Deli Kapu

The Hungarian people are zealously preserving their culinary traditions. The Hungarian cuisine has become one of the most appreciated cuisines around Europe. There are even international food symposiums where famous Hungarian chefs are taking part, sharing their knowledge in the field. There are Hungarian chefs who are writing cookbooks containing either old, traditional recipes or new, improved ones. Some of them have their own TV shows, web pages or restaurants. These experts of the Hungarian food are sharing precious culinary tips and secrets. The Hungarian chefs are devoted to their culinary traditions, customs and culture.

Some of the most appreciated Hungarian chefs are members of gastronomic associations, preserving the Magyar cultural inheritance and the culinary traditions. Many experienced Hungarian chef’s own restaurants in Hungary or abroad, being the messengers of the Magyar culture. The Hungarian cooks are promoting a healthy cuisine, rich in fresh vegetables and fruits, greens, and low fat ingredients. There are several Hungarian restaurants in the United States, Canada, the Czech Republic, Romania or Austria and their customers appreciate a lot the Hungarian cuisine. In Budapest, the capital of Hungary, every year there is a contest between famous Hungarian chefs, a food competition that lasts two days. During this contest, the Hungarian chefs are preparing traditional dishes using old traditional cooking techniques and new ones.

Gulyásleves

Gulyás is a typical food of Hungary (often called “Goulash”). Gulyásleves is prepared as a soup (leves meaning soup). The dish Gulyás or Bográcsgulyás[2] was traditionally a thick stew made by cattle stockmen; today, it is still prepared in both soup and stew form. The traditional Hungarian stews Goulash, Pörkölt, and Paprikás all originated as herdsmens stews and are considered to be the national dishes of Hungary. It is best to keep them simple: they do not really need anything else than the onions and paprika (hot and/or mild), although garlic, a little tomato for the colour, a small amount of caraway seed, fresh green pepper when in season, and wine for game, are always acceptable. Other herbs and spices should be avoided. Flour is used only for paprikás (see below), never for gulyásleves or pörkölt.
Hungarian Goulash

An important rule for all kinds of goulash, pörkölt and paprikás is to start by frying the onions in the fat until light gold (never darker), take the pan off the fire, immediately add the paprika powder to the hot mixture and stir well, then add the meat and stir again to coat the meat well with the onion-fat-paprika mixture before returning the pot to the fire. This ensures that the flavour of the paprika is released by contact with the hot fat, but that it does not burn or become bitter, which can easily happen if the pan is not taken off the fire first.

Goulash can be prepared from beef, veal[3], pork, or lamb. Typical cuts include the shank, shin, or shoulder; as a result, goulash derives its thickness from tough, well-exercised muscles rich in collagen, which is converted to gelatin during the cooking process. Meat is cut into chunks, seasoned with salt, and then browned with sliced onions in a pot with oil or lard. Paprika is added, along with water or stock, and the goulash is left to simmer. After cooking a while, garlic, whole or ground caraway seeds, or soup vegetables like carrot, parsnip, peppers (green or bell pepper), celery and a small tomato may be added. Other herbs and spices could also be added, especially hot chili peppers, bay leaf and thyme[2]. Diced potatoes may be added, since they provide starch as they cook, which makes the goulash thicker and smoother. A small amount of white wine or wine vinegar may also be added near the end of cooking to round the taste. Goulash may be served with small egg noodles called csipetke[4] The name Csipetke comes from pinching small, fingernail-sized bits out of the dough (csip =pinch) before adding them to the boiling soup.

The Hungarian traditional cuisine doesn’t need sophisticated special equipment for cooking. Like the other cuisines, the Hungarian one needs the basic equipment set such as: soup ladles, mugs, oven proof casserole dish, frying pans, skillets, mixing bowls, food pans, wooden cutting boards, sauce pans. For example, in preparing the Hungarian “Nockerl”, a noodle dish with braised meats and “Paprikash”, the main ingredients are three cups of flour, one cup of cold water, one teaspoon of salt and some butter.

The cooking equipment used in preparing this delicious dish is the basic one: a sharp knife, a large pot, a mixing bowl, a wooden cutting board, an oven and a gas range. The water, eggs and salt are added to the flour and mixed in a large bowl. The mixing bowl needs to be covered with a towel for a while. A large pot needs to be filled with salted water and brought to boil.

Wet the wooden cutting board and put a small part of the dough on it. Next step is to flick small stripes into the water using a sharp knife. The pot needs to be stirred from time to time and the water kept at a simmer. Add the last batch of dough and cook for about ten minutes. Next step is to drain the water and to melt one or two tablespoons of butter. Add the “Nockerl” next to the melted butter and keep it in the warm oven until serving.

Once one tastes any dish from the Hungarian cuisine it is for sure he will try it again. Thought sometimes they are heavy and not indicated to those with a sensitive stomach, the traditional Hungarian dishes are a delight for your senses. A mix of flavors abounding in piquant and spicy ingredients transforms sometimes this food into a delicatessen.

The secret of a well-cooked dish with a fine taste lies in the ingredients used. The local agriculture provides most of the exquisite ingredients needed and that is why everywhere in Hungary you can easily find paprika and garlic. The most representative specialty for the Hungarian cuisine and one of the favorite dishes for the inanities are Gulyas, square soup made with Beef and vegetables. Besides that, also one of the favorite dishes is the pan-fried Goose livery. Usually this dish is cooked with potatoes.

The usage of this vegetable can be frequently found in the everyday cooking since it represents the raw material of the Hungarian diet. Hungarian cuisine and dishes developed during the time and finds his roots in centuries old traditions. Ancient handwritten cookbooks tell us about how important and developed fishing was for the Hungarians back then. This practice still stands nowadays, the only thing that got changed are the names of some fish dishes.

Hungary has experienced it all—Turkish invasion, German occupation, and Soviet acquisition. It’s no surprise aspiring empires have wanted Hungary for their own. With its complex Finno-Ugric language and its Central-European location, Hungary is re-affirming its identity now that it is free from Soviet control. This Country of the Magyars, as it is called locally, is a place unlike any other.

The official language of Hungary is Hungarian, so bring your phrase books–Hungarian is one of the most difficult languages for English speakers to learn!
The currency used in Hungary is the forint.
Hungary is landlocked by these countries: Austria, Romania, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Ukraine–a perfect central for exploring these countries.

Hungarians are especially passionate about their soups, desserts and pastries and stuffed pancakes (palacsinta), with fierce rivalries between regional variations of the same dish, (like the Hungarian hot fish soup called Fisherman’s Soup or halászlé, cooked differently on the banks of Hungary’s two main rivers: the Danube and the Tisza). Other famous Hungarian dishes would be Paprikás (paprika stew, meat simmered in thick creamy paprika gravy) served with nokedli (small dumplings), Goulash, Gundel Pancake (pancakes served flambéed in dark chocolate sauce filled with ground walnuts) and Dobos Cake (layered sponge cake, with chocolate buttercream filling and topped with a thin caramel slice).

Two remarkable elements of Hungarian cuisine that are hardly noticed by locals, but usually conjure up much enthusiasm amongst foreigners, are different forms of vegetable stews called főzelék[1] as well as cold fruit soups, like cold sour cherry soup (Hungarian: hideg meggyleves).

Meat stews, casseroles, steaks, roasted pork, beef, poultry, lamb or game and the Hungarian sausages (kolbász[1]) and winter salami are a major part of Hungarian cuisine. The mixing of different varieties of meat is a traditional feature of the Hungarian cuisine. Goulash, stuffed peppers, stuffed cabbages or Fatányéros (Hungarian mixed grill on wooden platter[2]) can combine beef and pork, and sometimes mutton. In very exclusive dishes fruits like plums and apricots are cooked with meat or in piquant sauces/stuffings for game, roasts and other cuts. Various kinds of noodles and dumplings, potatoes and rice are commonly served as a side dish. The Hungarian cuisine uses a large variety of cheeses, but the most common are túró (a fresh quark cheese), cream cheeses, ewe-chese (juhturó), Emmentaler, Edam and the Hungarian cheese Trappista.

Our opinions on others are always based on our own cultural values.

Aggression

Americans:      Aggression and emotions should not be shown.

Hungarians:     Aggression and emotions may be ventilated at proper places and times.

What is the opposite of  “emotional”?

In Hungary:      emotional is the direct opposite of cold hearted, indifferent, apathetic

When a person is labeled emotional (érzelmes) by a Hungarian, it means that he or she
is a warm-hearted, sensitive, devoted, passionate person who is probably  transparent,
caring and can be a generally balanced individual.

In America:      emotional  is the direct opposite of rational, balanced, mature, reliable,
logical

When a person is labeled emotional by an American, it means that he or she is a week,
unreliable individual who is out of balance and might be lacking maturity and self control.

In Hungary, the opposite of rational is irrational, not emotional!

Emotional behavior is not always viewed negative in Hungary.

It can be seen as honest devotion, passion, sensitivity, or being “real”.

Many people here value “honest” behavior without masks.

A man in love is incomplete until he is married. Then he’s finished.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

Conrad Hilton was very generous to me in the divorce settlement. He gave me 5000
Gideon Bibles.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

Getting divorced just because you don’t love a man is almost as silly as getting
married just because you do.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

He taught me housekeeping; when I divorce I keep the house.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

How many husbands have I had? You mean apart from my own?
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

Husbands are like fires – they go out when unattended.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

I am a marvelous housekeeper. Every time I leave a man I keep his house.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

I call everyone ‘Darling’ because I can’t remember their names.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

I don’t remember anybody’s name. How do you think the “dahling” thing got started?
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

I know nothing about sex, because I was always married.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

I never hated a man enough to give him diamonds back.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

I want a man who’s kind and understanding. Is that too much to ask of a millionaire?
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

I’m a great housekeeper. I get divorced. I keep the house.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

I’m an excellent housekeeper. Every time I get a divorce, I keep the house.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

Macho does not prove mucho.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

One of my theories is that men love with their eyes; women love with their ears.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

The women’s movement hasn’t changed my sex life. It wouldn’t dare.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

Thou shouldst not become presumptuous through much treasure and wealth; for in
the end it is necessary for thee to leave all.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

To a smart girl men are no problem – they’re the answer.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

We were both in love with him. I fell out of love with him, but he didn’t.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

When I’m alone, I can sleep crossways in bed without an argument.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

You never really know a man until you have divorced him.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

The Hungarian uprising of 1956 was a spontaneous rebellion by a nation
against the rule from Moscow – against the faceless, indifferent,
incompetent functionaries (the ‘funkies’ David Irving calls them, adapting
the Hungarian word funkcionáriusok) who in little more than a decade had
turned their country into a pit of Marxist misery.

But this fluttering of a national spirit was brief: the Soviet Union
crushed the uprising with a brutality that shocked the western
world.
This year we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the
1956 Hungarian Uprising. It was on that day in the afternoon that huge
demonstrations, initiated by students, wound their way across central
Budapest heading for the statue of Polish general József Bem, not far
from Margaret Bridge on the Buda side. The demonstrators were
expressing solidarity with reforms underway in Poland, but they were also
demanding changes at home.

In the early evening further crowds gathered in Kossuth tér by
parliament, demanding the appearance of Imre Nagy, a former reform-
minded prime minister who at that moment was out of power. Nagy
addressed the crowd at 9:00 p.m. with a lack-lustre speech. One hour
earlier, hard-line Party secretary Ernő Gerő had gone on the radio and
denounced the demonstrators in harsh language.

Across the city, on today’s Dózsa György út, workers were struggling with
industrial blow-torch cutters, steel wires and lorries, trying to bring down
the huge statue of Joseph Stalin, which had stood by the City Park since
1951. It came crashing down at around 9.30 p.m. It was dragged to Blaha
Lujza tér and smashed to pieces. The size of the statue can be gauged
from its huge hand, which today can be seen in the National Museum.

Also throughout the evening a crowd demonstrated in front of the Radio
Building in Bródy Sándor utca. It was here that shots were first fired and
violence erupted in Budapest. Overnight there were clashes at various
points in the city and Soviet tanks, called from their bases in provincial
Hungary, appeared on the streets of the capital.

The events of 23 October 1956 were not foreseen. On the very morning
of that day almost the entire leadership of the ruling party had just
returned from an eight-day visit to Yugoslavia. They got off the train at
the Western Railway Station and found themselves facing a social
explosion.

The day  was warm  – exceptionally warm. The morning edition of the
trade union newspaper Népszava had predicted temperatures of up to
21 degrees and had commented on the extraordinary and unusually
warm weather conditions the country was experiencing for an autumn.
Did the newspaper’s editors, typesetters and proofreaders realise that
those words could have applied to the political temperature as well?

Source: Bob Dent, author of ‘Budapest 1956 – Locations of Drama’
(Európa Publishers, Budapest, 2006)