meat
Aug 19 '09
Low-Cost Lidl Lamb Chops Win Big Prize for Summer Grill Surprise
September may be just around the corner, but there's still plenty of Hungarian summer left to savor. And what better way to do it than with a little grilling? While there hasn't been much grill news around this summer,...
Jun 29 '09
Food Warnings (II): My Friend Just LOVED Tesco's Sale Tenderloin
While we're on the topic of tainted food being withdrawn from the shelves of Hungarian retailers, I might as well mention a related incident I experienced first-hand this past Saturday. On the way out to my little countryside spot...
Jan 23 '09
I Went on Vacation in America and All I Got Was this Fake Hungarian Salami
Sorry for the lapse in posting, but your dear editor (that would be me) was away for a few weeks visiting the United States. As usual, my visit to America involved numerous trips to local food shops, to partake...
Sep 10 '08
Monor Seeks Illegal Magyar Meat Capital Distinction
Dodgy wine isn't the only thing being seized these days, and while pig lard doesn't technically count as meat, it is an animal byproduct, and therefore relevant to the piece, not least of which is because vegetarians and even some...
Sep 01 '08
They Say Wine Stimulates the Appetite, But…
The above pic was snapped at the wine festival recently held near Budapest's City Park by our Paris-based friend B.D., and is terrifying for several reasons that have nothing to do with the Spanish Inquisition-style implements being used to...
Aug 26 '08
Budget Budapest: Extremely Budget
There is a certain satisfaction to buying food in the same place where it is made. Generally, the fewer steps from its origin to your mouth makes for a fresher and less expensive experience. You can find just this...
Jun 09 '08
A Riddle Wrapped in an Enigma Crammed in a Big Can of Hungarian Mystery Meat
Even though we've just made the executive decision to limit the Budapest Burgerwar™ to burgers made from meat that can be readily identified, don't think we're the kind of people who believe you always need to know what kind...
Jun 09 '08
Budapest Burgerwar: If You Can't Name the Meat, It Can't Compete
In a review last week of a particularly notably delivery-only burger, I briefly noted how the proliferation of such burgers was one of the primary obstacles to a more speedy resolution of the Budapest Burgerwar™. But the problem isn't...
Apr 28 '08
Premium Free-Range Beef Cattle Now Available Locally in Budapest
The somewhat bizarre but interesting video above showcases a recent "promotional tour" of Budapest by a pack of szürkemarha, organized by something called the Magyar Szürke Projekt ("Hungary Gray Project"). Among other things, (Hungarian-speaking) viewers learn that the country's...
Feb 12 '08
Crowds Go Hog Wild at First Mangalica Festival
Hungary has so many food and wine festivals - with celebrations devoted to even the most common foods like onions and garlic - that they can be hit-or-miss. If you're judging purely by crowd size, this past weekend's Mangalica...
Jan 30 '08
Thanks, But We'll Have the Fish Instead
The ongoing saga involving shady companies in Hungary being busted for selling rotten meat and other past-date-of-sale product has reached its logical Euro-conclusion, in a giant piece of conceptual art. A billboard of the poster pictured above is currently...
Jan 09 '08
The Hungarian Salami King of Illinois
Because of strict controls on the import of foods, Hungarians living in the US and Canada are starved of home-made Hungarian meat products, unless they can ask a friend or relative to play meat mule and smuggle their pungent...
Jan 07 '08
Holiday Cheer (II): New Year's No Party for Hungarian Pigs
As seen around noon on December 31, at Budapest's Nagyvásárcsarnok (Central Market Hall). And you thought the end of the long holiday break made you feel gutted......
Sep 11 '07
Healthy Pálinka, Unhealthy Meat Processor Winners in Annual Hungarian Product Grand Prix
The annual Hungarian Product Grand Prix (Magyar Termék Nagydíj) was held last week in parliament, where awards were handed out for the 10th time to a range of domestically-manufactured products judged as exceptionally innovative or simply exceptional. According to...
Sep 03 '07
Hungarian Education Ministry Offers Troubling Cooking Lesson to Budapest Commuters
Taking the metro to work this morning in Budapest, our typical pre-breakfast trance was broken by a poster of the above picture by Hungarian photographer Anna Fabricius, plastered on the wall of various subway cars courtesy of the culture...
Jun 21 '07
Unassuming Countryside Hungarian Restaurant May be Most Important on Earth
No, really! According to many Hungarian spiritualists, and apparently even the Dali Lama, the woods surrounding the Platán Panzió in the Pilis hills northwest of Budapest may be the actual "center of the universe."...
Apr 06 '07
Hungarian Ham-Makers Decry Growing Demand for Mystery "Easter Meat"
As we head into this Easter weekend, it's only appropriate to finish up with a little ham-related news. (Monday is a holiday in Hungary, unlike in some other parts of the world, while ham, not lamb, is the hús traditionally...
Apr 04 '07
Romania-Mania (II): Best. Breakfast. Bacon. Ever.
Though Romanians may be streaming across the border to forage for food in Hungary, you shouldn't get the impression that there is no decent grub to be had next door. Exhibit "A" is this gorgeous plate of thickly-sliced and...
Mar 07 '07
Desk Test: Petit Balkan Street Meat Holds Own Against Huge Gyros Hústál
Delivery 1: Ambrózia Gyros tál birkából (Ambrózia mutton gyro plate, Ft 990); Pieskovica (Pljeskavica, Ft 790); Görög saláta pirítóssal (Greek salad with toast, Ft 590) From: Ambrózia Étterem, via Netpincér.hu Delivery 2: Gyros tál csípősen (Spicy gyros platter, Ft...
Feb 05 '07
Hungarian, African-Style (II): Mauritanian Camel Beats Magyar Beef in Desert Tarhonya Test
Just because many participants in the 2007 Budapest-Bamako rally chickened out of eating fresh fish, it doesn't mean the event was devoid of culinary adventure. Far from it! In fact, one of the most memorable interludes of the trip...
Jan 16 '07
Three Little Disznósajts
When a recipe's ingredients include a full pig's head, 2 hearts, 4 kidneys, 4 tongues, 1 kilo of pig's skin, 0,7 kilos of bacon, 2 ears and a couple of pig's stomachs you can be sure about two things:...
Jan 11 '07
Pork Story (II): Charities Receive Gift of Luxury Pork Fat
Here's one that definitely gets filed under "only in Hungary." Yesterday afternoon, some producers of Hungary's famous Mangalica pigs gave away some 1.5 tons of rendered Mangalica fat worth approximately Ft 1.5 million (€5,800) to 54 grateful educational and social...
Jan 11 '07
Pork Story (I): Lean Days for Gyulai Húskombinát
If anyone out there is interested in owning their own Hungarian sausage maker, you may be in luck. The historic Gyulai Húskombinát Rt. (Gyula Meat Plant), which has been making a variety of meat products out in the eastern...
Nov 30 '06
If You Ever Want to Eat Sausage Again, Don't Read This
Unfortunately, we've gotten word of yet another grisly story involving people selling meat in Hungary they really, really shouldn't be. This one comes from the Pest County town of Tárnok, where an illegal meat packing plant was discovered on Monday...
Nov 28 '06
Fear, Loathing and World-Beating Mangalica Ham at Foodapest '06
Until last Friday, the last food trade show I attended was the "Fancy Food Show" in New York, where the exhibitors practically throw food at you, shove wine glasses in your face, and then send you away with more...
Nov 22 '06
Young Debrecen Cow Farmer Named Most "Innovative" In Europe; Hungarian Beef Still Inedible
We were happy to hear today that a Hungarian farmer has won the "European Innovative Young Farmer Award," an honor bestowed by something called the European Council of Young Farmers. Thirty-year-old Péter Papp (left), who has a 670-strong herd of...
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
German Winter Combo Onslaught (I): The Paulaner Vegyes Kolbásztál
So we were offline for the last couple of days, and if you are in Budapest, the reason for our absence shouldn't be too hard to figure out: it's freezing out there, and the bad weather has left us...
Oct 20 '06
It's Sausage (and Face) Stuffing Time in Békéscsaba Again!
If Budapest is looking a little de-populated today, it's not just because people are clearing out to avoid the chaos of the 1956 commemorations. It's because, once again, the "Kolbászfesztivál" is already underway in the sausage capital of Békéscsaba....
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 11 '06
Subversive Foreign Food Influences Seen at Nationalist Demonstration
As snapped by contributor Matt Ellis at a recent gathering in Budapest of right-wing anti-government demonstrators, many of whom are convinced that the United States is unfairly supporting the hated Socialists currently running Hungary - and who never miss...
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 05 '06
Italian-Hungarian Shocker (I): We Thought That Ham Tasted Familiar
So last week's mondo-Italiano food and wine night apparently featured more than just some good olasz eats and drinks. According to a follow-up on deluxe.hu, figures announced at the event show a dramatic increase in food and wine trade between...
Sep 28 '06
Massive Organic Pig Litter May Put Hungarian Pork into Record Books
Hungarian pork already has a reputation for being uncannily delicious. But now one particular porker at an experimental organic farm in Mernye, Somogy County may put the whole country into the Guinness Book of World Records. According to a...
Sep 22 '06
Desk Test: Don Roberto's Tongue-Smackin' Four-Meat Pizza
The Delivery: Pizza Húsimádóknak "Meat-lover's Pizza" (26 cm; Ft 1,245) From: Don Roberto Pizzéria, via Netpincér.hu (Ft 150 delivery charge) The Lowdown: So we owed our friend in the office a pizza, and we tell him to just go...
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 14 '06
The Many Mysteries of Budapest Lite's Filet Mignon Sandwich
Our ongoing curiosity about the world of Hungarian beef was piqued again following a flying visit to high-class sandwich emporium Budapest Lite's Andrássy út outlet, where we happened upon the above-pictured "filet mignon" sandwich. Filet mignon? Could it really...
