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The Hungarian Jewish cooking may be rooted in the past, but its recipes aren’t staying there!

Don’t have to be Jewish to love the Jewish cuisine, it is enough to be a gourmet.

There is hardly a culture in which Jewish food and its preparation are not known in the world.

Just a little insight into the countless inherited and localized Jewish food at Hungary

The first Jewish cookbook was published in Hungarian in the 1880s, followed by several other, practical, kosher recipe collections. Due to the dispersion of Judaism, as many communities, as to many food choices and tastes.

Of course, Hungarian Jewry cannot be an exception. The borders of East and West, the typical Hungarian countryside, or even Budapest’s Jewish circles distinct types of food have become popular with a variety of ages.

The Old Jewish Food, was first published in 1984 and presented traditional Eastern European Jewish food, with the aim of preserving Hungarian Jewish dishes from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and the first half of the twentieth century. The food descriptions are a bit concise compared to the recipes, the author entrusts the method of preparation partly to the imagination of the chef or cook.

The Hungarians make many spice mixes at home, most of which include cumin, a few cloves, cinnamon, ginger, coriander, seeds, leaves, mint and, of course, salt, pepper, and the essential peppers, but of course the climate in Hungary is not favorable for all of them. cultivation.

From this abundant gastronomic offer here is one of a good … but  heavy crunchy-munchy

Goose bump with red onion

Goose bump It can also be considered akind appetizer. The Hungarians eat it with alot or without red onion.

(Good to know to avoid smelly onion in the breath, eat a tsp of fresh parsley, also when having garlic and its gone.)

Ingredients: cca 1/2 kg of goose skin, little water.
Cooking: The goose skin is carefully peeled off the meat (usually from the breast and back) … usually Hungarians buy at the market goose  bump …  cut into 2 x 2 cm cubes and then placed in a pot. Add enough water to cover it and cook it on a moderate fire, stirring sometimes. By the time the water evaporates, the crumb will turn nice yellow. Bake for a few more minutes, then pour a cca. 2 tbs of water into the fat and squeeze the lid of the pot. This will make the crackling crispy. Filter and pour the goose fat into a jar  and let it cool, later place it in the fridge and can be in use for cooking ie meat soup  by adding 1 tsp to richer the flavor.
Carefully pour the water into the flag fat, it is advisable to pull away from the oven.

Another yummy appetizing … Chicken Breast Bags with Rosemary

Ingredients: 600 g chicken breast, 16 slices of bacon, salt, pepper, rosemary thread

Instructions: Cut the bacon slices in half. Slice up and tenderize the chicken and put salt, pepper and rosemary on it, then cut it into 16 pieces.
Roll each piece into two slices of bacon and fix the whole thing with a piece of thread. Fix a piece of rosemary on each little bag. It will intensify the mouth watering smell of the dish. Place the bags on a baking sheet and bake them in the oven for about 40 minutes.

Hungarian lunch is not lunch without soup on the table.

Meat soup with matzo dumpling

In Hungary, matzo dumplings are not so much made of mace flour, but there are those who make a mixture of coarsely crushed mace. Adding ginger and parsley is the secret to good matzo dumplings. Here is the recipe for mace.
Ingredients: 250 gr mace, 6 eggs,, 4 tbsp goose fat,, 2 bunches of chopped parsley, 2 heaped tsp. ginger powder, black pepper, salt and to make it more  a mocha spoon of soda bicarbonate as well and will be more lighter.
Cooking: eggs are mixed with the fat and the same amount of water is added to it as the amount of egg mixture in deciliters. Add the hand-crushed Passover, the finely chopped parsley, and then season with salt, freshly ground black pepper and lots of ginger. Once kneaded, place in the refrigerator for at least 60 mins. By hand form balls the size of a ping-pong ball out of it and cook it in hot goose soup or it can also cooked in the beef soup or chicken soup.

Stewed cabbage with smoked goose leg

It is very popular … heavy meal … by the Hungarians, but rather cooked in the season of winter.

Ingredient: 2 smoked goose legs, 3 tablespoons goose fat, 40 dkg barrel cabbage.

Cooking: Wash goose legs thoroughly with warm water and soak for an hour or two. Melt the goose fat and heat it over your thighs. Then add the washed sauerkraut and the whole thing, stirring occasionally, just simmer until soft.

Can almost hear the “Q” … where is the famous Jewish cholent? Not missing!

Goose leg and beef meat with boiled egg

Most probably many people have had already tasted the real Jewish Cholent, but maybe only a few have not cooked it yet. So here is a Hungarian cholent guided tour:

Before the recept … First things First …

“Q” Where does the name Cholent come from?

“A”  The word of uncertain origin …  it is a Jewish Sabbath meal consisting of beans mixed with meat, peas, or a mixture of beans and rice, or pasta. The Jews are forbidden to cook on Saturdays, therefore this food is placed on the embers of the closed stove on Friday, where it is cooked until Saturday.

“Q” How to cook cholent
“A” In a ceramic pot, iron pot or enameled pot.

“Q” Making it on a stove or an electric hob?

“A” The point is to put the dish in the oven, it should be well closed to bare cooking for long hours , also to prevent evaporation.

Ingredients: 40 dkg brown beans 40 dkg beef (for soup), 2 goose thighs, 40 dkg of smoked meat (smoked goose leg or breast is best), 1 small head onion, 1 tsp red pepper, 3 tbs oil or 2 dkg goose fat, 1 tbs flour.
Preparation of brine:
Fry the chopped onion on the fat, sprinkle with the red pepper, add the beans and smoked meat soaked the night before and thaw for approx. With 2 liters of water .Add the meats and sprinkle on top of the flour we mix. Cover the whole thing and bake in the oven until the garnishes are completely softened. Usually in large pots it is good to prepare and make sure the water at the beginning covers all. You only need to salt if the smoked meat in it is not salty enough. Many people put gerslit in the brine, but it is excellent without it. During cooking the water is absorbed by the beans and meats, if so it is recommended to add a little water, but it should be served with short juice, it should be dense.

Life is sweet but better to make it really sweet non the other way than baking Flódni. It is also prepared for some famous event or celebration. Its essential ingredients are all symbols of abundance: poppy, walnuts, dense plum jam, wine and apples. the most famous cake of Hungarian Jewry.

Flódni

Ingredients: 1/2 kg of flour, 1/2 kg of sugar, 1/2 kg of walnuts, 1 kg of apples, 3  tsp of honey, 3 egg yolks, 1 dl of oil, 1 lemon grated peel.

Baking instruction: Knead the flour, oil, egg yolks and a spoonful of honey. Divide the dough into three and then roll each out to the size of a baking pan. Oil the baking sheet and put in the first sheet. Lubricate it with oil, water it with honey and sprinkle it with the nuts mixed with half the sugar.  Lay the second sheet on top, oil it, water it with honey and sprinkle with half the grated apple mixed with sugar. May bake with other ingredients as listed a/m. Put the last plate on it, water it with oil and honey, smear it on it, and then bake it ready in the oven. Baking time 50mins.

Hopfully, the Hungarian Jewish delicacies cuisine took you on a yummy tour.

©Aggie Reiter