Our Hungarian Kitchen

You would think from our lack of raving about Budapest that we aren’t enjoying it here, but we’re just busy. Our typical week in Budapest is working 6 hours a day Monday to Thursday as close to EST as we can manage. That leaves us until 2PM to use our “free” time, which involves a lot of normal tasks like laundry, dishes, shopping at the market, and high-end $5 2-course lunches. Honestly, it’s these relatively mundane activities in a completely foreign setting that help us discover…well, we don’t know. But it’s fun.

But back to the food. When you go to a Hungarian market, you are drawn to cooking Hungarian food. Potatoes, parsnips, garlic, onions, carrots, and celeriac are everywhere. Hanging paprika-red sausages and salamis guard the butcher stalls that contain all types of bacon, liver, fat, tripe, chicken that was almost definitely plucked this morning, and hunks of meat for roasting (read: few steaks).

To give you an idea of Hungarian cuisine, our kitchen does not have a microwave, but it has a full-size oven. As it turns out, if you have pork fat, root vegetables, paprika, and a meat, you are well on your way to cooking most Hungarian recipes. Add in a side of pickled vegetables bought of a barrel by the kilo, and you have a complete meal.

Here are two of our favorites (so far), though admittedly the boar is an interpretation.

Chicken Paprikash

Substitute tejfol for sour cream. We probably won’t be able to reproduce this recipe back in the States without the tejfol, and that makes us sad. In the meantime, it will become a delicious weekly staple.

Wild Boar Stew

• 2 pounds boar meat
• Lard (not the crappy store bought kind)
• 1 cup portugieser wine (something light and fruity, like a Pinot Noir)
• 2 heads garlic
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 t hot paprika
• 1 t sweet paprika
• 2 T red wine vinegar
• 1 onion
• 2 parsnips
• 1/4 lb. bacon (the good stuff)
• 20 Figs (preferably Croatian)
• Salt, pepper

1) Cube the meat and marinate in wine, half the garlic (smashed), half the bay leaves, paprika, 5 figs, salt, pepper, and vinegar. Marinate for a few hours to a few days.

2) Drain meat well and save marinade. Heat up lard nice and hot and fry the boar on all sides until quickly seared.

3) With remaining lard (and add more for fun), add bacon and diced onions and saute until golden brown.

4) Add chopped parsnips and sliced garlic for about five minutes.

5) Put in the seared boar and reserved marinade. Cover with enough water to barely cover the boar.

6) Let the pot simmer on the lowest setting that keeps it bubbling for about two hours.

7) Quarter figs and add them, cook for 10 minutes.

8) Enjoy. It’s ridiculously delicious.