Hungarian Food Articles

Hódi Paprika: A Life of Spice in Szeged

Paprika is truly a way of life for the Hódi family in Szeged. We interviewd Ágota Hódi is (the fifth-generation in her family paprika business) to find out more about this essential Hungarian spice.

Food

Palacsinta: it’s Not a Pancake, Don’t Call it a Pancake

Palacsinta, in case you don’t know, are a beloved Hungarian flat cake that can be stuffed with fillings both savory and sweet. It of course looks nothing like a pancake. While it has minor differences…

Food

Five Amazing Spots at Budapest’s Lehel Market Hall

The quality of the produce and the diversity of food stands at the Lehel Market is exceptional, and we could have easily listed many more highlights.

Food

The Eater’s Guide to Hungarikums

If you spend time in Hungary, sooner or later you’ll hear talk of ‘Hungarikums.’ As any traveler will quickly learn, Hungarians are proud (and fiercely protective) of their natural treasures, achievem…

Food

A Guide to Hungarian Szalonna

Szalonna is an essential food staple in Hungary. Its recipe is very simple—you add salt, smoke, and time to a piece of pork fat. But there are many different types (depending on the cut of meat, the s…

Food

The Four Types of Pogácsa You Meet in Budapest

Pogácsa, which usually gets a loose translation as ‘scones’ or ‘biscuits,’ are everywhere in Hungary. Pogácsa, or ‘pogi’ for short, also seem to be compulsory for most organized social gatherings.

Food

Zsemle: Hungary’s Multi-purpose Wonder Roll

We hesitate to call zsemle beloved, they are definitely depended upon. More convenient than a kilo or half kilo of your standard Hungarian loaf of bread, not mass produced yet inexpensive enough to be…

Food

Hekk: Hungary’s Favorite Saltwater Fish

Hekk is a curious fish to find in Hungary, as it is a sea fish, and Hungary is a landlocked country. How hekk became so popular locally is still a bit murky. WHat is not disputed is that the most Hung…

Food

Főzelék: The Lighter Side to Hungarian Lunch

Főzelék is a lunchtime staple as much as any gulyás or paprikás. It is the unheralded anchor of any étkezdé’s (lunch canteen) menu. It’s popular with good reason, and taken very seriously.

Food

Gyula Krúdy: Hungary’s Gourmet Writer

Hungarian food is closely tied in with the country’s literature, and perhaps no other writer captures the romance of the early-20th-century Budapest café society and the magic of Hungarian food better…

Food

Csontvelő: The Decadent Bliss of Hungarian Bone Marrow

A good csontvelő (bone marrow) is worth a trip across town for, worth planning an evening around. You may have to, because it is not the easiest dish to find.

Food

On Frog Legs and Regrets on the Streets of Budapest

The thing about frog legs is that you can’t dither. If you are fixing to get frog legs, you shouldn’t hesitate. For one thing, they are a very easy dish to talk yourself out of. For another, even plac…

Food

Jókai Bean Soup: Steamy Romance In A Bowl

You can see why Jokai was so taken with the soup. Jókai bableves has a rich, nourishing flavor that intoxicates and demands to be overindulged in. The meal is hearty in the truest sense of the word. W…

Food

Hooked on Halászlé, Spicy Hungarian Fish Soup

Halászlé (fisherman’s soup) is an iconic paprika-spiked Hungarian dish, prepared for centuries by fishermen and their families along the banks of the Danube, Tisza rivers, and Lake Balaton (or whereve…

Food

A Selection of Hungarian Liver Preparations

Is there any commonly eaten food more divisive than liver? Loved and loathed in equal measures, it is also the cheapest cut at the market but the most expensive item on the menu. Banned, fetishized, r…

Food

Lángos: Hungary’s Deep Fried Treat

Due to its heaviness, lángos is a meal best eaten when it has been worked for in one way or another. Dough deep fried, brushed with minced garlic and topped with various other fatty delights like smok…

Food

Erős Pista: Hungary’s Multi-Purpose Paprika Paste

The spicy condiment known as Erős Pista—a thick paprika paste—is so omnipresent in lunch canteens (étkezdék), Hungarian restaurants, and in home kitchens that there is little room for artisanal interl…

Food

The Sweet Gesture of Gesztenyepüré: Hungarian Chestnut Puree

Gesztenyepüré is a beloved Hungarian dessert. While you can get it year round, chestnuts are seasonal, so its flavors resonate most in autumn. There is something of a nostalgic feel to the dessert, at…

Food

Elegy to Zsiros Kenyér: A Good-bye to Budapest’s Classic Pub Grub

In Budapest, some dishes go out of style, only to be re-introduced years later as more expensive ‘retro’ fare. It also happens that some dishes disappear not to be seen again.

Food

Flódni: The Four Act Pastry

Flódni is a traditional Hungarian Jewish confection. With fillings of poppy, walnut, apple, and plum jam, separated by five layers of sweet pastry, its flavors of tart, bitter, and sweet meld together…

Food

Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage: The Wedding Gift You Didn’t Know You Wanted

More than fortification for the coming party, the midnight cabbage represents a kind refusal to give in.

Food

Szalonna: Call It Delicious, Just Don’t Call It Bacon

Every now and again a word gets mistranslated, and that mistranslation is picked up on and replicated until it’s been hopelessly absorbed into common usage.

Food

That’ll Do Pig: The Marvelous Rise of Mangalica

If you haven’t heard of Mangalica, don’t feel left out. The fact that there is any of it at all is a small miracle.

Food

Meggyes Leppény  (Sour Cherry Cake) Recipe

My first ever trip to Hungary coincided with cherry season. Ever since, when I think cherries, I crave this cherry cake that Gábor’s mother bakes throughout the summer.

Food

Lecsó as a Verb

Lecsó as a noun is known in flippant company as the Hungarian ratatouille, the dish that’s not really a stew, not a soup, not exactly a side dish, but somehow takes characteristics of all these.

Food

Chomping at the Bit: a Hungarian Horse Sausage Primer

Though Hungarians’ fondness for horse meat is far from universal among the population, a demand for it persists and horse sausage is still commonly found at market halls around Budapest.

Food

Pogácsa at Daubner

Homemade, flaky pogácsa is the quintessential Hungarian snack, eaten at all times of the day and on any occasion.For the best, many Budapesters swear by Daubner Cukrászda.

Food

Sólet at Rosenstein, A Budapest Experience Worthy of a Pilgrimage

At Rosenstein, solét is a hearty, wonderfully-prepared meal that not only deserves a pilgrimage but also clearly underlines the restaurant’s motto: everything is kosher that tastes good.

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