The most famous Hungarian food:
The most famous traditional Hungarian plant used in cooking is
the pepper (in Hungarian paprika). Many Hungarians cultivate those
vegetables, and a lot of soups (in Hungarian Gulàs) have paprika in
them. This red plant has almost become the symbol of Hungary. This
variety of pepper comes from India or South America. In fact, this plant
has been imported by Christopher Columbus in 1793. It is very popular
in Hungary because it doesn’t costs much and because it is very useful
in cooking. Paprika is also a very good medicine. “Paprikàs” is the generic Hungarian name
for all meals with paprika inside it and prepared with whipped cream.
(We use this word especially for fish, chicken and veal).
The most famous Hungarian drink is a wine: Tokaji.
In Hungary, the most famous Hungarian meal is the Goulash. It is a sort of soup very liquid
mainly composed by water, pepper and meat. There is more than one version of the goulash
soup because there is no strict rule to make it. This is why the “gulyàs”, the “tokàny” and the
pörkölt” (=a very thick soup with meat, onions, mushrooms and vegetables) are all goulash
even though they don’t have the same ingredients. The only ingredients that are always used
for the goulash is paprika , meat, onions, potatoes and sometimes…pasta !Fish soups are also
very popular in Hungary.
The traditional meal for Easter is ham. It is served with vegetables and onions.
Traditional deserts:
There are very many Hungarian deserts: cakes (usually with a lot of cream, and in Hungarian
torta), sort of pancakes, cottaged cheese, (a kind of cheese), apple or cherry pies, (in
Hungarian rétes) and other specialities like the pogacsa (a sort of dried cake). Here are some
exemples of deserts:
- The dobos torta (with cream, chocolate and caramel)
-The pogacsa
-The alma rétes (apple pie), cseresnye rétes (cherry pie) or turo rétes (cheese pie)
-The palacsinta (kind of crêpes)
Source: http://ecole.florence.free.fr/Coin_des_enseignants/Itineraires/Emmanuelle/index.htm