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Dining Guide - Good to Know
Meals
Hungarian or Magyar cuisine is the cuisine characteristic to the nation of Hungary and its primary ethnic group, the Magyars. The traditional Hungarian cuisines dishes are cooked from the ground, using a wide variety of fresh, unpreserved, high quality ingredients, including meats, seasonal vegetables, fruits, fresh bread, cheeses and honey, based on centuries old traditions in spicing and preparation methods 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 Paprikash (paaprika 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[2]) 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[3]) 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.
Spices
Hungarian food is often spicy, as hot paprika is commonly used; on account of the use of this spice (hot paprika), Hungarian cuisine is arguably the spiciest cuisine native to Europe. Besides hot paprika, sweet (mild) paprika is also used daily.
The combination of paprika, lard and red onions is typical of Hungarian cuisine,[4] and the use of the thick sour cream called tejföl. Besides different kinds of paprika and onions (raw, sweated or caramelized), other common flavor components include garlic, black peppercorn, parsley, ground black and white pepper, bay leaf, dill, caraway (seeds or grounded), marjoram, thyme, mustard (prepared), tarragon, vinegar, savory, lovage, creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum), chervil, lemon juice and peel (zest), almond, vanilla, poppy seeds and cinnamon. Additional flavor components are wine, coriander, rosemary, juniper berries, anise, basil, oregano, allspice, horseradish, cloves, mace, and nutmeg.
Drinks
Hungarian wines dates back to at least Roman times, and that history reflects the country's position between the Slavs and the Germanic peoples. The best-known wines are the white dessert wine called Tokaj (North-Eastern region of Hungary) (Tokaji) and the red vines from Villány (Southern part of Hungary). Famous is also the vine called Bull's Blood (Egri Bikavér), a dark, full-bodied red wine. Hungarian fruit wines like redcurrant wine are mild and more soft in taste and texture.
Though not as famous as the country's wines, Hungarian beer has a long history as well.
Hungary's most notable liquors are Unicum, a herbal bitters, and Palinka, a fruit brandy.
Also notable are the Hungarian mineral waters, 21 brands, (for example Apenta and Kekkúti)[22], which should deserve more international attention, unique, refreshing and tasty, and some of them having therapeutic value, like Mira or the Transylvanian Borszéki. Traubi or Traubisoda, is a Hungarian soft drink produced in Balatonvilágos.
