THE FOOD! I must say that I don't think I had anything bad the whole time I was there. We ate in a variety of places, both upscale and out-of-the way, and the food was consistently good. In some of the places the service was fashionably slow (some Americans would say excruciatingly slow) but the food was always worth the wait. The one meal that especially stands out was begun with a chopped tomato soup and topped off with whole trout wrapped in bacon (which was really more of a prosciutto). Everywhere we went seemed to have excellent soup, which I must have had in some variety every single day.
I picked up a cookbook in a local bookstore (yes... in English) which is a reprint of a book first published in 1934. The author, Karoly Gundel, was a famous Hungarian chef of the early 20th century, who in addition to relating list of ingredients seemed interested in preserving the authentic local cooking traditions. So, the recipes do not just list ingredients and measures, they have wonderful descriptions of the cooking techniques and preferences of the various Hungarian culinary traditions (For example, he spends a whole page on how to brown onions and add the paprika!).
The following recipe is my version of one that is quite typical of the region (and that
I have had good success with). Sorry that I don't have the descriptive flair or
knowledge of a Chef Gundel, but I love to eat and I know what I like! The following recipe
is based on the book but adapted... (I personally don't follow the original instructions
of frying the onions in 80 grams of fine lard!) Add a little hot bread and this
makes a fine meal.
Bográcsgulyás (Goulash Soup) |
|
2 lbs of good beef (cubed) |
1 clove (at least) garlic (chopped fine) a couple lbs of potatoes (more if you don't use the soup pasta below) 1 green pepper (chopped) 1 medium fresh tomato (chopped) several cups of stock (or canned beef broth) soup pasta (see below) |
| Sauté' the onion in the oil until it begins to turn transparent.
Lower the heat and toss in the paprika stirring it rapidly to give the mixture a nice even
brown color. Add the meat and keep stirring. Add the salt. Brown the meat
stirring frequently. Add the garlic and continue cooking. If the mixture
becomes dry, add a little water - not enough to cover the meat. It should braise and
not boil. While the meat is cooking, cut up the vegetables. When the meat is
just about tender, add the potato pieces and brown them a little. Add the green
pepper and tomato. Add plenty of stock to cover the mixture (I normally use the
canned beef broth, diluted, and it works fine). Let this cook until the potatoes are
done adding more water if needed. Add the soup pasta just before you are ready to
serve. When the pasta bits begin to rise to the surface (in just 3 or 4 minutes)
you're ready to eat. |
|
Soup Pasta |
|
| Take 2/3 to 3/4 of a cup of flour, a little salt and 1 egg and mix together with a fork to make a stiff dough. On a floured board, roll out thinly. Pinch off little fingernail sized bits (the Hungarian name for this means 'pinched pieces'). Drop these into the soup at the last minute. They cook quickly into little dumplings adding a nice flavor and texture to the soup. | |
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Last Modified on December 6, 1998 by Jonathan Bales