Stories and recipes from my Hungarian family and the history of food in Hungary
My father was the youngest of four children, arriving when his nearest sibling was 6 years old. By all accounts, Klári wasn’t thrilled with the arrival of a brother who usurped her place as the baby of the family. But absence makes the heart grow fonder, and they became very close in later years. It’s […]
Read More Magyar ShortbreadI do love a bit of alliteration but I am being slightly disingenuous in translating palacsinta as pancake, as it’s much closer to a crepe. Having said that, it is also similar to the British style of thin pancake rather than the thicker American version. Whatever you compare it to, the palacsinta is a thing […]
Read More Palacsinta, Pancake perfectionI’ve been recuperating from a major abdominal operation for most of January. This has meant not cooking, which is akin to inhumane treatment in my case because I use cookery as therapy. It soothes me. Stress melts away when I potter in the kitchen. But a moratorium on standing too long and lifting heavy pans […]
Read More Ice Cream DreamsWhen I was born, my father had just received his British citizenship and thus was able, after 10 long years, to return to Hungary to see his family. As is the way, I arrived and my grandfather Aladár departed, in the same month of August so I didn’t get to meet my paternal grandfather or […]
Read More NagymamaCake. It’s a marvellous thing. Cheers and consoles in equal measure. Cake has a central role in Hungarian cuisine. Cafes abound in every town, serving sumptious patisserie, to be eaten with delicate precision by older ladies dressed in the purples, greys and blacks of their widowhood. No visit back to Hungary during my childhood was […]
Read More Afternoon delightYes. Salami made with chocolate. Don’t panic. This isn’t some weird medieval recipe involving pork or horse with chocolate for added interest. It is in fact a sort of fridge cake. There is almost no cooking involved beyond a bit of chocolate melting, so it’s very simple to assemble, and rather satisfying, as there’s a […]
Read More Salami. The chocolate one.
Finom - the food of Hungary 