Eat

Eat

Hungarian “gulyás” soup – Magyaros gulyásleves

Gulyás, which is a soup not a stew, is probably the best known Hungarian dish, even though other nations, the Slovaks, Czechs, and Austrians, have their own versions of it.  Interestingly enough, ”In the United States, someone decided that elbow macaroni with ground beef and tomatoes could also be called gulyas (although the innovator changed the spelling to goulash).” – writes Nicolaus Balla and Corthney Burns in Bar Tartine: Techniques & Recipes.

Eat

Hungarian beef or pork “pörkölt” – Marha- vagy sertéspörkölt

Recently I realized that if I want to stay true to my promise, I need to collect those Hungarian recipes that characterize my everyday cooking and culinary heritage.  Let’s start with a meat paprika stew called pörkölt.  In my family, we don’t eat too much meat, but when I choose to cook meat, I often go with this, because it’s simple, delicious, and very easy to make.

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Walnut squares – Diós kocka

These wonderful walnut cookies – a tray bake, so it’s incredibly easy to make – were in the box of goodies for two family parties during this past holiday season.  They were well loved.  The combination of chocolate and walnuts, together with the tanginess of the apricot jam, makes them irresistible. Try to bake them, you might agree with me.

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Sweet buttermilk scones – Írós édes pogácsa

Picture yourself in your kitchen wanting to treat your family (or just yourself) to a delicious breakfast, but not wanting to spend too much time there.  Yes, the idea for what to make, is in the title: make scones, make these scones.  The ingredients are basic, you probably have them at home; the technique is basic, so it’s suitable even for a beginner baker.  Serve them with butter and your favorite jam, and add a little whipped cream if they will be treats for an afternoon tea with your friends.

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Orange linzer cookies filled with jam – Narancsos töltött linzer keksz

One of the most versatile pastries, that always gives you good results, is the famous linzer.  You make the dough, you cut out different shapes from it, and then decorate them reflecting the occasion.  It can be a circle, a square with flouted edges, a heart, a star, a tree, or your favorite animal if you happen to have a cutter in its shape – anything you like, really.