Hungastro - Hungarian Gastronomy

Whats so special about Hungarian food & Cuisine?

Hungarian food and cuisine might be world famous but is probably not that well known as Hungarian like to think. If you ask people of Hungary, Budapest most people come to think of the Goulash soup, Salami, the Hungarian paprika and of course the langos. These are all truly delicious and typical Hungarian food but there is much more to Hungarian cuisine.

There are many other tasty Hungarian dishes and specialties rich in flavors and aromas. Traditonal Hungarian food like for example:

• Paprikás csirke (paprika chicken)
• Borjú pörkölt nokedlival (veal pörkölt with dupmplings)
• Ciganypecsenye (gypsie roast)
• Lecso (vegetable stew)
• Szult libamáj (fried goose liver)

Some people would argue that there is nothing special to Hungarian cooking and that it is a combination of the cuisine of the surrounding cultures like the Turkish, Slavic, Austrian and German cuisine. The thing is that they would be right, but that is far from the whole truth. Hungarian cooking is highly influenced from surrounding cultures but it has a long history during which it has transformed all these influences to a magnificent cuisine with its own characteristic combinations of ingredients and spicy tastes.

It it impossible to reduce and define Hungarian cuisine with just a few ingredients and spices but nonetheless there is a unique characteristic to many of the best Hungarian dishes that is truly at the heart of the food culture of Hungary. What characterises traditional Hungarian cuisine and makes it really special is the old traditions in spicing, the preparation-methods and the use of exquisite ingredients like:

• vegetables: garlic, onion, red & green pepper and fresh tomatoes
• the sour cream (tejföl) and curd (turó),
• the generous use of goose-fat, laird
• the salonna (smoked bacon or pork fat)

Taste is like beauty, it depends on individual preferences but we think chances are you will find something that will make you appreciate Hungarian cuisine. But don’t take our word for it, try it yourself!

Thomas posted this article under Hungarian cuisine, Hungarian dishes on Thursday, March 13th, 2008 at 9:58 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment or trackback from your own site. View Technorati Linkbacks.