Read the text

Hungarian cuisine

Hungarian cuisine is known all over the world, but there is much more to our cooking than goulash soup and a generous sprinkling of paprika. Down the centuries, Hungarys top chefs and a legion of committed grandmothers have drawn influences from Turkish, Slavic, French, Italian, Austrian and German cooking. As a result, Hungarian cooking is actually quite difficult to define. But there are some ever-present ingredients, including tejfl sour cream, tr curd, which is often, but not always sweetened, szalonna smoked bacon or pork fat, cumin, caraway seeds, garlic, and of course paprika. Unmissable specialities include goose liver, kolbsz spicy sausage, palacsinta pancakes, both sweet and savoury and papriks csirke paprika chicken.In many families, soup is an essential starter, and with good reason. Finding a bad soup is quite a challenge and, surprising though it may sound, even sour cherry soup makes for a refreshing summer appetizer. Main courses are usually generous and generally meaty, and vegetarian options are often limited. Most menus do offer fish, including local fogas perch and some soups, fzelk vegetable stew, tszta pasta, often with potato, cabbage or curd and pancakes are also vegetarian. Whatever you do, don't miss out on dessert, particularly if it is Somli galuska a sponge, chocolate, rum and cream delight.Green salad is a recent addition to the menu, and does not take centre stage in traditional Hungarian cuisine. But what many Magyars miss out on when it comes to vegetables, they make up for by eating plenty of fresh (and often organically grown) fruit, particularly melons, berries, cherries, peaches, apricots and tomatoes. It is worth avoiding the supermarkets and going to a local grocer or a market or market hall for something home-grown to snack on.

Sour Cream:

Sour cream is a traditional ingredient in Eastern European cooking, and its also important in Hungarian cuisine. It gives a pleasant tang to many dishes. Sour cream is widely used in dips, spreads, sauces, cakes, souffls, and in savoury dishes such as beef Stroganoff or Hungarian goulash soup.