While Hungarian Cuisine may have peaked during the days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, how does it stack up today? Is it still considered to be in the category of ‘The Best Kitchen?’.

Best is a very personal proposition and one that tends to change quite regularly – from a global perspective and also in response to the latest trends. This is both good and bad.

G0ood that we get to experience food culture from other parts of the world, but what we are eating is not always what we think we are eating.

Right now, Italian food is generally considered to be the most popular in the world. While I don’t doubt its popularity, is it really what Italians are eating? Certainly not in the touristy ‘Italian style’ Restaurants, where it’s pizza, pasta and burgers wherever you look.

If you wan’t to experience the true taste of Italy, as it is today, you will have to travel to Italy and visit the local joints in places such as Trieste or Padua.

These days Venice is filled with the typical tourist traps that serve the cheapest and quickest to prepare food at the highest prices they can get a way with, to passersby in search of a quick pitstop before continuing their exploration of the floating city.

While I would generally choose places like these over say McDonalds or Burger King, I still tend to leave them feeling that I just had the same kind of experience I would have had at just about any tourist restuarant the world over. Decent food thats a bit too expensive and not quite what I had hoped for or imagined.

One of my most memorable Italian meals was eaten in a monastery in Naples in 2012, and even then it already had a noticeably ‘Western Tourist’ influence. Not much has changed in the last decade and you can still experience what the locals eat if you are prepared to do a bit or research and hunting about.

Considering a Trip to Italy?

During the heyday of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Hungarian kitchen was widely considered to be ‘fine dining’ throughout central Europe and beyond. There are still some holdouts from this era that you can visit today, such as the world famous Gundel restuarant in Budapest.

Here, for a price, you can experience old world charm, delicous traditional food, wine and music, as well as very, very good service. Its definately something to add to your culinary bucket-list should you visit Hungary and have a special occasion to celebrate over a memerable meal.

These days, despite the hold-outs that can be found for those in the know, much of the world has moved on and everything seems to be one kind of fusion or another where you can’t quite tell where one culture ends and another begins.

It’s for this very reason that I tend to avoid the trendy bistros and tourist focussed modern restuaruants and try to hunt down the places where the locals eat when they go out on the weekends – rather than the places they might visit for their own special occasions.

I think its fair to say that hungarian food is widely considered the most influential among the Visegrád countries and is also very well known among all post-communist European countries, where it still strongly influences both restuarant culture and what people cook at home.

Considering a Trip to Hungary?

Homecooked Hungarian cuisine is rich, revolving around pork, veal, and river fish. The most common and popular spice used being Paprika.

The hotter the better within Hungary as they really do like to eat their food spicy. Hot paprika is often substituted with sweet Paprika in parts of Europe where the palate prefers milder flavours.

Goulash is the most well-known Hungarian dish, at least in Czechia and Slovakia where it is has been ‘domesticated’ as a sauce that is usually eaten with dumplings in rural restaurants. Variations of the stew, containing more meat and a thicker sauce, such as perkelt (Pörkölt in Hungarian) that you will typically find in the more upmarket city restaurants.

The Hungarians are famous for their smallgoods. Often imitated but rarely topped. Spicy Hungarian sausages (csabai) or Debrecen ham and Hungarian (uherský) salami are all very popular and delicous.

Outside of Hungary, most of these things are sold as copycats that are made by local producers in the ‘Style’ of the originals.

Everyone knows what they are getting and can buy the original, and more expensive Hungarian imports that are readily available, even in many of the chain supermarkets. I tend to buy Hungarian when it comes to Salami. While I like the local versions, there is nothing quite like Pick brand Hungarian Winter Salami with its outside layer of Noble While Mold.

When I lived in Australia all you could get at that time was Hungarian ‘Style’ Salami that was packaged in white plastic in a not so subtle nod to the original. I guess I am somewhat making up for it now as the good stuff is available widely throughout central Europe and its my go to, even when travelling.

Interestingly, Hungarians seem much more reasonable about their ‘copyrights’ than the French or the Greeks that would love to ban ‘Greek’ yogurts and ‘French’ Champagne whenever they don’t include the words ‘Style’ on their packaging.

Other Bohemized Hungarian names that are recognized by almost all Czechs and Slovaks include lečo (lecso) a combination of colourful peppers, tomato and onion often cooked with eggs, lángoš (lángos) deep fried yeasty dough (think savoury fried donouts without the hole).

Variations on the theme such as Zemiaky palačinka (Potato Pancakes) are seen Europe wide in various forms. Standard palačinka (palacsinta) pancakes (in both savoury and sweetened varieties) are the homemade, thicker and more rustic equivalent of the French Crepe you often see being made on cooking shows.

It’s worth noting that not all aspects of these foods as we know them today were invented in Hungary. Sometimes the know-how moved in the opposite direction or are a mishmash of ideas and styles brought about by modifcations of recipes that became popular in other parts of the world and then made their way back again in a new and different form.

They say that copying is the best form of flattery. The genuine and full quote is:

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.

Oscar Wilde

Ouch. When it comes to the cheap and nasty supermarket knock-offs, I whole heartedly agree.

But you be the judge. As is often said, ‘Even a Bad pizza is Still pizza!’.

Nothing beats homecooked food in my opinion. Well worth the time and energy. I like to make everthing in a big batch so it lasts several days. Most food, especially the saucy kinds taste better after a day or two in the fridge. Being able to re-heat a pre-prepared meal is quicker and easier than cooking from scratch every day and much better than eating take-away.

Following are some of my favourite, go-to recipes that have been passed down in my Family from one generation to the next and were all originally based upon the traditional Hungarian recipes popular during the height of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.