Hungarian Meals You Need To Try

Dedicating another entire article to food?

Why not!

We’ve already had the Italian supermarket article.

We’ve had the Trying all kinds of fruit sorbets in Slovenia article.

We’ve had the Best cafés and chocolateries in Amsterdam article.

We’ve had the article about Brussels where most of the time I was talking only about waffles.

We’ve had the Looking for the best Wiener Schnitzel place in Austrian Alps article.

Does this today’s concept surprise you? I don’t think so.

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I’ve spent so much time in Hungary during my entire life. I love that country, I love their customs and moreover, I love their cuisine. I love spicy, and their meals are all very severe!

I didn’t feel like thinking of ways to create an eligible guide tonight, so I decided to stick to my favourite topic in the world: food!

Here are a couple of Hungarian meals, definitely worth of a try each!

Oh, and all the photos are just illustrative, all the copyrights go to their owners. I, as a matter of fact, don’t photograph food unless it’s a very good looking meal and I’m not starving – what I usually am, namely.

 

• Lángos

Okay, this is the one you’ve certainly already heard about, it’s in like every single guide with must-have things to do and try in Hungary. Nevermind, I’m gonna list it anyways, because the Hungarian Lángos is just beyond compare! If you haven’t tried this crunchy fried dough, usually served with ketchup, grated cheese and creame, do it as soon as possible if you’d get a chance. The feeling of trying it for the first time is indescribable. Just like inconspicuously watching people trying it for the first time, hihi.

 

• Gulyás

Gulyás is a most popular spicy Hungarian meal. There are many deviations of it that you can find all around the world nowadays, but it’s never as good as in its home country. The original recipe includes pepper (csípos paprika), beef, potatoes, and countless various spices.

 

• Halászlé

Halászle is another spicy soup with pepper, this time containing pieces of fish. Giant pieces of fish, to be more exact. Usually it’s served with bread, but if they don’t give you any, ask for it, at some places can the taste be very severe.

 

• Toltott Káposzta
  

Beef and rice are stuffed into large leaves of cabbage. Sounds intimidating, right? But it’s not, it’s really good actually. Usually it’s served with a sour cream and potatoes with butter, but I prefer it without sour cream, it just gives it a bad taste.

 

• Paprikás Csirke

Paprikás Csirke is another spicy (unexpectable, I mean), hot, heavy soup with a lot of pepper and chicken in it. In most of the cases you’ll find it served a small pieces of chicken with sauce and some kind of a pasta or potatoes, but eating it hot from a soup bowl just with a slice of the Hungarian bread is way better, trust me.

 

• Rántott Sajt

Did you know that the fried cheese origins in Romania and Hungary? Believe it or not, they’ll truly proud of their dish, so you’ll find it everywhere in many different variations, but the most common way of serving is with either French fries or potatoes and sour cream.

 

• Kolbász and Hurka

This is…oh, this dish is very hard to describe. There are many types of sausages originating in Hungary, majority of them is extremely spicy. So if you fancy hot meals…go for this dish. As if it wasn’t enough, they’re served with pepper. But also with some kind of a pastry, named kifli. Kifli is a roll, with very soft treacly feeling. Most of the all rolls I’ve ever tried, the Hungarian ones are my most favourite ones.

 

• Lecsó

One huge mess: Lecsó is a mix of vegetables: paprika, onions, spices, peppers, tomatoes, and also sausages and eggs. I don’t particularly fancy it, but it’s an irretrievable part of the typical Hungarian cuisine.

 

• Fozelék

Fozelék is a type of thick vegetable mix containing beans, sausages, paprika, onions, peas, potatoes…everything what housewifey finds in the cupboards, the only real requisition is that it has to contain peas. Usually it’s served with a slice of bread and a hard boiled egg.

 

• Tarhonya

My favourite type of pasta! It’s a great sidemeal for for example the paprikás that I’ve mentioned earlier.

 

• Csípos Paprika

The famous red pepper Hungary is so known for…definitely look for and buy a couple of sacks, it’s an amazing ingredient for every meal and an unique helper in the kitchen.

 

That’s the end of the salty-spicy-bitter part, now let’s go for some amazing sweets!

 

• Kakaós Csiga

Kakaós Csiga is a pastry snail filled with cocoa beans, usually also sprinkled with powdered sugar on the top. When you buy a B&B room, you’ll certainly find this along other breakfast meals on the buffet.

 

• Somlói Galuska

Three types of sponge cake topped with a lot of chocolate and whipped cream. I have no idea who came up with this, but I love it! It’s a must-have for all those with a very sweet tooth.

 

• Fánk

Fánks are traditional Hungarian doughnuts. They’re sprinkled with powdered sugar on top and a bit of lekvár (usually an apricot jam) or chocolate inside. It’s so delicious!! You’ll find them everywhere, even in the supermarkets, but the best ones are those from the bakeries.

 

• Bejgli

Bejgli is a long spiraled cake of dyed dough filled with either poppy seeds or ground wallnuts.

 

• Kifli

Kifli, which I’ve already mentioned before, is a croissant shaped bread (basically a roll) that can be easily served with butter, ham or cheese even though they’re sweet. The best are the warm ones right from the bakery.

 

• Rétes

Long strudels fileld with apples/cherries/poppyseeds. It’s amazing with a cup of tea or coffee and you will certainly not be satisfied with just one piece. The most typical is a combination of all these three ingredients, or a combo of poppyseeds and black cherries.

 

• Dobostorta

Dobostorta is a chocolate – buttercream cake covered usually with caramel and nuts. It must have, unbelievably, at least 10 layers of dough and buttercream!

 

• Palacsinta

This is basically a Hungarian version of crépes. It can be filled with anything, from jams and chocolate to salty and spicy fillings including pepper or onion. They cook them on those large round pans so they’re very thin, soft and fluffy after all.

 

• Kurtoskalács

Last but not least. This one actually originates from Slovakia, but Hungarians made what was good perfect. Kurtoskalács is a baked roll, entirely sprinkled with sugar/cocoa/vanilla/cinnamon/nuts or glazed in caramel. This is probably the best sweet meal I’ve ever tried. I always buy some when fairs come to the town, it’s always the same kind Hungarian lady and she makes the best kurtoskalács-es (trdelníky, in Slovak language) in the world. My favourite variation is probably the cinnamon one. Or caramel. It’s so hard to choose!

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Which meal was your favourite? Which one would you like to try, and why?

Have a great day!