Knowing what traditional Hungarian food to expect and some of the typical Hungarian dishes to look out for while traveling through this beautiful country will make a huge difference to any trip. Keep reading to explore the Hungarian cuisine with our Hungarian food guide!
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Introduction to Hungary and Hungarian food
Hungarians are incredibly enthusiastic eaters, and that is one of the first things that cemented my love for the country. Their pride in their food extends to talking about it in great detail, and is so contagious that when in Hungary, eating and drinking just seems like the truest way to get to know the country’s soul.
Hungary is a small country (under 10 million in population) in the middle of Europe, surrounded by Austria, Romania, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. Just as Hungarians have preserved their distinct Magyar language (despite being surrounded by so many unrelated tongues), they’ve also sustained their beloved culture of food and wine.
European countries often stress their differences, but after living in Hungary for more than two decades years and traveling extensively in Central and Eastern Europe, I’ve realized that when it comes to food, in this region the similarities and influences abound.
Hungary Food Influences
Look at the menus in Hungary and its neighbors and you’ll see Turkish influences, along with many remnants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire of the 1800’s, when the cuisines of many nations became intertwined.
Hungarian cuisine has long been influenced by Jewish food, with dishes like sólet (cholent), matzo balls and goose soup so commonplace that Hungarians often don’t know they originated as Jewish foods.
Despite the intermingling of cuisines in this part of the world, food in Hungary remains true to its classic dishes. When you see a gulyás (goulash) on the menu in Croatia it may be made of octopus, in Austria it’s likely to be a meat stew served with dumplings, but in Hungary it will always be a paprika-rich soup made with cubes of beef and potatoes. Gulyás is perhaps the most iconic Hungarian dish. Like so many traditional dishes here, Hungarian goulash is simple and complex at the same time with the sweet paprika. It’s so elegant that it is served at fancy Budapest restaurants, yet humble enough to be served at practically every red-checked tablecloth Hungarian restaurant in the country.
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Hungarian food is wide-ranging and diverse, yet it’s relatively unknown outside the region. Perhaps it’s because there are so few Hungarian restaurants around the world and one must get introduced to the typical Hungarian food through home-cooked meals.
I have been blown away so many times by genuine feasts cooked at the homes of Hungarians. After eating (and drinking) more than you thought possible, the meal invariably ends on a celebratory note with a bottle of homemade pálinka (fruit brandy) appearing and poured into tiny glasses which are clinked together with enthusiastic proclamations “egészségedre!” (to your health!).
Paprika, Hungary’s “Red Gold”
There is a certain aroma wafting through kitchen windows into apartment building hallways all over Budapest. Every Hungarian instantaneously recognizes this fragrance – paprika and onions in sizzling lard – and it usually begins a speculation about what the resulting dish will be.
“Somewhere along the line the Hungarians hit on the holy trinity of lard, onion, and pure ground paprika,” wrote Hungarian George Láng in The Cuisine of Hungary. “This simple combination became the base of virtually unlimited taste combinations.”
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Cooking with Paprika
This base of fat (be it goose, pork, or duck), onions, and paprika (only added at the end as not to burn) is the essence of Hungarian cuisine. With this technique the onions are cooked so slowly that they soften and remain translucent. It’s unbelievable how much flavor emerges from simple onions when cooked this way. The hot fat releases the paprika’s oil, turning this mixture into a bomb of flavor from which many dishes can begin, including pörkölt (meat stew, made from any kind of meat), veal, mushroom or chicken paprikash/paprikás (this is when sour cream is added); and lecsó (a vegetable stew of peppers and tomatoes).
If you know nothing else about Hungary, you will still probably have heard about Hungary’s penchant for paprika. But paprika hasn’t always been synonymous with Hungarian food. Pepper plants arrived in Europe in the 16th century, were embraced by peasants in the 17th century, and had become a wholly Hungarian spice by the mid-18th century. There’s a reason why paprika is sold by the kilogram at the markets; Hungarian recipes use it in quantities that would shock cooks in most other nations. But Hungarian food isn’t all about paprika—there are plenty of dishes which don’t contain a trace of it.
Bountiful Market Stalls
Much of Hungary is fertile orchard and farmland, with soil so rich it’s the color of dark-roasted coffee beans. Market stalls abound with gorgeous seasonal local fruit and vegetables from this land.
Because of this seasonal abundance, Hungarians are adept at turning summer produce into products to last through the winter.
Fruit that isn’t eaten in the moment is cooked into jam and distilled into pálinka, a spirit made from fruits such as sour cherries, plums, apricots, apples and pears.
Traditional Hungarian Pickles
Savanyúság – pickled and fermented vegetables – plays a hugely important role in Hungarian cuisine.
It’s practical both in terms of preservation and taste, since a little plate of pickles goes down perfectly with a heavy pörkölt (meat stew) or one of the other hearty Hungarian meals.
Each market has an entire section devoted to colorful pickles, and they are an impressive sight. You’ll see barrels of sauerkraut (savanyú káposzta), colorful peppers stuffed with sauerkraut and dyed red with beet juice, and a huge variety of pickles that could include melons, plums, beets, tomatoes, peppers, and cauliflower.
In the summer, kovászos uborka (fermented cucumbers) are made from gherkins. They’re stuffed into a big jar with a sprig of dill, covered with water, sprinkled with a little salt, and topped with a slice of bread to promote the fermentation. After a few days in the sun, they’re ready to eat. Even the cloudy pickle juice is drunk, sometimes mixed with soda water.
You will find seasonal vegetables pickled for use in later months, and Hungarian chefs are extremely talented in finding the balance between these salty, sour pickles and richer meat and vegetable dishes.
A Nation of Sweet-Teeth
Hungary has one of the great (yet underrated) baking traditions of Europe and is renowned for its fancy layered cakes like Dobos torta (vanilla cake layers with chocolate buttercream topped by a shiny solid caramel top) and Esterházy torta (layers of walnut cake and walnut cream).
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Cukrászdas (patisseries) abound, and they tempt dessert lovers with confections made from ingredients like poppy seeds, apricots, plums, túró (farmer cheese), chestnuts, whipped cream, and walnuts.
Of course there are the simpler Hungarian desserts made at home, like palacsinta (stuffed Hungarian crepes) and yeast-raised cakes like aranygaluska. During the Christmas season bejgli (walnut and poppy seed rolls) are baked by everyone’s mom and grandma and given as gifts.
Budapest still has a few traditional late 19th/early 20th century coffeehouses, and these are excellent places to settle down with a cup of coffee and an exquisite dessert.
Hungarian Wine
Like the rest of the region, Hungarian food and wine traditions and industries suffered terribly during the four decades of Communism. But these days Budapest is a hot foodie city, with new and exciting restaurants continuously opening. It even has seven Michelin-starred restaurants to be proud of (one of them has two-stars). There are also two Michelin-starred restaurants in the countryside.
Local food artisans and growers, from cheese makers and butchers, to bakers and farmers, are reviving traditional dishes and making visits to the markets even more exciting. Nowhere is the revival of old traditions more evident that in Hungarian wine. Hungary is a true wine country, and no meal here is complete without it.
In the past few decades most of the country’s 22 wine regions have been getting back to focusing on growing indigenous regional grapes, with Furmint, Juhfark, Hárslevelű, Kadarka, and Kékfrankos being some of the most intriguing ones to seek out.
Tokaji aszú, an amazingly complex sweet wine made from botrytized grapes which have not only been hand-picked, but picked berry by berry when they reach the optimal stage of over-ripeness, is a national treasure and has been produced for hundreds of years.
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That winemakers in Tokaj are singularly obsessed with the botrytis fungus, ever wondering when it will come and how much there will be, must look strange to this who are not yet under the spell of Tokaji aszú. But this wine is only made in years when botrytis invades the vineyards, turning the healthy grapes into shriveled raisin-like berries. Winemakers in the Tokaj region are focused on re-introducing this wine to the world, as well as the deliciously volcanic dry Furmints that they have mastered more recently. These are wines that can stand up, and perfectly complement, often heavy and meat-oriented Hungarian dishes.
Hungarian Dishes to look out for
If you’re looking for some traditional Hungarian food to try when you visit Hungary, here are some of our top suggestions:
Gulyás – Hungarian goulash is distinct from the goulash you will find in other eastern European countries, but the rich paprika sauce combined with the slow cooked beef and potato is not to be missed!
Paprikás – chicken paprikash is the most well known version of this dish, but paprikás can also be made with veal. Different from goulash as paprikash is finished with sour cream for a creamy paprika sauce – you will never find sour cream in a goulash. Generally served with dumplings, egg noodles or potato.
Pörkölt – this rich stew is similar to goulash but is thicker and more intense, sometimes with tomato sauce being added to the dish. Pörkölt is sometimes described as the Hungarian national dish, and is the epitome of traditional food, served with Hungarian dumplings or potato.
Sólet – a Jewish-Hungarian dish made by slow cooking beans, onions, paprika and meat (variable depending on what is available).
Hortobágyi palacsinta – one of the most popular meat dishes, these savory meat pancakes are absolutely delicious. Stuffed with stewed meat, the pancakes are rolled up and baked with sour cream and paprika before being served.
Töltött kaposzta -similar to the meat pancakes, these Hungarian stuffed cabbage rolls are also filled with a mixture of meat (usually pork), rice and onions. A staple of traditional Hungarian cuisine, the cabbage rolls are made with blanched cabbage leaves, filled and then baked in the oven.
Halászlé – Fisherman’s soup is an old recipe, with its origin lying with the fishermen bringing in freshwater fish and cooking it in a spicy paprika broth. Everyone has their own version of so try a few during your travels.
Lecsó – At its most simple, Lecsó is a vegetable stew made with bell peppers and tomatoes, seasoned with plenty of paprika and garlic, but the simplicity of the recipe makes it very easy to adapt to seasonal variations. Sometimes served as a side dish, sometimes as a main dish in its own right.
Lángos – This tasty street food is deep fried flat bread, with simple dough fried until crispy and golden. You’ll find it sold with a variety of toppings, such as sour cream, grated cheese and Hungarian sausages or you can eat it plain.
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Meggyleves – The idea of a sour cherry soup may sound like more of a dessert, but this tart soup is most often served before the main course as a type of palate cleanser ahead of the rich meat dishes. The soup of sour cherries and sour cream is served cold.
Kürtőskalács – The tube shaped pastry is known as chimney cake because of how it looks once cooked, and while it was once reserved for the upper classes, is now a popular street food treat. The sweet yeasted dough is wrapped around special rolls that are spun over charcoal to cook the dough, before being sprinkled with sugar or cinnamon.
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The Hungarian enthusiasm for food and drink is well-justified considering a culinary heritage including such things as rich stews gently simmered for hours, delicate soups made from herbs and fruit, intense pops of paprika flavor, dishes which (literally) have piles of poppy seeds on them, and wine flowing from cellars in nearly ever corner of the country.
Come visit (and taste) for yourself!
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