The German Corner/The Cuisine of Hungary 2/12/08

Some may say that Hungarian cooking is heavy or stodgy and we've even come across warnings to people with "sensitive stomachs" to beware of some Hungarian dishes. However whilst many of them are rich, the distinctive flavour and character of Hungarian food should be sampled by all.

Today pan-fried goose liver is still a favorite as is Gulyas, a hearty beef and vegetable soup, often mistakenly called Goulash by non-Hungarians. You can read all about the real Goulash (Pörkölt) in the Speciality Dish section.

Potatoes are a staple of the Hungarian diet and feature heavily in everyday cooking as does paprika, sour cream and eggs and with the continuing abundance of fresh local produce and the culinary meeting of East and West, Hungarian cooking is of a diverse and interesting nature.

There has been much confusion and disinformation  about Hungarian Goulash outside of Hungary; from the misspelling of the name to the misinterpretation of the dish. 

Firstly,  Goulash is the English word for Gulyas,  whereas Pörkölt is the Hungarian name for the dish most of us call Goulash.  It is not to be confused with gulyas leves which is actually a hearty soup that contains large pieces of meat and vegetables.  The name gulyas is a shortened form of gulyashus,  which means "herdsman's meat" in Hungarian.

Traditionally Pörkölt was (and often still is) cooked in a large cauldron called a bográc,  on the top of the heat source. A version of it was cooked as early as 800A.D. by  the Magyars who used bogrács to cook it over open fires. The Magyars traditionally cooked cubes of with onions, then dried them and took it with them when they went on their wanderings. They would then cook them in water until reconstituted. 

Over the years, various other ingredients were added including Paprika (c18th century), sour cream and potatoes and nowadays it is made from using different meats and often served with noodles.

Hungarian Goulash 

Serves 4  

Ingredients

1kg/2lb boned Shoulder of Veal

2 Onions, chopped

2 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped

50g/2oz Butter

1/4 teasp Caraway Seeds

3 tbsp Paprika

1 Bay Leaf

1/4 teasp dried Marjoram

1/4 teasp dried Thyme

Salt and Black pepper

225g/8oz Button Mushrooms, sliced

2 Red Capsicums, (sweet peppers) seeded and diced

2 Green Capsicums, seeded and diced

1 x 400g/14oz tin Tomatoes

300ml/10 fl.oz. Soured Cream

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 150C, 300F, Gas mark 2.  Fry the finely chopped onions and garlic in 25g/1 oz of the butter in a large flameproof casserole until transparent. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon.

2. Cut the veal into 5cm/2 inch cubes. Add to the casserole and fry, adding more butter  if necessary, until golden on all sides. Return the onion and garlic to the casserole and sprinkle with the caraway seeds and paprika to taste. Add the bay leaf, dried marjoram and thyme and cook gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Top with the sliced mushrooms, diced peppers and peeled tomatoes.

4. Cover the casserole and bring gently to boil then transfer to the oven and cook gently for about 1 hour, or until tender. Serve with soured cream.

My new/old cookbook says that this is an appetizer. I think it would make a good side dish or salad kind of dish too.

SULT PAPRIKA

6 SERVINGS

6 sweet green peppers

3 tablespoons vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon oil (optional)

Wash, clean, and dry the green peppers. Heat in a moderate oven (35°0 F.) for 10 minutes. Blend the vinegar, salt, pepper, and oil. Remove the peppers from the oven and peel off and discard the thin skins. Cool and slice into 4-inch rings. Serve with the mixed dressing.

hi texas

thanks for the new thread.

nice topic - i have to look for some yummy recipes tha ti had in budapes - i love their pastries and candy a lot!!!

Twinkle 

Hungarian Bread Dumplings (Zsemlye Gomboc)

Serves 6-8

3 hard dinner rolls
Butter
2 cups flour
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
Salt
Milk
3 to 4 quarts water

Cut the rolls into small dice and sautee in butter
until crisp but not browned.

Mix the flour, eggs, butter, baking powder, salt, and enough
milk to make a medium dough.
Blend together thoroughly.
Fold in the
sauteed, diced rolls.

Bring 3 to 4 quarts water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon salt.
Drop the dumplings into the boiling water a tablespoonful at a
time.
When they come to the surface, taste one.
If done, remove the
dumplings from the water with a slotted spoon.
Dot with melted
butter and place in a warm oven to heat through.
If you want them
crisp, turn the oven to 400 degrees F and let them brown slightly,
but do not let them dry out.

Hungarian Rakott Burgonya (Layer Potatoes)

1 cup commercial sour cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 cold cooked medium potatoes, thinly sliced
3 hard-cooked eggs, sliced
1 cup finely diced, fully cooked ham
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine
1/4 teaspoon onion salt

About 45 minutes before serving: Start heating oven to 350
degrees F.

Into sour cream in small bowl, stir heavy cream and salt until
well blended.

In greased 1 1/2 quart casserole, arrange one third of potatoes;
top with egg slices, then one half of cream mixture.
Add another
one third of potatoes; sprinkle with ham; pour over remaining cream
mixture; then top with remaining potatoes.

Toss crumbs with butter and onion salt, and sprinkle evenly over
potatoes.

Bake 30 minutes or until bubbly.
Nice with tossed green salad
for luncheon.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Gulyas (Hungary)

“Gulyas” means cattle- or sheep-herder in Hungarian.
This hearty
soup has traditional roots in the foods prepared by rustic herders,
long ago.
Serve the soup in bowls topped with sour cream.

1 pound lean boneless stewing beef
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons Hungarian sweet paprika
Dash of cayenne pepper
3 cups beef stock or broth
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon caraway seed
1/2 teaspoon crumbled dry marjoram
Salt and pepper
1 (16 ounce) can tomatoes, broken up
3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
2 red (or green) bell peppers, cut into chunks
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons water
Csipetke, if desired
Sour cream

Wipe beef with damp cloth; cut into 1-inch cubes.
Place oil in
Dutch oven.
Add beef; brown well on all sides.
Remove from pan with
slotted spoon; set aside.

Add onions and garlic to pan; cook 4 minutes, stirring
occasionally.
Add paprika, cayenne, stock, the 2 cups water,
caraway, marjoram, salt, pepper and meat.
Stir well.
Bring to boil
over moderate heat.
Reduce heat to low; cook, covered, 45
minutes.

Add tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, and peppers.
Stir well; return
to boil.
Cover; cook 30 minutes.

Combine flour and the 2 tablespoons water; stir to form smooth
paste.
Add slowly to soup, stirring well.
Cook over low heat,
stirring until thickened.
Drop Csipetke (noodle/ dumplings) into
soup before serving, if desired.

Serves 4 to 6.

Once upon a time there were three sisters, ages 92, 94 and 96, and they all lived together.

One night the 96 year old ran a bath. She put one foot in and paused. "Was I getting in the tub or out?" she yelled.

The 94 year old hollered back, "I don't know. I'll come and see." She started up the stairs and stopped. She shouted, "Was I going up or coming down?"

The 92 year old sitting at the kitchen table having tea, listening to her sister’s shook her head and said, "I sure hope I never get that forgetful," and knocked on wood for good measure.

Then she yelled, "I'll come up and help both of you as soon as I see who's at the door."

bump

Texas, thank you for this post. My family roots go back to Hungary and as I was reading about the ingredients and procedures, I began to realize where my love of these types of food came from. It's genetics! I'm sure of it...now, I can't explain how I've come to love Italian and Mexican and Asian cooking so much. That part of my food love is not genetic. I was just remembering when we were in Germany last year and how "in love" I was with the food there. It meant more to me than just eating, but I didn't realize until now just how much it meant and why. I truly am a food addict. I'm constantly thinking about it. And, since my surgery, I have to think about food all the time...but that's just a happy little excuse to justify my addiction. I love, love, love food! Especially, heritage food! I'm going to do some searching over the next few days through my Gramma's cookbooks and see what I can find to contribute to this thread! Talk to you later!

Shannon

Hello Ladies;

Texas, yum, Hungarian food is the best.  IMHO the secret to an excellent goulash is the quality of the paprika.  There's an excellent Hungarian restaurant in Milwaukee that's been around forever.  It's not cheap, and they only accept cash.  DH & I didn't know this, lol, we were all pulling money from our wallets.  Hello?  Welcome to the 21st Century?  Apparantly, they don't give a rat's patottie.

Shannon, like Twinkle mentioned, your future MIL is passive-aggressive toward you.  She ate your BD cake on purpose.  But, her house, her rules.   Just a thought - does she shove your FF's ex, his old girlfriends down your throat?  My mother did this all the time; in fact, IMHO Mom was a major player in why my bro got divorced after six years.  You should visit Etiquettehell.com - what an earful, and MIL's are amongst the hot topics...

Jet, I love to arrange flowers too - took a professional course eons ago when my sons were small.  Got me a wholesaler's #, made arrangements and stored them in my basement old 'fridge.  Made a nice little side income for a few years, just by word of mouth.  It's a wonderful profession.

Renate, glad you're in CO safely.  We've been getting snow steadily, must have about 20-24" on the ground.  Dobie is not happy, lol - Maynard is a snow plow.

Okay, I may be blonde, but have never ended up in a men's john.  Your stories are sure cute.  I actually think men don't mind if a woman ends up in their restroom - either necessity or an honest mistake.  DH says it doesn't bother him at all, lol.  One of the biggest dilemnas I've seen is a single father with a small daughter who's too big for dad to take her to the boy's room, but nervous about letting her use the ladies' room by herself.  I always offer to help and watch the little gals to make sure they are okay.

Berny, maybe I'd try a moose burger, as you've vouched for it.  Around here, just alot of bratwurst and braunschweiger (sp).

Erna, your playing for pennies reminded me of our family "bunco" games where everyone played.  We had a few hotheads (like my dad) who'd get mad at card games, dice, etc.  It was a stitch.

Will see if I can scratch up some Hungarian recipes from madame recipe box, lydia.

GOULASH

1 lb. ground beef

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

1 small bell pepper, chopped

1 (16 oz.) can tomatoes

1/2 to 3/4 C. instant rice

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

In a large skillet brown ground beef; drain well.  Continue to brown beef with onion and pepper.  Add crushed tomatoes and 1 can water.  Simmer for 30 minutes.  Add salt, pepper and rice; continue to simmer 5 minutes.  Serve with crackers.

-Becky Everette, the Raleigh Moravian cookbook

A friend of mine from Romania makes the best cabbage rolls.  I could not put my finger on the spices she used but what ever it was, was very subtle.  Anyone have any recipes?