Top Weird Hungarian Foods to Try (or Not): Part III

Posted on May 23, 2012 by

Egg noodles. You can’t go wrong. Kids love ’em. Put something with a cream sauce and you’re ready to go. Well, get this. Hungarians put poppy seeds and sugar on them. Or ground walnuts and sugar. Or sauteed cabbage and sugar. Can you believe it? Read on for more about these, and about the one egg noodle invention that really is worth trying (No. 5)…

4. These egg noodle concoctions are called mákos tészta, diós tészta and káposztás tészta, respectively, and are hugely popular at preschools all over Hungary. Grownups order them at cafeteria-style eateries where they like to indulge in such nostalgic dishes. Apparently it’s another way for Hungarians to claim they’re eating a healthy main dish when it’s actually a dessert. (Hungarians primarily do this with palacsinta, crepes, which are considered a perfectly good main dish after soup in many households.)

I must make a slight exception for káposztás tészta, the cabbage one. This is often prepared with salt instead of sugar, and lots and lots of ground black pepper. After the finely chopped, sautéed cabbage is tossed with the noodles, many cooks sauté it further to get a crispy, browned effect on both. Now THAT is one Hungarian noodle dish worth trying. The other one follows…

5. Túrós csusza is one of Hungary’s culinary wonders, although it still qualifies for the Weird list in my book. This is the same egg noodles, tossed with sautéed bacon and then topped with a mixture of sour cream and túró (cottage cheese). When I say sautéed bacon, however, I mean just the fatty part, which of course is a delicacy here. It does fry up into a nice greasy pool of, well, grease, with crispy bits of fat floating around. It’s important to dump the whole thing into the pasta – no skimming off the fat, otherwise you’ll have missed the point! The melted fat makes the pasta slippery, hence the name, from the verb “csúszni,” to slip. It also makes it sufficiently salty, offset by the tangy-lumpy sour cream and túró. Fantastic.

I often put fresh ground pepper on mine, but don’t tell Hungarians – apparently this is just not done. I also had the Szeged version once, with sauteed kolbász (paprika sausage) and that was scrumptious too.

I attempted to make túrós csusza in the US once. They have egg noodles, bacon, sour cream and cottage cheese, right? Well, the egg noodles were fine. But the bacon was not fatty enough, the sour cream was also low-fat compared with the Hungarian, and the cottage cheese? Well, you can probably guess that it was a poor substitute to the Hungarian. That goes for all American dairy products  – no flavor at all, compared with the lovely milk and yogurt in this part of the world!

Anyway, túrós csusza was a complete flop in Michigan. Needless to say, I haven’t tried to introduce the poppy seed and walnut versions in the US either, because I just can’t wrap my brain around putting sugar on noodles. Can you?

A link to my previous posts on weird Hungarian foods: http://adriknows.com/2012/04/18/top-weird-hungarian-foods-to-try-or-not-part-ii/ and http://adriknows.com/2012/04/16/top-weird-hungarian-foods-to-try-or-not-part-i/. Enjoy. Or not.

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Three Countries in a Day… a Day Trip from Budapest

Posted on May 16, 2012 by

Breakfast in Hungary, lunch in Slovakia, dinner in Austria and then back home to bed in Budapest. It can be done! And enjoyed…

It’s just a two-hour drive to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia,which was once the capital of Hungary. Hungarians still call it Pozsony. We were able to park in the old town and stroll the streets, and quickly found a delightful café w ith organic ice cream, the chocolatiest I’ve ever had.

We walked up to the Grassalkovich Palace, the residence of Slovakia’s president, where we watched the changing of the guards outfitted in bright red and blue. The palace was built by the same Count Anton Grassalkovich who built the one here in Hungary at Gödöllő, which I mention because it’s where my husband and I had our wedding reception. I mean, if you’re going to marry a dashing Hungarian, or any other European for that matter, then I think you have the right to go all out with the princess thing. Anyway, both Grassalkovich Palaces were once the home and meeting place for the Austro-Hungarian aristrocracy and the Habsburg monarchy, since Grassalkovich was advisor to Empress Maria Theresia.

After a stop for lunch at an Art Nouveau-style, rather touristy restaurant opposite the Palace (we had halusky, of course, the national dish of dumplings with sheep cheese and bacon), we strolled back down to depart for Austria. We contented ourselves with seeing Bratislava Castle from afar, and agreed that next time we’ll ride the elevator up to the UFO that hovers over the Danube –  the observation deck of the Novy Most Bridge.

Just 45 minutes in the car and we were at the Neusiedler See, a lake called Fertő tó in Hungary. The two countries share this lake, though the Austrian side has most of it, and is home to most of the cute villages that line it. The area is both vibrant and relaxing – people are windsurfing and biking, kids are playing at the many playgrounds that dot the shore, but there are plenty of cafes, ice cream shops and quiet walking paths along the lake. It’s a good bike ride in spring or fall, 133km around, of which 38km are in Hungary. I mentioned it in this post http://wp.me/p1Mrmn-5L.

We walked along the reedy shore, made plans to come back in summer for the outdoor theater performances at the Lake Stage in Mörbisch (this year features Strauss’ Die Fledermaus http://www.seefestspiele-moerbisch.at/home/index.htm).

Then we had dinner at a heuriger in Podersdorf, http://www.jagakoella.at. This is the quintessential Austrian summer experience – dinner outdoors of soup (try liver dumpling or garlic cream) followed by wheat and rye breads with Austrian hams and cheeses. And wine… Blaufrankisch (Kekfrankos in Hungarian) from the neighborhood.

Then down to the lakeshore for great Italian ice cream, and then it was two hours’ drive back home to Budapest.

Here’s a map of our trip:  http://g.co/maps/dbdxa

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A Budapest Secret Revealed

Posted on May 8, 2012 by

And the answer is… my new cover photo is from the synagogue on Rumbach Sebestyén utca in Budapest’s District VII. It’s in ruins. There’s a man in a small booth selling tickets to visitors, but those are few and far between, and the modest ticket price of 500 forint doesn’t contribute much toward the cost of the massive restoration it needs.

It could be as spectacular as Budapest’s big synagogue on Dohány utca, which is Europe’s biggest functioning Jewish temple. But perhaps the fact that the Rumbach utca one stands in ruins reveals more about Hungarian history. In World War II, 16-18,000 rural Hungarian Jews were rounded up here and taken to a Nazi-occupied region of Ukraine and slaughtered. After the war, the community returned, but abandoned the synagogue in the 1960′s since the building was falling apart, and the community that founded it, a group that felt the Dohány utca synagogue was too progressive, while the Orthodox one too restrictive, was left to choose.

Our guide, a young Jewish woman whose family history is rooted in this neighborhood, took us into the octagonal space to look up at the spectacular cupola. She told us that a synagogue is not holy in and of itself, like a church – only when enough people gather there. There were only five of us there at the time, so it wasn’t holy. Nevertheless, it was magical. And it will be used for a theater performance soon, at which I hope enough people will gather to make it a holy place once again, despite its troubled history.

My mother and I were on a UniqueBudapest tour entitled Secrets of the Jewish Quarter. I’ve only given away one tiny secret here, so I highly recommend you attend this (three-hour) tour, and I’ve enjoyed their other tours, team-building games and parties! See www.uniquebudapest.com, or email info@uniquebudapest.com for more information. Here’s a link to the synagogue on a map of Budapest… http://g.co/maps/deu9a.

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Cooking With Class in Budapest

Posted on April 26, 2012 by

It’s truly a trendy thing in Budapest these days to go to cooking school – or rather, just a cooking class, with friends for an evening. But I wasn’t interested in learning how to make pörkölt (stew) or gulyásleves (goulash soup) – I leave that to my Hungarian mother-in-law. And my friend whose birthday we were celebrating is also a near-professional Hungarian cook, so we chose to learn to cook Thai food instead.

That’s right, a Thai cooking class in Budapest. Though the location of Kuktaparty cooking school, in a storefront on Váci út near Duna Pláza mall, is not terribly charming, the class was taught by the charming and ever-smiling Zhi Jun Joni. As chef at the excellent Rickshaw restaurant at the five-star Corinthia Grand Hotel, Joni can whip up specialties from across Asia, having learned from colleagues from across the region.

We began with Tom Kha Gai, the tangy-sweet-spicy coconut soup that in my book is the barometer for good Thai food. Meaning, whenever we go to a Thai restaurant, that’s what we order to compare with orders – at Italian restaurants, it’s spaghetti aglio olio e peperoncino. For Tom Kha Gai, we learned the secret to making the chicken so tender it melts in your mouth, and acquainted ourselves with the scents of lemon grass and galangal so crucial to that Thai tang. Fortunately, we got to eat it right away before we moved on to our next dish, a green curry with shrimp, and the dessert, fried bananas with caramelized sugar and sesame seeds. We lounged at a table next to our cooking stations with wine and soft drinks before we were roused to continue cooking.

The ingredients were set out in small glass bowls just like for Jamie Oliver. My husband and I shared a mobile cooking station, chopping our own vegetables and peeling and slicing shrimp under Joni’s direction, then dropping them into a common pot, with only a little arguing about how much chili pepper we should add. Our friend Karcsi, owner of a travel agency and therefore well acquainted with world cuisines, went from station to station with a wooden spoon, tasting our creations as well as Master Joni’s, without asking. He proclaimed our curry the best of all. But that may be because he just returned from Bhutan, where he had to eat the national dish, túró with hot chilies, at every meal. (Read his blog about this trip, in Hungarian, at http://www.startutazas.hu/fx_a/blog/fx_action/bl_felh_blog/fx_site/utazas/fx_nid/59/index.html).

We’ll be making Tom Kha Gai and curry again, very soon. We’ll skip the bananas, because this dessert needs to be served immediately and I’d rather spend time with guests at a dinner party than fry up a dessert for them in a cloud of oily steam. Luckily, I already know how to make coconut pearl tapioca with mango slices…

Interested in trying a cooking course? Here are websites for cooking schools in Budapest. If you know more, please leave a comment and I’ll add to my list! Kuktaparty is the only one I’ve tried, but Karcsi and his wife Zsuzsi also enjoyed a steak course at Blanchir and I’ve heard good things about Chefparade.

www.kuktaparty.hu – Indian, Thai, Chinese, Italian, Sushi, Steak, Paella

www.blanchir.hu – French, Italian, Thai, Turkish, French chocolate desserts…

www.chefparade.hu – Hungarian (www.cookingbudapest.com), Tuscan, steak, cheesecake, Scottish (for whisky aficionados), Tex-Mex, special classes for children and even a dating-cooking evening for those looking for that special culinary partner

http://www.makifood.com/en/cooking-school.html - classes in English starting each month, great location near Parliament and U.S.-trained chef

Bon appetit!

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Run, Forest, Run!

Posted on April 24, 2012 by

You’ll forgive me for the title, which I couldn’t resist! On Sunday, the Budakeszi Keszegek Running Club (a keszeg is a kind of fish, so it’s rather amusing, we think) held the first annual Forest Run here in Budakeszi, which is a town just over János-hegy (János Hill) from Budapest.

Why? Because my husband and his running pals wanted to share the joy of a jog in the woods, to share the beauty of the forests that abound on the outskirts of Budapest, enjoy fresh air and good company, and encourage people to take advantage of this wonderful resource, for a run, a walk, or a picnic. Kindergarteners ran 800 meters, and older kids and adults could run just 2km (that was perfect for me) or repeat it three times for a total of 6km. It wasn’t a race, just a run for fun.

Volunteers brought and served tea and that wonderful Hungarian delicacy called zsiros kenyér - lard on bread with onions. We raffled off prizes donated by local businesses – salami from the local butcher, a voucher for 10 scoops of ice cream at the patisserie, liqueur from the specialty liquor shop, pizza, tanning salon sessions, and much more. The mayor of Budakeszi ran the full 6km and didn’t make a speech – she was one of us.

“This is what our community needs!” said one participant. ”Thanks for putting this together, bringing us together!” said another. And we were thrilled that such an idea could come to fruition, providing an enjoyable day for so many people (over 120) from the neighborhood. I’m not writing this to toot my own horn, I’m writing this to show that there are easy ways to get your community together, share your passion with friends, family and neighbors, and make a difference. In Budakeszi, Budapest, or any other place you call home.

If you’re interested in discovering the forest around Budakeszi, there are lots of ways to do it. Go up to Normafa and walk downhill. Or take Bus 22 from Széll Kálmán tér to the center of Budakeszi (the stop is called Patika), cross the street and walk 3 blocks on Kossuth Lajos utca to the entrance to the forest. There are also lots of trails near the Budakeszi Vadaspark Wild Animal Park, and near the Children’s Railway at Szépjuhászné, the name of a stop on Bus 22. There is parking at all three locations. Here’s a map of the neighborhood: http://g.co/maps/wqj8g and a full trail map (look for Budai hegység) is available at larger bookstores.

To read the local newspaper (Hirmondó) article about the event (in Hungarian), see http://hirmondo.budakeszi.hu/budakeszi-hirek/termeszet/1185-mienk-az-erdo. Thank you to Hirmondó for the photos and article!

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Top Weird Hungarian Foods to Try (or Not): Part II

Posted on April 18, 2012 by

Hungarians claim to have invented many things, and there are many wonders of the world that they are indeed responsible for, such as the computer and the ballpoint pen. They also may be the geniuses behind the “original M&Ms,” which were, and still are, known as Francia drazsé (French dragées).

2. Francia drazsé - They may be French in Hungarian, but it seems the French don’t call them that. And dragée is a simple word meaning a coated chocolate, usually referring in English to those pastel sugar-coated almonds often used as wedding favors. I couldn’t find any information on how old Francia drazsé are – contrary to Túró Rudi, this is not a successful branding story. The M&M website says that the Hershey company first noticed them in the 1930s in the Spanish Civil War where soldiers ate candy-covered chocolates because they didn’t melt in their hands. M&M’s were first produced in 1941 – which means rival Smarties, now a Nestlé product, are actually older, coming into production in 1937!  There’s even a Smarties museum.

3. Negro – While we’re on the subject of candy and branding, I can’t leave out this popular Hungarian throat lozenge. More because of the name than the taste – but why would Hungarians pay attention to being PC in English? After all, the Aunt Jemima brand of pancake mix has survived in the U.S., even though the brand began with a white male in blackface, apron and headscarf in 1890.  She was transformed into a round woman, described as a “happy slave” (!) and then updated into a modern woman – most recent iteration 1992 – and now represents “loving moms from diverse backgrounds who care for and want the very best for their families,” according to the Quaker Foods website.

As for the Hungarian Negro, it was supposedly named after its Italian inventor, Pietro Negro, but no details remain as to why he would have been the one to figure out what to do with the leftovers from melting sugars at a Hungarian candy factory in the 1920s. Although several new flavors have been introduced over the decades, apparently nobody has felt the need to update the brand – the candy’s slogan remains, “chimneysweep for the throat.”

And a Túró Rudi tidbit: it does indeed have Russian roots. Three Hungarian dairy product experts visited the Soviet Union in 1954 and tasted a “mignon” made with túró, butter and lard, and then charged Rudolf Mandeville with producing a version in Budapest, hence the name. Its original ad, depicting a pigtailed girl with the phallic chocolate bar (rúd) caused quite a scandal in the late 1950s, more than the Negro ever has.

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Top Weird Hungarian Foods to Try (or Not): Part I

Posted on April 16, 2012 by

Whenever you visit or live in a foreign country, you come across some weird things that the locals like to eat. Hungarians have a great culinary tradition, but they do come up with some strange things. Don’t worry, my purpose is not to gross you out here, but to pique your interest…

1. Túró Rudi – I had to try this chocolate-covered cottage cheese stick on one of my first forays into Hungary, years before I moved here in 2000. It is touted as every Hungarian’s favorite treat, an invention on par with the Rubik’s cube in terms of innovation, addictiveness and pride. Well, I have never developed a taste for it. The túró (a creamier, better version of cottage cheese that I love in every other form except this) is often chalky, and it doesn’t go with chocolate. I would never eat chocolate cheesecake, either, for example. Anyway, Túró Rudi is such an essential part of Magyarness that it is available for home delivery in London by a Hungarian deli (http://www.magyarokboltja.co.uk/apps/webstore/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&sort=&query=rudi).

I do have admiration for it as a marketing success story – the “pöttyös” (polka-dot) brand is probably Hungary’s absolute best-known. A friend of mine took a picture of each of her three kids shortly after birth with a Túró Rudi next to their heads, for comparison – very cute!

The Túró Rudi is sold in sweeter forms in Austria, Russia, Estonia, Poland and China – the Russian ones are even sold at a Russian deli on Bimbó út and I liked them better. Which would be blasphemy, but I think mine had sweetened condensed milk in it, not cottage cheese. Hungarians, do you dare taste one? http://www.arbat.hu/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=88&category_id=26&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=72&lang=hu

I also checked out the link to a Japanese site that the Wikipedia Túró Rudi entry claims is a “cult site” about Túró Rudi, but it’s just a blog that mentions the chocolate bar, with mixed reviews! http://uszoda.blog12.fc2.com/blog-entry-103.html. Anyway, try one if you haven’t already, and let me know what you think! Here’s the official website… http://www.english.pottyos.hu/

Egészségedre! Which means, “to your health,” and to Hungarians, a Túró Rudi is a healthy snack…

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