ingredients
Jan 06 '10
When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade. Same With Hungary, Liver and Terrine de Foie Gras.
While for some reason I managed to avoid adding the traditional kilo or two during this year's holiday break, it wasn't for a lack of trying. Seriously. Like many foreign foodies living in Hungary, I regularly enjoy dishes made...
Nov 24 '09
Some People in Budapest Are More Serious About North American Poultry Traditions Than You Might Think
Speaking of people in Budapest taking North American culinary traditions more seriously than you might imagine, just get a load of the above shot taken outside the Hotel InterContinental Budapest, featuring the van - or maybe just one of...
Apr 10 '09
Hungarian Government Declares War on Foreign Food
One of the reasons posting has been very light as of late is that we've been distracted by all the ongoing political and economic dramas taking place in Hungary. And now it looks like a return to our normal...
Feb 10 '09
Mangalica Mania (IV): 2009 Festival in Pictures
To conclude our recent coverage of "Mangalica mania" below is a nice little gallery of pics taken at the festival devoted to Hungary's favorite pig. Our thanks to reader David Erickson for the shots of the pork-party, which he...
Feb 06 '09
Mangalica Mania (II): Champagne, Caviar and Pig Grease
Speaking of Mangalica mania, I recently sampled a very interesting product made from Hungary's favorite "luxury" pig. The jar of "pumpkin seed Mangalica fat with truffles" you see nearby is made by a firm called Aranyszarvas-Gomba Kft (Golden Stag...
Feb 02 '09
Oh, Great - Now I Get to Give Culinaris Even More Money...
While most of the restaurant news in Budapest so far this year has involved places closing down, there has been at least one notable opening: the "luncheonette" attached to the Culinaris gourmet shop which opened late last summer near...
Nov 14 '08
Pannonhalma Abbey Turns Wine Into Vinegar (and More)
It's always nice to discover great new local products, but unfortunately it doesn't happen as often as I'd like it to. But recently I was delighted to discover that the Pannonhalma Archabbey (Pannonhalmi főapátság) - which also has a...
Sep 19 '08
Culinaris Opens Third Gourmet Store; Putting Final Touches on "Second Fastest" Restaurant in Budapest
Anyone who knows anything much about fancy food in Budapest will already know about Culinaris (click link for contact details and user feedback), the locally-owned chain of gourmet food stores that began with humble roots in District VI before...
Sep 12 '08
10 Reasons to Get Your Sleepy Behind Up on Saturday Morning and Go to the MOM Organic Market
We should have written this article at the beginning of the summer, not the end. But since autumn is also a time when Mother Nature is at her most productive, produce-wise, it's still a fine time to sing the...
Sep 10 '08
The Easy Exoticism of Magyar Arabesque
For internationally-minded foodies living in Hungary, the soaring cost of eating out is only one stomach-churning problem. Even if you do your culinary traveling at home, you have to deal with the hassle and often eye-popping costs involved in...
Aug 19 '08
A Bittersweet Celebration of Culinary Complexity
[Editor's note: When we heard several weeks ago that Hungary's National Trade Guild of Hungarian Confectioner Industrialists had published a recipe for a 2008 "national cake," we gave Chew.hu co-editor (and baker extraordinaire) Carolyn Bánfalvi the task of trying...
Jul 08 '08
Unusually Exciting Watermelon Story Marks Onset of Typically Dull Hungarian Cucumber Season
While August is still a few weeks away, much of Hungary is already trapped in the torpor of uborkaszezon ("cucumber season") that time of summer when so little happens that the media is obliged to publish stories about the size...
Jul 03 '08
It's small, yellow, bitter, but it's OURS! (Maybe)
We spotted this the other day at the Rothschild's supermarket in District V, and are tempted to offer a big prize to anyone who can prove that citrom is being grown commercially anywhere in Hungary - maybe even a...
Apr 11 '08
Emergence of Hungarian Bear Onion from Winter Slumber Signals Arrival of Spring
The signs all seem to say that spring has finally arrived. There are a few bunches of Hungarian-grown spárga in the market, and lots of tiny eper (strawberries) - though at almost Ft 4,500 (€18) a crate at the...
Mar 10 '08
International News (II): Low-Rent Supermarket Chain Enters Crowded Tourist Rip-Off Market
In the latest sign of the ongoing "gourmetization" of Budapest, Hungary's most Hungarian and God-fearing of grocery store chains CBA is set to open "elegant" food shops in some of the capital's most popular tourist destinations....
Mar 10 '08
International News (I): The Little Lemon that Brings New York to Budapest
We were doing our shopping the other day in the Belvárosi Vásárcsarnok (District VI market hall) when we happened upon something usual: Meyer lemons. If you don't know the Meyer lemon, it's sort of a cross between a lemon...
Feb 15 '08
If You are Going to Eat Boring, Characterless Cheese, it Might as Well be the Best Boring, Characterless Cheese
The plain white cheese known as Trappista is considered by many to be flavorless and boring, yet it is Hungary's most popular form of sajt, to the point that Wikipedia simply calls it a "traditional Hungarian" cheese. So when we...
Oct 18 '07
Home-Delivered Italian Specialties Now (Almost) as Easy as Point and Click
We're always on the lookout for ways to simplify our lives. So when we heard about Cibus, an online gourmet Italian grocery store in Budapest that delivers, it seemed almost too good to be true: just click on some...
Oct 12 '07
Quick! Hungarian Quince Season is Here!
Early autumn is almost as good of a time for shopping in Hungarian markets as high summer. There are still tasty reminders of summer, like tomatoes, corn, and plums. But there are also fall flavors like pears, apples, all...
Sep 21 '07
The Only Thing Better than Kecskemét Cheese are the People Who Sell It
If you spend a decent amount of time shopping in Budapest's supermarkets - as opposed to its increasing number of gourmet and specialty food shops - you will quickly come to the conclusion that these are not the places...
Aug 30 '07
Mainstreaming of Gourmet Imported Food Reaches Cheesy New Heights
Regular readers will have already noted our ongoing fascination with the increasing ease with which one can find hitherto unavailable imported food luxuries in Hungary. So we'll just mention that, if you are a fan of extra-aged Gouda and...
Aug 24 '07
Budapest Steak Lovers' Woes Go Up In a Blaze of Irish Tesco T-Bones
A few weeks after this website officially launched last September, we noted that gourmet food shops seemed to have become generic in Budapest. In the 11 months since, this trend has intensified, with local gourmands constantly telling us about...
Mar 14 '07
Óceán Releases Tuna-Serrano Ham Roll-Ups to Treasure-Hunting Cooks
If there's one thing most high-end restaurateurs really fear, it's the idea that their clients may figure out how to reproduce items from their menu at home. So kudos to the folks over at Óceán Bár and Grill for...
Jan 17 '07
Hungarian Foodblogging Almost Ripe
Anyone familiar with the intricacies of the international foodblogging scene knows that the best thing about these blogs are the competitions, games and quizes that they regularly organize to spice up long and boring posts about recipes that no one...
Dec 05 '06
Csicsókák Offer Brief Salvation from Winter Tuber Hell
The days of tasty local blueberries are sadly behind us, and any trip to the market in Hungary will remind you that now is clearly the time for roots and tubers. But look closely and you'll see that there's...
Nov 20 '06
Vintage Sausages Seized in Police Raid in Pest
More than three tons of spoiled meat were seized by food inspectors Thursday morning at the Lehel téri piac (Lehel tér food market). According to rtlklub.hu, six food-sellers at the large District XIII bazaar were fined a total of over...
Nov 02 '06
Exploring Budapest's Four Tigers Food Market (V): Rong Rong is Right Right
Living in Hungary one can easily forgets that there are things known as "green vegetables." While most of our expatriated food needs have been either satiated or squelched over the course of time, our craving for good and diverse...
Oct 13 '06
Ugly Brown Sausages Ooze Delicious Gray Beef Flavor
It has to be said that sausages are seldom a beautiful thing. But sometimes the most beautifully-tasting sausages end up looking so unsightly that even genuine sausage lovers need to be coaxed into taking a bite. A case in point...
Oct 10 '06
Market Mystery: Who Buys The Horse Meat?
Maybe it was a subconscious thing, but despite years of shopping and browsing at the Nagyvásárcsarnok, we only recently noticed the two stalls side-by-side specializing in horse meat. There's even a horse head hanging above the rows of szalámi and...
Oct 10 '06
Retro Rice Shortage Special at Tesco
Although there has been some misguided reminiscing recently about the good old days, no one, especially not us gourmands, is fondly remembering the dark days when hungry citizens had to stand in line for hours to get their hands on...
Oct 05 '06
Italian-Hungarian Shocker (II): Frumpy Hungarian Tarkabab Exposed as Trendy Tuscan Borlotti Bean
As we mentioned on Monday, local markets in Hungary are currently featuring some seasonal items that shouldn't be overlooked. In addition to eating as many blueberries as you can stomach, another key item for your basket is a bag...
Oct 03 '06
Political Edibles (III): Hungary's Presidential Fair Trade Coffee
Though his powers are mostly ceremonial, Hungarian President László Sólyom (left) has recently made it clear that he is not shy about using this influence whenever he thinks it can be put to good use. Not only has he...
Oct 02 '06
Time to Eat Kék Áfonya Until You Are Blue in the Face
Summer is now officially over, meaning that seasonal produce will soon start to get a little scarce in Hungary. Which makes it imperative that you take full advantage of those bits of locally-grown natural freshness still available at your...
Sep 25 '06
Gourmet Food in Budapest Now Officially Generic
It's always hard to pinpoint when a relatively new trend has stopping being new and has instead become just a normal part of life. But a good sign is when people involved in the trend stop acting as if...
Sep 22 '06
It Was an Itsy-bitsy Teeny-Weenie Spicy Hungo Pepper Peenie
Sent in by reader M.B. Given all the megatons of peppers grown in Hungary it's not surprising that one would look like a you-know-what, assuming these actually popped up locally. But that one person could have picked a whole...
Sep 21 '06
Fruit and Vegetable Fans Crap Out as Prices Jump by 33%
If Hungary's vegetarians have recently seemed depressed and cranky, it's not just the lack of meat in their diets. According to data from the Central Statistics Office (KSH) nicely packaged up by radio.hu, the prices of seasonable vegetables and fruit...
Sep 21 '06
Ingredients: Délhús Marinált Fonott Császár, Ft 1,779/kilo at Tesco
Yes, we know what you're thinking - it looks like a catfish! Anyway, what you have before you is a before-the-grill example of an interesting twist (pun intended) on the Hungarian grill staple of Császár (literally, "Caesar," as in...
Sep 21 '06
Autumn Mushroom Picking Death Season in Full Swing
Every gourmand knows that freshly-picked forest mushrooms are to die for - but only if you're not careful! According to rtlklub.hu, a total of eleven people have been hospitalized in Hungary for mushroom poisoning in recent days. Three residents of...
