FOOD!!

 

People being what they are, when you live in a foreign country, one of the main things you notice is the FOOD, and  people miss the foods they are used to eating not being available!

 

Let's start with some stuff they don't have here: Dr. Pepper or root beer, Hidden Valley Ranch dressing, Kool-Aid, refrigerated cookie dough or biscuits, cheesecake (yes! tragic but too true!), beef jerky, liquid vanilla (they use "vanilla sugar" here), pancake mix (I make my own from scratch...their version of pancakes are called "palacsinta" and they are really more like crepes). And no Crisco shortening! (Hungarians use lard but I make do with vegetable oil)

Of course we do have Coca-Cola and Lay's potato chips  here! In 2003 they came out with Magyar flavors of Lay's chips and they are all yummy, our favorite being the black pepper flavor. Since they opened the new super Tesco you can also now buy some American foods like Brownie Mix and Blueberry muffin mix but they are VERY expensive. (and I have a great recipe for brownies so I just make my own from scratch) They also have peanut butter now and we are willing to pay the 5 bucks a jar for it since we don't eat it up that fast! They also finally have nacho chips and some dips, and we notice people seem to be buying them. One thing we have folks send us from back in the USA is liquid smoke flavoring. Hungarians would love those if they sold them here because they routinely eat many types of smoked meat, and many village people still smoke their own meats. Everyone here who has tasted Hidden Valley Ranch dressing that people sent me in stuff like cole slaw or Sour Cream n Chive potatoes LOVES it!

Hungarian Foods: coffee here is more like espresso...very strong, and drunk in small cups. (in some places (like in the train stations) when you buy a "kávé"  (coffee) it still comes in the commie-era glasses that look like big shot glasses sitting on a little saucer)

 

pot to make Magyar kávé, this kind of coffee is brewed on the stove and is very strong!

 

"Bacon" here usually means "bacon szalonna"...it is cured and sold in chunks and comes either  smoked only, or smoked and cooked. People here usually eat it uncooked, with bread, although it might be fried up for breakfast. Hungarians are big eaters of bread, sour cream, paprika (peppers), and their favorite meats are pork, turkey and chicken, often cooked with onion, garlic and/or paprika. (see the recipe page for some Hungarian foods that I like and often fix myself!)

Bread can be bought pre-sliced, in packages now also, but most people still prefer the large fresh loaves that are just stacked on the shelf. Traditionally Hungarians cooked with goose fat or lard, but in more recent times many people are cooking more with vegetable oil. One thing I don't like is that when you buy eggs, even though now the new E.U. rules do at least have eggs refrigerated in the store, they still come UNWASHED. Gross! (it's cool if you're buying them on a farm but in a carton in a store?!)

 Hungarians have a very long tradition of beer and wine-making, and both are quite good as well as inexpensive here. The Tokaj region makes world class wines, and at an amazingly inexpensive price.

                                        

 

 

On Fridays Hungarians are big eaters of "halászlé",  which is carp soup made with paprika. Left is a "cookbook view" of it and right Jer is about to spoon some up at a restaurant in our old village.

 


our favorite condiment! it's really yummy on sandwiches and things

 

bacon szalonna at the butcher shop

 


Gulyás as it's most often
 cooked...over an open
 fire! Gulyás began as
 "cowboy's food".

Hungarians favorite
 veggie- Paprika, aka
 Hungarian Wax Peppers

Another outdoor favorite-
 roasting bacon szalonna over an
 open fire, usually with bread in
 hand to catch the drips!

 

paprika and garlic
drying

 

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