the Hungarian national anthem. It is the sweet, topaz-coloured wine that is known throughout the English-speaking world as Tokay.The original meaning of the Hungarian word aszú was "dried", but the term aszú came to be associated with the type of wine made with botrytis (i.e. ”nobly rotten”) grapes.

Aszú is racked off into wooden casks where fermentation is completed and the aszú wine is to mature. The casks are stored in a cool environment, and are not tightly closed, so a slow fermentation process continues in the cask, usually for several years.

Pálinka

History

• The first records of the Hungarian spirit date back to the fourteenth century, and refer as "Aqua vitae reginae Hungariae" to the aqua vitae of the wife of the King Charles I of Hungary. This spirit was probably a brandy blended with rosemary, and had its use in medicine, as both the king and the queen suffered from arthritis.

• The word pálinka derives from the Slavonic stem "páliť", to burn. In Hungarian the word is most probably of Slovak origin, as "Tótpálinka" (literally Slovak pálinka) was used in Hungary to refer to alcoholic drinks derived from wheat.

• The word pálinka became widespread in Hungary in the seventeenth century, but it still referred to distillates made from grain. The meaning was later transferred to fruit brandies, while wheat distillates were referred to as "crematura". Distillation became a privilege of the landlords. Private distilleries and factories started to appear towards the end of the eighteenth century, which led to legislation and to the introduction of a Pálinka tax.

• The patron of Pálinka distillation is Saint Nicholas.

Types of Pálinka

• - Kisüsti (literally "Small pot, cauldron") is a double-distilled pálinka made in a copper pot not exceeding a volume of 1000 liters.

• - Érlelt (Aged) is a pálinka aged for at least 6 months in a wooden cask smaller than 1000 liters, or for at least 12 months in a wooden cask of 1000 liters or above.

• - Ó (Old) is a pálinka aged for at least 12 months in a wooden cask smaller than 1000 liters, or for at least 24 months in a wooden cask of 1000 liters or above.

• - Ágyas ("bedside") is a pálinka aged for at least 3 months together with fruits. The fruits can be of the same sort used to obtain the distillate or of another sort. To 100 liters of pálinka at least 10 kgs of ripe fruits have to be added.