Hungarian cuisine

Hungarian or Magyar cuisine ( Hungarian: ''Magyar konyha'') is the cuisine characteristic of the nation of Hungary, and its primary ethnic group, the Magyars. Hungarian cuisine has been described as being the spiciest cuisine in Europe. This can largely be attributed to the use of their piquant native spice, Hungarian paprika, in many of their dishes. A mild version of the spice, Hungarian sweet paprika, is commonly used as an alternative. Traditional Hungarian dishes are primarily based on meats, seasonal vegetables, fruits, bread, and dairy products.

General features

Paprika is often associated with Hungary and is used prominently in several dishes. Traditional Hungarian paprika is characterised by its bright colour and distinct heat, differentiating it from milder variations of paprika popular elsewhere in the world. Other herbs and spices commonly used in Hungarian cuisine include garlic, marjoram, caraway seeds, celery seeds and dill seeds. Whilst unique, Hungarian cuisine shares similarities with the culinary traditions of its neighbouring countries. Typical Hungarian food is heavy on dairy and meats, similar to that of neighboring Czech and Slovak cuisines. Staple ingredients in Hungarian cuisine such as quark, poppy seeds and soured cream, along with dishes like stuffed cabbage, stuffed peppers, bean soup and mixed grilled meat ( fatányéros in Hungary) are also present in Romanian, Serbian, and Croatian cuisines. Chicken, pork and beef are common, while turkey, duck, lamb, fish and game meats are mostly eaten on special occasions. Hungary is also known for relatively inexpensive salamis and sausages it produces primarily from pork, but also poultry, beef and others.

Bread is perhaps the most important and basic part of the Hungarian diet. It is eaten at all meals, accompanying main dishes. Before the fall of communism in 1990, white bread was a staple food. Numerous other types of baked goods, such as buns and pastries both salty and sweet, often creatively filled, have proliferated in recent years.

Main dishes may "require" a side dish (köret) or not. It is unusual to violate this convention. The side dish is most commonly potato in various styles, but rice or steamed vegetables are also popular. Some foods have a customary side dish (e.g., ''csirkepaprikás'' 'paprika chicken' is almost always eaten with small dumplings similar to gnocchi (''nokedli''), while others may take any side dish (e.g., ''rántott sajt'' 'fried cheese'). Some dishes also have toppings or bread on the side considered almost mandatory, for example, the sour cream and bread with ''töltött káposzta'' 'stuffed cabbage'.

Recently, Hungarian chefs have become more creative, so Hungarian dishes prepared for tourists may seem unusual to Hungarians who are familiar with more traditional preparations.

Goulash is a famous Hungarian dish. Other famous Hungarian meat stews include paprikás, a thicker stew with meat simmered in thick, creamy, paprika-flavored gravy, and pörkölt, a stew with boneless meat (usually beef or pork), onion, and sweet paprika powder, both served with ''nokedli'' or galuska (small dumplings). In some old-fashioned dishes, fruits such as plums and apricots are cooked with meat or in piquant sauces/stuffings for game, roasts and other cuts. Various kinds of noodles, dumplings, potatoes, and rice are commonly served as a side dish. Hungarian dry sausages (kolbász) and winter salami are also widely eaten.

Other characteristics of Hungarian cuisine are the soups, casseroles, desserts, and pastries and stuffed crêpes ('' palacsinta''), with fierce rivalries between regional variations on the same dish (such as the Hungarian hot fish soup called fisherman's soup or ''halászlé'', cooked differently on the banks of Hungary's two main rivers: the Danube and the Tisza), ''palacsinta'' (pancakes served flambéed in dark chocolate sauce filled with ground walnuts) and Dobos cake (layered sponge cake, with chocolate buttercream filling and topped with a thin layer of crunchy caramel).

Two elements of Hungarian cuisine that impress foreigners are the various vegetable stews called '' főzelék'' as well as cold fruit soups, such as cold sour cherry soup ().

Hungarian cuisine uses a large variety of cheeses, but the most common are ''túró'' (a type of crumbly quark), cream cheeses, picante ewe-cheese ''(juhtúró),'' the most common Hungarian cheeses like Karaván, , Pálpusztai, Emmentaler, Edam and Trappista.

There are many smoked pork products. Many dishes get their character from the smoky taste of one or more of these ingredients. A variety of Hungarian smoked sausages, smoked ham, and smoked lard are also consumed without further preparation. These are accompanied with bread and fresh vegetables, are often called 'cold dish', and mainly consumed for breakfast or dinner, but sometimes offered as starter in restaurants.

Freshwater fish dishes are very common. In addition to the popular fisherman's soup, frying fish on reeds, making káposzta (csíkos káposzta) or even kolbász out of it also used to be popular.

Pickled (fermented) vegetables are often used. The most common is ''savanyú káposzta'' (lit: sour-cabbage, sauerkraut) and soured peppers, gherkins, but a mix of cauliflower, green tomatoes, baby water melon, and other vegetables is also frequent. These are traditionally consumed in the winter and often were the main source of vitamin-C throughout the cold months of winter. Some seasonal, hearty dishes such as ''töltött káposzta'', ''húsos káposzta'' and ''korhelyleves'' are based on ''savanyú káposzta''. Classic Hungarian restaurants often offer some variations as side dish, a refreshing complement to heavy dishes.

Seasonings

Hungarian food uses selected spices judiciously to add flavor, especially paprika, a spice made of ground red pepper.

Paprika being the most important spice, there are many traditional variations and styles ranging from sweet to extremely spicy. The sweet and more mild paprika tend to be more common, but the spicy varieties are still very popular. Hot chilis are also often given as a garnish in traditional Hungarian cuisine, but when not, dried hot chilis or hot chili paste are typically given on the side.

Hungarians are known for loving spicy foods and may also use Piros Arany (a popular Hungarian paprika cream, meaning 'Red Gold') to compliment their meals. They also put the Hungarian chili sauce Erős Pista, in their Fisherman's soup and paprikash.

After paprika, garlic and onion bulbs are some of the most popular aromatics, either or both being used in most every savoury dish.

Herbs are also a key component of Hungarian cuisine, with dill, bay leaf, marjoram, and parsley being the most common. Tarragon, savoury, horseradish, and lovage are also quite common, but less so than the previous. Even herbs such as thyme, patience dock, mint and chives can also be component of some dishes, although considerably less frequently than those mentioned before.

The savoury side of Hungarian cuisine makes use of many spices, most notably paprika. However, Magyar cuisine uses many other spices as well with black pepper, caraway, dill seed, and poppy seed being some of the most common for savoury dishes. Though juniper berries and coriander are also frequently used, but generally only for specific dishes. Mustard seed is uncommon as an ingredient itself, but prepared mustards are used often. Hungarian mustards are often likened to a Dijon-style mustard, though they are not typically made with wine and generally use seeds of the white mustard plant; it is also not uncommon for them to include herbs, particularly tarragon and parsley.

Sweet dishes are typically spiced with different seasonings. Cinnamon, nutmeg, anise, cloves, lemon peel, and vanilla are the most common. Allspice, while traditionally relegated to sweet dishes in western cuisines, is used in both sweet and savoury applications in Hungarian cuisine.

While not really a seasoning, the use of a thick sour cream called ''tejföl'' as a topping is another common feature in many dishes.

When products use Hungarian-style as a variation, the flavour is usually pepper, onion or bacon.

History

The historical Hungarian cuisine has been influenced by the history of the Magyar people. The importance of livestock and the nomadic lifestyle of the Magyar people, as well as a hearkening to their steppe past, is apparent in the prominence of meat in Hungarian food and may be reflected in traditional meat dishes cooked over the fire like goulash (in Hungarian "gulyás", lit. "cattleman's (meal)"), ''pörkölt'' stew and the spicy fisherman's soup called ''halászlé'' are all traditionally cooked over the open fire in a '' bogrács'' (or cauldron). In the 15th century, King Matthias Corvinus and his Neapolitan wife Beatrice, introduced new ingredients such as sweet chestnut and spices such as garlic, ginger, mace, saffron and nutmeg, onion and the use of fruits in stuffings or cooked with meat. Some of these spices such as ginger and saffron are no longer used in modern Hungarian cuisine. At that time and later, considerable numbers of Armenians, Czechs, Italians, Jews, Poles, Saxons (a German ethnic group) and Slovaks settled in the Hungarian basin and in Transylvania, also contributing with different new dishes. Hungarian was influenced by Turkish cuisine under the Ottoman Empire. It was also influenced by Austrian cuisine under the Austro-Hungarian Empire. All told, modern Hungarian cuisine is a synthesis of ancient Uralic components mixed with Austrian, Balkan, Turkish and West Slavic. The food of Hungary can be considered a melting pot of the continent, with a culinary base formed from its own, original Magyar cuisine.

Although Hungary is a major source of paprika, and it is the spice most closely associated with Hungary, peppers, the raw material in paprika production, originated from North America was only later introduced to the Old World, to Spain in the 16th century, as part of the Columbian exchange. The spice was introduced to Hungary via the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, and was first used in Hungarian cuisine in the early 19th century.

Historically Magyar cuisine had a decisive role in the gastronomy of the Carpathian basin. Because of the Habsburg ruling class making it difficult for the kingdom to do industrial work, the country's small producer markets became prominent, and were therefore also called the monarchy's larder. Hungarian cuisine is famously rich in flavours and has also played a major role in the cuisine of neighbouring peoples.

Hungarian meals

In Hungary, people usually have a large breakfast. Hungarian breakfast generally is an open sandwich with bread or toast, butter, cheese or different cream cheeses, ''túró'' cheese, tejföl or '' körözött'' (Liptauer cheese spread), cold cuts such as ham, liver pâté (called '' májkrém'' or '' kenőmájas''), bacon, salami, mortadella, sausages such as kabanos, beerwurst or different Hungarian sausages or kolbász. Traditionally fresh tomatoes and green peppers (sometimes scallion, radish and cucumber) are served with these when they are in season. Eggs (fried, scrambled or boiled) may also be part of breakfast.

Some types of meat that were commonly eaten in the past (such as beef tongue, '' disznósajt'' (head cheese) or ''véres hurka'' (similar to black pudding) are now more associated with the countryside.

Meals are often eaten with savanyúság and millet.

Contemporary Hungarians do not always eat this typical breakfast. For many, breakfast is a cup of milk, tea or coffee with pastries, a bun, a '' kifli'' or a ''strudel'' with jam or honey, or cereal, such as muesli and perhaps fruit. Children can have rice pudding (''tejberizs'') or semolina cream (''tejbegríz'') for breakfast topped with cocoa powder and sugar or with fruit syrup. Bodzaszörp or hot drinks are preferred for breakfast. In the past, breakfast itself was much more important, often only breakfast and dinner were eaten. In those days, cabbage soup was a common breakfast.

''Villásreggeli'' or brunch (literally 'breakfast with fork') is a more luxurious big breakfast given on special occasions or holidays. Often guests are invited. Deviled eggs, cold steak, cold salads, salmon omelettes, pancakes, a spicy cheese spread made with sheep milk cheese called '' körözött'', caviar, foie gras, fruit salads, compote, fruit yogurts, fruit juices, champagne and pastries, cakes and cookies may be served.

Tízórai refers to a meal eaten between breakfast and lunch.

Lunch is the major meal of the day, traditionally with several courses, but often just one course in modern times. Cold or hot appetizers may be served sometimes (for example, fish, egg or liver), then soup. Soup is followed by a main dish. The main dish is a dish including meat, side dishes and salad (such as the ''uborkasaláta'', a typical sidedish made with smetana, paprika and continental cucumber) or savanyúság (from pickled vegetables - paprika, cucumber, sauerkraut, etc.), which precedes the dessert. Fruit may follow. In Hungary, pancakes (or rather, crepes) may be served as a main dish or as a dessert but not for breakfast. Salad is typically served with meat dishes, made of lettuce with tomatoes, cucumbers and onions, or some pickled variant of them. A simple thin sliced cucumber or tomato salad in vinaigrette is also typical. Salads such as Salade Olivier or potato salad are made of boiled potatoes, vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, mushrooms, fried or boiled meat or fish, in vinaigrette, aspic or mayonnaise. These salads are eaten as appetizers or even as a main course.

Some people and children eat a light meal in the afternoon, called ''uzsonna'', usually an open sandwich, pastry, slice of cake or fruit.

Dinner is typically less important than lunch, and there is no typical Hungarian dinner. It may either be a lunch-type meal, with multiple courses and the same foods one would serve for lunch, or it could be the same as a traditional Hungarian breakfast, with bread, cold cuts, cheeses, tomatoes and peppers as described above. When dinner is an important occasion it will be prepared the same way and with the same courses a full lunch would be. When it's not an important occasion, it's a good time to eat leftovers.

Hungarian meal times are somewhat flexible. Typical times are as follows: Breakfast 6-9 am; Lunch 12 noon-2 pm; Dinner 6-9 pm.

Special occasions

For Christmas, Hungarians have a fish soup called ''halászlé''. Other dishes may be served, such as roast goose, roast turkey or roast duck, cabbage rolls ''(töltött káposzta)''. Pastry roll filled with walnut or poppy seed called ''(bejgli)'' is a usual Christmas food, and candies and sweets used to decorate the Christmas tree, such as szaloncukor are eaten during all Christmas, when everybody picks them and eats them directly from the tree. In some households, Lentil stew, also known as 'Lencse Fozelek', is consumed to bring good luck and health in the upcoming years.

Other traditional foods such as Pozsonyi kifli, a type of Bejgli is also commonly eaten in Christmas dinners (Pozsony being the original name of Bratislava), next to regular Bejglies and Strudels(rétes).

On New Year's Eve (''Szilveszter''), Hungarians traditionally celebrate with ''virsli'' (Vienna sausage) and lentil soup. On New Year's Day, it is common to eat either lentil soup or ''korhelyleves'', a meaty sauerkraut soup said to cure hangovers.

There is also a lot of superstition attached to New Year's food: on New Year's Eve, a coin is baked into the pogácsa. Whoever finds the lucky coin will have a lucky and prosperous New Year. But all the scones have to be gone before midnight, otherwise everything goes the other way.

It was tradition to bake rétes (strudels) as long as possible, because then you would be that much richer the following year.

It is also tradition for girls to put small pieces of paper with a man's name in the middle of dumplings or other raw dough. At exactly midnight, they threw them into the boiling water, the first male name that came up revealing the name of their future husband.

Easter is considered a huge event (''Húsvét'') and is celebrated all over Hungary. The families and their friends have the Mom and daughter prepare meals such as Smoked Ham with boiled eggs and small sandwiches and drinks quite commonly to have palinka on the table and then wait for Fathers and sons to arrive and say a poem (Husvéti Vers) and then spray on their hair with a perfume. Once the Father and son water the Mom and daughters known as ''Locsolkodás''. They have a meal a drink then they go to the next family member until they visited all. In Szabolcs County make a special sweet yellow cheese, ''Sárgatúró'', made with quark (túró) and eggs. The kalács eaten then is often called ''pászkakalács''.

Typical Hungarian dishes

Soups

Main courses

Others

; Szárnyas Brassói: a variant of the pecsenye.
;Kakashere pörkölt: Rooster Testicle Pörkölt
;Cibere: a fermented drink made from wheat or rye bran, popular during Lent. In Romanian it is called Borș.
;Sültvér: fried blood often eaten with hot peppers and nokedli.
;Kukoricakása: Cornmeal porridge with paprika and cumin
;Puliszka: a Hungarian hominy. The Csángó people make Álivánka sponge cake and Bóc out of it, a cottage cheese puliszka-dumplings, often with special blue molded cottage cheese.

;Nyárlőrinci tutajos (raft of Nyárlőrinc): Dumplings made of tarhonya, bacon and crushed potatoes. The tripe (pacal) is a very common dish in the country, made into stews and soups and also fried.
;Csirke Paprikás Tejfölösen: Chicken Paprikash with sour cream and gravy, usually eaten with fusilli or nokedli. A number of paprikashes exist, including pork- and mushroom - paprikash. Sometimes Pigeon Paprikash was also eaten.
;Paradicsomos káposzta: Tomato and cabbage dish eaten with fasirt or pork ribs
;Tejleves: a milk-based sweet "soup", in multiple flavours.
;Bugaci Vegyes Pörkölt: a pörkölt variant from Bugac which contains pork, beef shank and salo.
;Székely lepény: "Szekler pie" a bacon, onion, sour cream and paprika flatbread, somewhat similar to the lángos, but uses a different dough (usually made from lepénykenyér).
; Fatányéros: Traditional dish of Transylvanian Hungarians.
;Wine soup: Traditional vanilla, cinnamon, white wine flavoured soup.
;Tócsni: A Hungarian potato pancake.
;Rablóhús: Hungarian skewer of roasted chicken and vegetables
;Grenadírmars: potato pasta served with bell pepper and sour cream
;Betyárkrumpli: potato dish with eggs, salo and szalonna.
;Betyárpörkölt bagolyfül nokedlivel: "betyár's pörkölt with owl-ear shaped nokedli"
;Lebbencs leves: potato and smoked bacon soup with lebbencs tészta.
;Körömpörkölt: Traditional pork nail pörkölt.
;Fish Paprikash: its ingredients similar to the paprikash.
;Mundéros hal: a spit-roasted fish.
;Pork strew and Pig Pörkölt: Pork is made in both stew (ragu) and pörkölt forms.
;Tordai Pogácsa: The Tordai pogácsa, a similar gastronomic attractions to the pecsenye of Torda (now: Turda). The pastry is much larger than the average pogácsa, with the size of a smaller baking tray. The Hungarian peasant population living there has been making it for hundreds of years, albeit with varying recipes.
;Káposztás tészta: cabbage pasta dish
;Dödölle: toasted flat potato dumplings with sour cream and szalonna.

;Korhelyleves: kolbász-sauerkraut soup with tejföl
;Agglegénytál: dish from fried potato, some kolbász, roasted tomatoes and pepper with eggs poured on top.
;Kukoricakása: Onion and red onion Cornmeal with bacon, topped with paprika and lard
;Parsley Lapcsánka: Deep fried potato flatbread with parsley eaten with tejföl and onion
;Rákóczi Rostélyos: button mushroom stew, with pear-shaped pastry ornament

Bogrács and Herder foods

;Hortobágyi Húsos Palacsinta
;Slambuc
;Paprikás krumpli
;Alföldi rakott tarhonya
;Babgulyás: red bean-goulash soup
;Pásztortarhonya: roasted tarhonya and szalonna topped with kolbász, potato, pepper, tomato and paprika.
;Betyárkrumpli: a type of rakott krumpli with star shaped szalonna
;Tokány: Traditional Hungarian pörkölt type from Máramaros (now: Maramures) with over 20 variations ( English: ''transylvanian pörkölt'', Romanians use it as ''tocană'')
;Vetrece: Transylvanian food similar to Tokány, eaten with potato-schupfnudels (burgonyanudli), sour cream, and szalonna.
;Betyáros: lebbencs pasta with cottage cheese and szalonna
;Betyárszelet: this name also refers to a meat dish and a sweet
;Birkapörkölt: Mutton pörkölt
;Szürkemarha-gulyás: Hungarian-grey-goulash
;Steer and Mangalitsa skewers
;Harcsapaprikás: Catfish paprikash
;Vadas marha: beef dish with carrot-based yellowish sauce and dumplings
;Bivalypörkölt: Pörkölt from the Hungarian domestic water buffalo
;Sweet pastas: with walnut, poppy seed, and semolina-and-jam toppings

Pasta types

Csiga pasta: small twisted pasta, made to put in soups

Csipetke or Csipötke: small pebble-shaped pasta. In Szeged it was popular to put in soup.

Galuska: Eaten with paprikash, as ''tövises galuska'' or with sour cream, cheeses, eggs.

Gyufa pasta: matchstick shaped pasta, most commonly used in Baja fisherman's fish soups.

Lebbencs tészta: flat rectangular pasta, used in the dishes lebbencs leves and öreglebbencs

Nokedli: Similar to the Galuska. Used in different types of pörkölts and paprikash and in pea soup.

Orsós pasta: similar to Fusilli

Szabógallér: triangular lace-edged pasta

Tarhonya: Very small, caviar-sized pasta.

Tördelt tészta: pasta straps, used in Mácsik (poppy seed pasta variety)

Főzelék

Főzeléks are considered very important for health. It is neither a soup nor a main course. It is similar to Goulash which, although a soup, can be a substitute for a main course. Common flavours include yellow pea, bean, green pea, red lentil, broccoli, spinach, onion, potato, pumpkin, carrot, apple, and sometimes even cherry.

Sausages and cold cuts

* '' Hurka'' (boiled sausage, three main types: liver sausage called ''májas hurka'', made of pork liver, meat and rice; a liverless variant of the ''májas hurka'' called ''húsos hurka'' and black sausage called ''véres hurka'', which is equivalent to the black pudding)
* '' Téliszalámi'' (or Winter salami, salami made of spiced meat, cold smoked, and dry ripened, the most famous brand made by Pick Szeged)
* ''Herz Szalámi''
* '' Csabai szalámi'' and ''kolbász'' (spicy salami and smoked sausage, made in the town of Békéscsaba)
* '' Gyulai kolbász'' (spicy sausage, made in the town of Gyula)
* '' Debreceni kolbász'' (Debrecener sausage)
* '' Disznósajt'' (a special type of head cheese, made of mixed meat slices, spices, paprika, and pieces of bacon cooked in spicy stock, which is then stuffed into a pig's stomack. Disznófejsajt is also popular)
* '' Szalonna'' (Hungarian bacon, fatback, back bacon rind, has more fat than usual breakfast bacon)
* ''Virsli'' (a Frankfurter-like long and thin sausage, consumed boiled with bread and mustard)
* ''Lókolbász'' (Horse sausage)

Pastry Culture

In Hungary there are a great variety of pastries and baked goods and the language even classifies them. For example, in general, a batyu is a square or pentagonal pastry (e.g. cherry or cottage cheese batyu), a "fonottka" is yarn ball shaped, "párna" as the name suggests is any pillow-shaped usually puffed pastry, but the "táska" (e.g. virslis táska, cherry táska) is usually used for triangular, rolled or braided filled-pastries.

Molnárka: Along the kifli and the cipó this is another iconic breadtype. It has a shiny texture like hamburger buns, but is oval shaped. It is commonly used to make sandwiches.

Cipó: A circular loaf, smaller than normal bread (the average Hungarian bread being 3 kg). According to official governmental definition (from MÉ), a bread smaller than 500g margin is classified as a cipó.

Pityókás kenyér: potato bread common in Transylvania.

Kakaós csiga: ("Chocolate snails") traditional Hungarian pastry with chocolate filling. It was originally called ''csokoládés tekerge''. They are often dusted with icing sugar or covered with white chocolate.

Molnárpogácsa: a large flattened pogácsa type pastry. The story goes that it was given to the miller's apprentices as payment.

Stangli: Often used to describe straight (both twisted and smooth) kifli. A stangli is a rectangular bread stick, usually 30 cm long, sprinkled with cheese or seeds. Most often sold in 8–10 cm bars in boxes as snacks for gatherings.

Dübbencs: Smooth surface rolled bread flavoured with dill

Béles: The Béles is a pastry filled with raisin and curd or fruit jams. In Transylvania, porridge-filled Béles was often eaten on New Year's Eve.

Darázsfészek: a traditional Hungarian vanilla roll, originating from Northern Hungary, and the palóc regions.

Sweets and cakes

* '' Dobos Cake'' (sponge cake layered with chocolate paste and glazed with caramel and nuts)
* Rákóczi Túrós (an iconic túró cake name after János Rákóczi)
* ''Derelye'' (a type of pierogi filled with plums, cottage cheese, sour cherries or sometimes potatoes. In the 17th century ones stuffed with minced meat were also common)
* '' Rigó Jancsi'' (Cube-shaped sponge cake with dark chocolate glaze)
* ''Gesztenyepüré'' (cooked and mashed sweet chestnuts with sugar and rum, topped with whipped cream)
* Barátfüle (A pierogi filled with poppy seeds, cottage cheese or plum jam. The Barátfüle is similar to derelye but the ''Szentesi barátfüle'', like a hamantash has a hard crust.
* '' Bejgli'' (cake roll eaten at Christmas and Easter)
* ''Borzas Kata'' or ''Borzas gombóc'' refers to spiked dumplings, made by putting a small lump of laskadough in the middle of a vanilla cream and frying the whole thing in lard. But the Borzas Kata is more commonly used a walnut-peach jam or chocolate cake slice with a similar "spiky" top, hince the similarity.
* ''Kürtőskalács'' Stove cake or Chimney cake, cooked over an open fire — a Transylvanian specialty, famous as Hungary's oldest pastry.
* ''Fonott kalács'' ("braided kalach") is circular or rod-shaped and braided while the Easter ''pászkakalács'' cylindrical, with braided decoration. The ''rózsakalács'' is shaped like a bouquet of roses. There are many other variants such as Jász ostoros, kulcsos and even has a paprika flavoured variant.
* ''Babka'' (kalach with creamy filling, where this filling is in the ridges)
* ''Fumu'' (special swaddled infant shaped kalach)
* There are many other kalács types, such as the Fatörzskifli (a breakfast kifli-shaped kalach) the Guduc kalács (a large circular pastry from Torda)
* '' Angel wings'' (the Csörögefánk or Forgácsfánk a crispy, light Hungarian Angel Wing fry cookies, a twisted thin fried cookie made of yeast dough, dusted with powdered sugar)
* '' Vaníliás kifli'' (vanilla croissant, small, crescent shaped biscuits)
* '' Piskóta'' (thin, light, sweet delicate, crispy cookie)
* '' Krémes'' (Known as vanilla slice or custard slice, is a custard and chantilly cream cream cake dessert commonly associated with the former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy)
* '' Rétes'' (layered pastry with a filling that is usually sweet)
* ''Csiga'' (literally ''snail'' - a rolled pastry that comes in many different coatings and flavors, usually walnut, poppy seed, chocolate, and vanilla pudding)
* '' Flódni'' (cake with four different fillings, which are poppy seed, walnut, apple, and plum jam)
* ''Képviselő Fánk'' (Hungarian Cream Puff made from choux paste and filled with vanilla cream. Literal Translation - 'Ambassador Doughnut')
* '' Kuglóf'' (Kuglóf cake, a traditional Austro-Hungarian coffee party cake)
* '' Lekváros Bukta'' (a baked brick-shaped dessert filled with jam, túró or ground walnuts)
* '' Lekváros tekercs'' (rolled up soft sponge cake filled with jam)
* '' Lekvár (Thick Hungarian jam)
* '' Birsalma sajt'' (Quince cheese, or quince jelly made of quince fruits. Its plum version is called szilvéz)
* '' Törökméz'' (a sweet sticky white nougat paste cooked with sugar, eggwhites, honey, bits of walnuts, spread between two wafer sheets)
* ''Halva'' (a Transylvanian sweet confection, made with sunflower seeds, of Turkish origin)
* '' Madártej'' (Floating island, a dessert made of milk custard with eggwhite dumplings floating on top)

* ''Őrség Zöld Aranya'' (white chocolate pumpkin seed cream cake, using special pumpkin seed oil from the Őrség region.)
* '' Túró Rudi'' (sweet quark cheese - called ''túró'' - filled chocolate bar)
* '' Szaloncukor'' (flavoured candies that hang on the Christmas tree, eaten at Christmas)
* '' Arany galuska'' (dumplings, or dough balls rolled in butter, sugar, and nuts and packed together to make a pull-apart cake, with vanilla custard)
* ''Vargabéles'' (Hungarian strudel or Noodle Pie)
* '' Eszterházy torta'' (Consists of buttercream spiced with cognac or vanilla and walnuts)
* ' (Somló-style Sponge Cake)
* ''Molnár kalács'' (a round wafer elaborately decorated with folk symbols and pictures. It is eaten with sweet toppings or with szalonna baked into it. It is a traditional Luca nap food)
* '' Linzer torta'' (a tart with crisscross design of pastry strips on top) and ''Isler'' cookies are both Austro-Hungarian sweets
* Minyon / Kugler (Austro-Hungarian sponge cake cubes usually flavoured with rum, chocolate, lemon, vanilla or punch)
* '' Palacsinta'' (crêpe-like variety of pancake)
* ''Rakott palacsinta'' (traditional pancake cake, with different fillings, ofthen with 30 tiers)
* Győri édes and Pilóta (both are popular cookies) Vargabéles (It uses rétes dough with vanilla-cottage cheese cream, with vermicelli keeping it together. It was invented by a famous Hungarian cook from Kolozsvar (now Cluj-Napoca), Marika Darvas.)
* ''Mézes Puszedli'' (Hungarian cookie, which evolved from the busserl but has a different recipe)
* '' Mákos guba'' (a poppy seed-based dessert found throughout Central Europe; consists of slices of sweet(ened) kifli and poppy seeds boiled in milk with butter, often with various nuts and dried fruits as toppings)
*''Túrós lepény'' or ''túrós pite'' (dessert bars made from sweetened ''túró''. A variant called ''kapros-túrós lepény'' also exists, which has dill added)
* The Balaton, Zala, Néger, László, Kókusz, Jeges and Somogy Kocka and the Boci Szelet are all different types of small cube-shaped cakes
* ''Ökörszem'' (cake-cup filled with túró)
* ''Zserbó'' (chocolate, peach jam, walnut cream cake)
* ''Hájas süti'' (trough shaped biscuits usually filled with jam)
* ''Máglyarakás'' (fruity cake cube with a thick layer of eggwhite foam on top)
* ''Levendula fagylalt'' (lavender ice cream)
* ''Ibolya fagylalt'' (viola (plant) ice cream)
* ''Almás kalács'' (Hungarian apple pie)
* ''Puncs szelet'' (or ''puncsos kalács'', is the Hungarian version of Punschkrapfen)
* ''Zacher torta'' (also known as Sachertorte, a chocolate cake of Austrian origin)
* ''Fekete erdő torta'' (also known as Black Forest gateau, a cake of German origin, consisting of chocolate, cream and cherry filling)
* ''Csokoládészalámi'' (Hungarian version of Chocolate salami, which can be made of both dark or white chocolate. Broken biscuit, almond, peanut, fig, dried fruit, gummy candy is added in the chocolate)
* ''Mézeskalács'' (Hungarian Gingerbread which is usually prepared in the winter)
* ''Habos túrós'' (translates into ''foamy curdy'', and it has three layers: pie pastry, vanilla curd cheese cream and egg white foam on the top. Typical dessert made for celebrations and festives.)

Others

* ''Lángos'' (fried bread dough)
* '' Pogácsa'' (a type of bun, round puffed pastry with bacon, traditionally cooked on the fire)
* '' Zsemle'' (round small breads, eaten cut in half, with butter, cold cuts or jam, often for breakfast)
* '' Fánk'' or Bismarck Doughnuts, typically made for Farsang
* '' Kifli'' (crescent-shaped bread. It can be made plain, salted, with seeds or sweet; see picture)
* laska (potato-dough, thicker palacsinta)
* Hókifli (Hungarian traditional Vanillekipferl)
* Sajtoskifli is kifli with cheddar cheese, which usually does not have the crescent shape.
* Dunakavics ("Danube pebbles", a popular Hungarian dragée variety.)
* '' Perec'' (Hungarian Pretzel, usually in salted, nutty, and cheese varieties, much softer than its German counterpart.)
* Sajtos tallér (popular cheese flavoured Hungarian snack, similar in shape to lukken cookies. Most people no longer make it at home, but buy it from a shop)
* Diákcsemege (pupil's snack) a traditional mix of nuts, traditionally consisting of raisins, almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts and sunflower seeds(szotyola).
* Keszőce (A dilute sauce made from gooseberries, wild cherries or other fruit)
* ''Májgaluska'' (small liver dumplings used in different soups, for example, liverball soup)
* '' Grízgaluska'' (Hungarian boiled semolina dumplings used in soup)
* ''Tarhonya'' (a kind of large Hungarian "couscous", big pasta grain, served as a side dish; also an ingredient of Tarhonyás hús, meat with egg barley)
* ''Rizi-bizi'' (white rice cooked with green peas, served as a side dish)
* '' Vinetta'' or ''padlizsán krém'' (Transylvanian mashed eggplant salad made of grilled, peeled and finely chopped eggplants)
* '' Körözött'' or ''Liptai túró'' (cheese spread with ground sweet paprika and onions)
* '' Libamájpástétom'' (Hungarian delicacy: foie gras - goose liver pâté)
* Málé(Sweet corn flatbreads. It does not use sweeteners. It is made using the chemical property of the corn, which gives it a sweet taste when baked in a pasta mix of flour and hot water, kept warm for a few hours. To make it work, it was often sung to, in the countryside, "Málé, Málé, just you be sweet...". One of its variants is the Tejes Málé (known in Romania as ''mălai cu lapte'') which is made of milk or soured milk)
* The Kőtes palacsinta(this palacsinta also has the size of the Crêpe, but it's also as thick as American pancakes), and the Pánkó(Szekler dougnut) are traditional foods of the Szeklers of Bukovina.
* Poroja (flat fatty sponge cake of the Banat Hungarians)
* ''French toast'' (literally "bread with a fur", a savoury French toast or Gypsy toast or bread fritter, a breakfast food or sometimes as a side dish)
* ''Bread'' - (The large Hungarian bread that is baked fresh every morning in the bakeries. The traditional form called ''cipó'' is the smaller, round and has a hard thick crust. The other bread type is ''vekni'': long loaves with crispy crust, thicker or thinner, like the baguette.)
* ''Kenyérlángos'' (smaller piece of bread dough baked in a flat form, often topped with sour cream, bacon and onions; traditionally a snack for children on the day bread was baked at home, now sold mostly on festivals and markets. It's thicker than a lepény, which has similar toppings (cheese, salami, ham, onion, tejföl, tomatoes, chopped meat))

Drinks

Hungarian wine dates back to at least Roman times, and that history reflects the country's position between the West Slavs and the Germanic peoples.

The best-known wines are the white dessert wine called '' Tokaji Aszú'' (after the North-Eastern region of Hungary, Tokaj) and the red wines from Villány (Southern part of Hungary). Famous is also the wine called Bull's Blood ('' Egri Bikavér''), a dark, full-bodied red wine. Hungarian fruit wines, such as red-currant wine, are mild and soft in taste and texture. A special kind of wine is the
Ürmös
' in which next to the grapes, wormwood is also put into the barrel.

Hungary's most notable liquors are '' Unicum'', a herbal bitters, and ''Pálinka'', a range of fruit brandies (plum, apricot and pear are popular). Also notable are the 21 brands of Hungarian mineral waters (for example, ''Apenta'' and ''Kékkúti''). Some of them have therapeutic value, such as ''Mira''.

The elderberry (bodza), currant, wild strawberry (szamóca), viola (plant) (ibolya), lavender and raspberry (málna) szörp (a concentrate created from sugar and fruits or flowers) is also common. The Jaffa flavoured Szobi szörp was an iconic soft drink before the change of regime. '' Traubi'' or ''Traubisoda'', is another soft drink based on an Austrian license produced in Balatonvilágos since 1971.

See also

* Hungarian Festival
* Hungarian Food Safety Office
* List of Hungarian dishes
* List of restaurants in Hungary
* National symbols of Hungary
* Romani cuisine

References

External links

*

Recipes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hungarian Cuisine