Wine of Kings and Queens and You and Me

Posted on September 9, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

The story goes a little something like this: 17th century Hungary and the Turks are burning their way through the land and people and goods like it’s no one’s business. Inconveniently they arrived in late summer to what is today northeastern Hungary just at the dawn of grape-harvesting season. Obviously the people had a little bit more to worry about than wine and so they left the grapes alone. And there they sat on their sad little vines until the very beginning of November. When the people finally had time to go and collect them, they all were devastated to find that the grapes had, apparently, “rotted.” Well one brave soul called Laczkó Máté Szepsi decided to give these grapes a go anyway and made, what some argue, was the first aszú (grapes with noble rot). These wine-myth stories get a little muddled in history, especially because the timelines are a slighty off. Hungary was just finishing up with the Ottoman invasion, for example, and the anti-Hapsburg movement was underway. But mostly it’s not important who was the invader or the pillager or the occupier. The important thing is that a little miracle was rotting on the vine.

There are other wine-myths in Hungary surrounding the Turks, and as in all of the surrounding regions that have claimed to have the first aszú, most of these stories are built up by people who are damn proud of their wine. One thing is true, however, that the Tokaji-Hegyalja wines probably have the finest sweet wines in the world, even getting the royal wink of France’s King Louis XVI who, after sampling the sweet aszú wines, deemed that the Tokaji wines were “Vinum Regum, Rex Vinorum.” Wine of Kings, King of Wines.

We left a rainy and gray Budapest late Saturday morning and by the time we neared Tokaj-Hegyalia it was immediately clear why the region is so famous for its landscape and climate. The weather was perfect and the early afternoon absolutely dazzled through the windows.

We arrived in Tokaj around 12:30 and decided just to look around the outskirts of the town. It was so calm and quiet I could have laid down under the bell tower and pine and fallen asleep.

After a short walk around to find the restaurant where we had dinner reservations, we drove back out of Tokaj 7 or 8 minutes to another small, charming town, Tarcal, which is where we were staying at the Gróf Degenfeld Castle Hotel and Winery.

Count Imre Degenfeld was one of the founders of The Wine Association of Tokaj-Hegyalja in 1857. The hotel was once a country house on the Degenfeld royal estate, and as we learned was also a school for winemakers before the family converted it into a historic hotel. I have to say that it was one of the nicest hotels I’ve stayed in since coming to Europe. It was a 4-star hotel, but these star ratings are a little lose, especially in this part of Europe. But it was very luxurious. The 19^th century decoration was elegant and the rooms were shockingly spacious. The staff was attentive and friendly. There is 1 suite and 20 rooms and from what we experienced, I would absolutely recommend this hotel to anyone who is going to be in the region. Having a car helps, of course, because the hotel is about a 10-minute drive outside of Tokaj. But, if you don’t have a car, (or if you’re planning on hitting the sauce along the charming tasting rows) the hotel can arrange a car into town.

We arranged for a private cellar tour and wine tasting for Saturday afternoon, and it was truly a wonderful experience. First of all, we were the only ones in the whole winery and on the tour. I was a little big surprised because I thought there would be others, but it was just the three of us.

Our tour guide, Reni, took us through the winery and then into the ancient cellar. The tour was really informative and it lasted almost an hour. We asked questions, saw the lovely rows of casks made strictly from oak from the Zempléni Mountains, and learned a lot about the vineyard and the region’s wine history.

After the tour of the facility and cellar, we went back to the hotel to the tasting room for our deluxe wine tasting.

I won’t go into details about all of the wines that we tasted because if you are interested, click here for the tasting list, notes and package prices.

By far, we enjoyed the Tokaji Muscat Lunel 2007. It is a semi-dry wine, which has a lovely and refreshing bouquet. It’s definitely a summer wine, but one to drink all year for that summer feeling.

Nota Bene: Reni did NOT short glass us (this is something my parents will be very glad to hear). And though we were taking lots of notes and asking good questions, by the time we hit our 8^th pour, we were pretty sauced. At one point between the 6^th and 7^th wine, Györgyi asked Reni if she takes candles into the cellar to protect from any surges of Carbon Monoxide, after which I threw my horrifying-topic-switch hat in the ring by discussing early mining practices and birds dropping dead in cages in mine shafts. Regardless, it was good that we had a little water and bread and made it back to our room without too much trouble to rest before dinner.

Before going to dinner, we walked around the vineyard a bit and took some pictures. I don’t know if it was the remnants of the wine or just the simplicity of the evening sunset, but I felt very sentimental in those vineyards. The evening was just lovely and I hope anyone who visits Hungary can get a chance to see the wine region.

We had a light dinner of fish at Bonchidai Csárda where we sat on their terrace overlooking the Tisza river.

We went back at sunset and both were in complete silence admiring the beauty of the countryside. There’s something really wonderful in that feeling that the land is getting sleepy with you.

Back in our hotel room, we enjoyed the bright moon and the open windows streaming in the vineyard air with a crisp bottle of the Muscat Lunel.

It’s easy to see why the likes of Voltaire, Heine, Goethe, Liszt, Beethoven etc., exalted the Tokaji wines. They are wines that truly sing of their lovely region. The wine of kings and queens. And the rest of us looking for a little slice of that loveliness.

A Change of Plans

Posted on July 7, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

It was sometime between going to the completely wrong (and opposite) district in Budapest to drop off Barnus (who would have thought there would be TWO Barackfa utcas in one Hungarian city), and discovering the bad-news traffic inching along the highway just outside of the city, that we decided to just go to Szeged instead of Croatia. Granted, it wasn’t the best planning to leave the city at noon on Friday and try to go to another country, but since the trip was only supposed to take five hours, we figured it wouldn’t be a big deal. We’d be at the sea by dinner!, we said. No. We wouldn’t. And since it took over an hour just go a handful of kilometers after finally dropping off Barnabás at the dog hotel, Györgyi and I held an emergency plan-change meeting in the Trapista cheese aisle in District XXI’s mega Auchan. We decided to make sandwiches in the car, reprogram the GPS, and head to Szeged instead.

And it turned out to be a great decision. One of Györgyi’s apartments next to the Tisza river was vacant, since her German tenant, Iris, just graduated Medical school and moved back to Germany last Monday. So, we had a great place to stay right in the center of town. Our main goal for the weekend was to go swimming, get some sun, and eat as much Szeged-style fish soup as our stomaches could hold. And we accomplished it all.

On Friday night we ate at Kiskőrössy Halászcsárda (contact info below). I’m sorry I didn’t take more pictures, but I was so hungry that I didn’t even think to snap any. Except for this next one, and that’s only because Györgyi let the waiter put a bib on her. I mean seriously, folks, how much can go wrong with a little cauldron of fish soup?

We had an appetizer, which was battered and fried fish cheeks. And they still had the bones and the gills and everything on them. But if you’ve never had fish cheeks before, and you probably haven’t in America since in America it’s a part of the fish that gets thrown away (only in America do they throw away the best bit), you should know that it is the sweetest part of the fish. Fatty and sweet. Nothing better.

And our main course was fish soup.

It’s a specialty of the region, and I don’t know the exact ingredients, but basically it’s fresh fish (pieces of catfish and carp) with veggies and paprika and served scalding hot in a cauldron. Love it! On the side they give you hot peppers and classic fresh Hungarian white bread.

After dinner, we went to the main square, which is closed to all car traffic, and is filled with cafes and people. I could seriously live the rest of my life in this square. We sat at the oldest and most famous cafe in Szeged: Virág Cukrászda and Györgyi finally was able to get her celebratory birthday ice cream. Very fancy indead.

Throughout the year, Szeged has been a constant comfort to me. It’s so much more quiet than Budapest, and even though I love the big, European city, there is nothing better (especially for the heart of a simple, Midwestern gal like me) than to go to a small town that still has all of the best qualities of a European city: people talking and laughing the night away in a old, beautiful square, drinking coffee and wine, eating cakes and gelato, all while the old fountains rumble in the background. Yes, you can feel among the history of Europe when you’re in Budapest and you see all of the famous monuments and bridges and castles. But when you go to the small towns, you can really start to feel like you belong there.

After we left the confectionary, we decided to go for a nightswim. During the day, the Sportuszoda is basically closed to the public, because it is where the water polo guys train (Hungarians won the Olympic gold medal afterall, so, we’ll forgive them for stepping on the toes of people like us who want to swim a few laps and then go have a cappuccino at the cafe). But the pool opens for nightswimming after 8pm until 11pm (on weekdays). Since it was Friday, we decided to go at 10, and though all of the lanes were full, there weren’t more than two people in each. We swam for almost 45 minutes, and under the warm, night air and rising moon, it was such a peaceful experience. By the end of the hour, we were the last ones left in the pool. We sort of floated our last lap back to the start and I have to say it was one of the best experiences I’ve had here so far. It’s always the simple things.

And the most magical thing– the apartment is one corner from the Dóm Square, which is transformed in the summer to the open air theater. Since it rained lightly for about an hour, the operett Cigányszerelem (Gypsy Love) was delayed, and didn’t finish until well after midnight. I fell asleep that night to the sounds of the soprano’s melody meandering slowly from the square to the surrounding streets.

Tomorrow: a post and some pictures of the wild (and odd) archery fair at Ópusztaszer. And a little bit more fish soup.

Kiskőrössy Halászcsárda (yes, they take reservations)
6727 Szeged, Felső-Tisza-part
Telefon: 62/555-886

Marvelous Marvelosa Kávézó és Étterem

Posted on July 1, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

I’ve decided that for all of the reasons a restaurant can be marvelous, Marvelosa is absolutely the most in Buda. Right down the road from the Lánchíd Bridge and two doors down from the last great wine shop in Budapest, Bortársaság, Marvelosa squeezes its cute little Parisian-style cafe self into a Danube facing nook. I have eaten there several times, and I have never had one bad experience. The daily menu is always wonderful, the food is inexpensive and healthy, and the service is cheerful and helpful. Each table is named for an artist, and if you get there at the right time, you can sit upstairs or downstairs with a great view for people or river watching.

Even the owner matches the form. Good customer service is not something you find in Budapest, and on the rare occasions that I do come across people and owners who are friendly, I want to just dance on the rooftops or rent one of those planes that spell words with the smoke and write eat here eat here eat here in circles in the sky above the city. And I don’t mean the kind of overly-styled and gratuitously feigned “friendly” service (of course you’ll find those at the top restaurants here– and I guess if you’re paying $200 for a meal, they should force a smile while corking your wine), but rather the simple attitude that, you know what– we think our little place is pretty great too.

When we were there a few weeks ago, we were early for lunch by about 30 minutes, but they made the lunch menu for us anyway. The main course was a chicken salad, but the starter was the most delicious fruit soup I have ever tasted. I didn’t ask what was in it, but Györgyi says probably cherry, sour cherry, strawberry, raspberry. And of course it was topped with a little whipped cream. swoon.

When we went down to pay, the owner and a customer were discussing the customer’s bill. She did not have any smaller money than a 10,000 HUF bill, and her 2 cappuccinos were only 500 forints. Unfortunately, since it was early, the owner did not have change to give her, so even though the customer wanted to give her something, the owner simply wouldn’t allow it. When we paid, we tried to give her the extra forints that the woman couldn’t pay. (And understand that 500 HUF is $2.50 US) But she said absolutely no. We even tried to sneak it into the tip, and she insisted that we didn’t. In fact, because of the way our own bill tallied up, and because of the no-change problem, we ended up eating for a few forints less than the actual bill was. All that she asked from us was that we come again. And of course, we do. And you should too.

Marvelosa Kávézó és Étterem
Lánchíd utca 13
1013 Budapest
06 1 2019221

Csirke Paprikás

Posted on June 4, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

Chicken Paprikas is for many people a meal of childhood (regardless of the country you were raised in). It certainly is true for my childhood. Despite my father’s general dislike for sour cream, a clear indication he has NO Eastern European genes, my mother and grandmother made chicken paprikas frequently for our family.

If you didn’t know already, paprikas is the Hungarian word for pepper. Hungarian paprika is probably the best in the world, and the paprika from the Hungarian Great Plain is of the highest quality. It ranges from sweet and mild to extremely hot. Though it is one of the foremost symbols of Hungarian cuisine (you can see strings of drying paprika on almost every street corner and market), it was actually brought to Hungary by the Turks. Regardless, it is central to Hungarian cooking. It was paprika, after all, which led the Hungarian scientist Albert Szent-Györgyi to discover and extract vitamin C, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize. And this is all to say that when you make Chicken Paprikas, use Hungarian paprika.

Click here to download and print recipe

Now, let’s get started.

Györgyi, please introduce the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

IGNORE POTATOES. They felt left out so I let them be in the picture, but they are NOT part of the recipe

IGNORE POTATOES. They felt left out so I let them be in the picture, but they are NOT part of the chicken paprikas recipe

10 Chicken Thighs
2 small onions
2 tomatoes
2 sweet peppers
1 hot pepper (optional)
8 oz sour cream
2 Tbs flour
2 Tbs Hungarian paprika
½ Tbs cumin
Salt & pepper (to taste)

METHOD:

1. Clean chicken by trimming some fat but leaving the skin. If you want to make a healthier version of the recipe, you can use boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but the seven founding Magyar kings will be rolling over in their graves. They may haunt you, actually. Just make it with dark meat and bones and skin. You can work out extra tomorrow morning

2. Chop onions, tomatoes, and peppers

3. Add a tablespoon of vegetable to a large pot and heat on medium-high. Add the chopped vegetables to the pot and sauté until translucent (3-5 minutes)

4. REMOVE POT FROM HEAT (paprika burns. The taste of burned paprika is not a pleasant one.)

5. Add 2 Tbs of Hungarian paprika, ½ Tbs cumin, salt and pepper to the pot and stir until all of the vegetables are coated

6. While the pot is still removed from the heat, add the chicken to the pot and stir until the chicken is coated with the vegetables and paprika

7. Add enough water just to cover chicken

8. RETURN POT TO HEAT and cover with lid

9. Cook for 1 hour on medium to medium-low heat

10. In a separate container, mix together 8oz of sour cream and two tablespoons of flour.

11. REMOVE POT FROM HEAT

12. Add the sour cream/flour mixture to the pot and stir.

13. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.

14. Serve with dumplings, noodles, potatoes, bread or nothing at all. ENJOY!

Note: As you can see from my plate, that Györgyi took the chicken off the bone for me and made mine kind of saucy, but only because I like it that way and that’s how I ate it as a kid. She would eat it with the chicken on the bone, very little sauce, and served with a side of dumplings. It’s your preference, people! That’s the beauty here!

How to Cook Gulyás Leves (Goulash Soup)

Posted on May 21, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

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Since arriving in Budapest, a lot of people have asked me about the food. What I eat, where I eat, and how to make the traditional Hungarian recipes. While the first two parts have been easy to answer and document, the third, how to make, has gone unanswered until now. Therefore, I’m going to start posting one Hungarian recipe how-to a week. Of course all I am responsible for is the transcription, because Györgyi, the actual Magyar, will be doing the cooking.

Almost everyone I know (especially in NE Ohio) has a Central/Eastern European grandmother, cousin, butcher, friend, next-door neighbor, fish monger, etc., and has some working lexicon for the region’s food. The former Eastern Bloc states have quite a rich culinary history, and combined with the storytelling tradition of Central and Eastern European immigrants in America, it’s no wonder that the food of the region bares a sense of nostalgia for a lot of people.

Gulyás Leves (Goulash Soup) is one of the most quintessentially Hungarian recipes, and therefore a good place to start. Gulyás (pronounced goo-yash) is the Hungarian word for a cattle herdsman. During the Middle Ages, herds of cattle were moved through the Hungarian Great Plain (Hungarians were some of the original cowboys, after all), and during the trip, one cattle was killed to feed the men who prepared the soup in a kettle over an open flame. Later, when the Holy Roman Emperor and Hungarian King Joseph II started to bring reforms and Germanic traditions to Hungary (even changing the official language to German, for a time), the people of Hungary began to fiercely hold onto their national traditions. Gulyás Leves became one of the foremost symbols of the Hungarian culinary tradition, and is still popular and fashionable today.

Unlike what some people think, Goulash is not a stew. It’s not thick. Instead it is a richly flavored, but fairly simple to make soup. Including preparations, the total cooking time is around two hours.

Here is what you need:

1 cup of dry red wine, 1 onion, 2 tomatoes, 2 sweet peppers, 1 1/2 pounds of beef shank, 2 carrots, a bunch of parsley, a small celery root, Hungarian paprika, beef stock, olive oil, cumin, salt and pepper. (And flour and eggs if you want to be really bad and make dumplings. I know you want to be bad.)

I will include a pdf version of the recipe so you can easily download and print it.

click here to download and print recipe

Now, let’s get started

1. Roughly chop 1 onion, 2 tomatoes, and 2 sweet peppers

2. Cut meat into small chunks, removing excess fat

3. Pour 1 tbs of good olive oil into pot and bring to medium heat
4. Add vegetables to pot and sauté on medium to medium high for three minutes
5. Add meat to pot and sauté for another three minutes

6. REMOVE PAN FROM HEAT
7. Add salt, pepper, dash of cumin, and 2 tbs of Hungarian paprika to pot

8. RETURN TO HEAT
9. Add ½ cup of red wine & ½ cup of water to pot (or enough to cover meat and vegetables)
10. Cover and cook on low heat for 1 hour stirring occasionally

11. While simmering, peel and dice carrots, celery root, and potatoes
12. After 1 hour, add diced vegetables (and parsley tied together so you can take it out at the end)
13. Add 1 cup beef stock and enough water to cover and come above contents in pot
14. Stir, and re-cover
15. Simmer for an additional 30-45 minutes

16. If y ou’re going to make dumplings (flour, eggs, water, salt), do it now.

17. Taste soup, you may need to add more salt
18. Remove from heat and serve alone or with dumplings

Now remember, ultimately this is a cowboy meal. So if you don’t have red wine or beef stock or a parsley root, the world isn’t going to end. If you want to cut your vegetables into neat and equal squares (mom), more power to you!

Enjoy and jó étvágyat! (bon appetit).

click here to download and print recipe

Pozsonyi Kisvendeglő

Posted on May 20, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

It’s definitely almost summer now that the open air tables are available at Pozsonyi Kisvendeglő. On Friday we didn’t know where to eat, so we decided to go to Pozsonyi for a light lunch. Of course we called and reserved the last available outside table. Since it’s one of the most popular authentic Hungarian restaurants in the city, it’s best to always have a reservation, regardless of the time of day.

I always order soup when I go there, and the matzo ball soup is definitely one of my favorites. Here you can see one of the matzos, which I haven’t broken up yet. I should have taken the picture before I got my spoon into it, but I was too hungry and excited. Seriously, though, unless you have a huge appetite, this soup is really plenty of food for a meal. Plus, the matzo balls are the size of baseballs and the whole dish cost only HUF 550 ($2.70). That’s serious recession-lunch prices.

Györgyi had the daily menü, which came with a mushroom soup as a first course and then this plate of chicken and rizi bizi–rice and peas. Again, it’s the perfect lunch portion and recession friendly, costing just HUF 800 ($4.00).

Even though the temperatures were hovering around the mid-80s, Pozsonyi utca was shaded and carried a little breeze through the tables. And since we were sitting outside, Barnabás was able to come with us. He had a few fries, slept a bit, tried to eat a pigeon. Just your average Friday in District XIII.

Now, Pozsonyi Kisvendéglő does not pay me to write about them, nor do they need the extra business. But I love this place and want you to try it if you haven’t been and live here, or if you’re just visiting. Order the daily menu or a soup and a pilsner. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed. So here you go:

Pozsonyi Kisvendéglő

1137 Budapest, Radnóti Miklós utca 38.

+36-1-787-4877

part három

Posted on August 7, 2008 by Jessica Jewell

Sunday:

While every outdoor café on Váci utca broadcasted the F1 final race on big, outdoor televisions to excited fans dressed to the sevens in their various national flags, I spent the afternoon walking up and down the chipped cobblestones, which were quickly warming in the 35C (95F) midday sun. I felt almost like a local.

Quiet. Unbothered by the hostesses and the teenage summer-work maître d’s trying to sling their menus, museum tickets, city bus tours to passing tourists. I noticed things I haven’t before. The white-washed bells of the catholic church and a woman in a pillbox hat sitting on a bench in front. The secret alleys with folk art stores where old manequins from the 30s and 40s with missing toes and ears and eyes seemed positively modern as they modeled Hungarian folk outfits.

A pigeon sleeping on the window ledge of a dentist’s office. The Roma man playing the violin so sweetly under the overpass it was almost like the strings and bow were singing independent of any human guide. And everything and everyone alone in their quietness too, as if they existed for nothing but their own form in their own afternoon.

Two boys hunched in restful pose on an old monument. A restaurant manager, in full suit and tie, filling a watering can in a fountain. A woman enjoying a long draw of cigarette on her way past the HUNGARIAN LOUNGE with its giant Rubik’s cube out front. Under the awnings of the street gelaterias, the scoopers straightened the cones, listened to the race broadcast in Hungarian on a small radio barely audible over the steady humming of the clip fan. The coolness of the after eight, fruits of the forest, pistachio, lemon, rising in a thread of ice steam onto the glass coverings.

I’ve written about ice cream a lot. It doesn’t just seem to be a phenomenon of summer, either, but rather a very common end to dinner or during a weekend stroll. And absolutely everyone eats it. At 120 forints for a single scoop cone (which is about 85 cents USD), it’s not a gigantic dripping tower of fudge bombarded with sprinkles and brownie bites and whipped cream. Instead, it’s something almost delicate, ice cream in its original European design, which can leave you feeling, well, happy.

The afternoon (as most weekend afternoons seem to do here) slipped quickly to evening, and then evening to late evening, and soon it was nearly dark and the hotel was beginning to clear out the last of the fans, though our group was staying one more night. To celebrate, we decided to have a late night dinner at the hotel restaurant on the outside terrace overlooking Deák Ferenc utca and the Hugo Boss store, which on Friday night had hosted a swanky party for celebs.

The restaurant manager greeted us and sat us right at the edge of the terrace, followed by the waiter who brought glasses of champagne. The procession to follow was really amazing. In addition to the sesame bread served with olive tampanade and sun dried tomatoes, the amuse bouche was melon wrapped in prosciutto.

Just as we began sipping a very fresh and floral Hungarian chardonnay, our first course arrived, which was a spinach and rucola salad with jumbo shrimp and lobster served with a light olive oil vinaigrette. The main course was parmasean encrusted filet of beef with asparagus and some kind of potato puff. The beef was perfectly cooked and was ever more divine because I haven’t had a good steak since leaving home and probably won’t again for a long while.

And as is usual here, the final course arrived, which was a small glass of a very fine pálinka and desert—a Hungarian apple strudel with homemade vanilla bean ice cream served in a homemade peanut and caramel cone dish.

As I believe all good poems leave the reader with an overarching sense of quietness, this dinner did the same for my amazing weekend in this new place, which little by little is becoming less foreign. Under the near midnight sky, against the backdrop of pedestrian Pest that was all but empty but for the small lights flickering in flat windows and candles on the tables in their final burn and the laundry waving dry in the night breezes, I drank the final sips of my cappuccino, and felt, almost, home.

weekend, in three movements

Posted on August 5, 2008 by Jessica Jewell

By design, I had intended to write all week long and then clear out of non-fictiony and bloggery land for the weekend. But I’ve found that on Monday my mind is saturating out with the – did that really happens? – and questions of how to tell it: photographs or videos or just words un-formatted, un-punctuated, without swank or declaratives. So I fear it will probably take until Tuesdays for recaps. My apologies, Internet. I’ll send you a partial refund.

PART EGY

FRIDAY

As I wrote, the F1 weekend (along with its celebrity drivers and intoxicated fans) was quickly descending on Budapest. By Friday, the hysteria was in full swing, and admittedly a little bit exciting. Györgyi and her colleagues work for Big Evil American Oil, of which two of the many luxuries are both tickets to the entire F1 weekend (and seats in the Paddock Club) AND being able to stay in an all-expense paid five star hotel when some of the American bosses decide at the last minute not to come into town for the long weekend. And one of the benefits of friendship—I was able to tag along for the sweet decadant ride.

On Friday night, after checking in and taking a few minutes to remember what air conditioning felt like, we walked down and out of the hotel where we were met by a few hundred barricaded fans snapping pictures of everyone who came through the rotating doors in the event it was a driver or other celebrity. And actually, as we all walked out of the lobby, I suddenly felt really proud of myself for absolutely no rational reason. But I recommend it. Even if it’s just your husband or child or partner or whoever. Have them wait just outside of your garage or front door in the morning with a camera when you are leaving for work. A light pound on your car window and a –look here!—over here!— (among lake of flashes) will really do wonders for your day.

So, even though we were right on the main pedestrian shopping row, Váci utca, we ended up enjoying a slow evening walk, a light dinner, and visit to the local non-stop convenience store for a few beers, sparkling waters, and ice cream cones, which we enjoyed on a park bench across from the hotel. The sun was all but retired, but people were still laying in the grass on blankets, walking their dogs, skateboarding, gossiping, enjoying the pleasant, summer night.

Another interesting feature of this city is the outdoor beergarden atmosphere. In almost every district it seems like you stumble upon a big public park or gathering place, where there is also a stand which serves Hungarian beers, wine (glass or bottle), and some liquors like Jägermeister and pálinka. Then you can take your drinks to the surrounding area (and even though it’s not uncommon to see people on any random street bench having a beer, I don’t think it’s encouraged.) I’m not sure if public drunkenness or underage drinking is a problem here, something I’ll look into in the future, but the majority of the people seem relatively well behaved. Then again, if you’ve ever been to a Cleveland Browns game in the middle of December and witnessed that public debauchery, your sense of relativity is probably somewhat skewed.

So, as not to waste time without the goosedown covering in the nearly chilly rooms, we headed back to the hotel early, past the camera-poised crowd at the backdoor, and turned in for the night.

SATURDAY

Saturday kicked off with the first breakfast since being in Hungary where I had to remember the correct posture for holding a melon spoon.

I didn’t take a picture of the buffet, but it would be cruel to show it to you anyway. But there were the usual standards, followed by what seemed to be an entire room of fresh fruits, Hungarian meats, French cheese, and homemade raspberry jam-filled donuts rolled in granulated sugar. For a few minutes, while enjoying my American coffee, I plotted what I believed to be a serious strategy for filling my purse with donuts. Unfortunately, we were seated outside next to a very polite French couple, and I was worried that the young woman in her Louis Vuitton skirt would have collapsed in disgust on the terrace if she saw me do it. So I only took a handful. Okay I didn’t, but I almost did.

After breakfast we finally went to Vásárcsarnok in the Fővám tér. Every experienced traveler will tell you that as soon as you get to a new place, go to the central market, preferably as soon as you drop off your bags at the hotel or put your book bag in a locker at the train station. It is where the city is at its most honest. Where locals buy and sell. Where they read the paper, drink espresso, and barter for cheap, fresh foods. And from its fruit vendors to fish mongers, this market was truly amazing. Row upon row of Pick salamis and sausages, every imaginable pálinka and Tokaji, dried paprika and garlic hanging in curtains.

The vegetables still smelled like the soil and the stairs to all three floors were a wooden and foot-worn. And on the top floor, folk artists were selling their wares: porcelains, laces, paintings, scarves. I can say confidently that it is place (built in the late 19th century by architect Samu Petz) is an absolutely essential stop for anyone visiting Budapest.

On the opposite end of the top floor, there were food and drink stalls, which were just starting to busy with the lunch-hungry crowd. And even though we had only just stuffed ourselves with breakfast a few hours before, we couldn’t resist sharing a quintessential Hungarian snack, lángos, which is basically fried dough topped with sour cream and shredded Hungarian cheese. And Borostyán sör to wet our whistles.

After the lovely excursion we headed back to the hotel for a nap. We had a big night planned…

b u d a j e s t

Tag Archives: Hungarian food