Featured delicacies you can enjoy in Budapest

LET’S TASTE LECSÓ!

Lecsó is the Hungarian alternative for the French ratatouille. It’s versatile, easy and very delicious! Thanks to DNB Restaurant, you can get the hang of making it from scratch.

Ingredients:

pre-made lecsó stock

5-6 cherry tomatoes

half-half bell pepper (green, yellow, red)

1 Hungarian paprika

2 tomatoes

1 shallot

2 cloves garlic

harissa butter

smoked paprika

salt

black pepper

whole cumin

breaded egg

chives

Directions:

First, make the lecsó stock. On sunflower oil, fry diced onion, garlic, and 1-2 minutes later put in the bell pepper and tomato too. Hint with smoked paprika powder, add the cumin, and season with salt and black pepper. Pour vegetable stock or water on it. Bring it to a boil, leave it on for a couple of minutes on high flame. Finally, get it off the stove, add the raw, chopped paprika and tomatoes, and let it cool. It’s best to leave it in the fridge for a night. Sieve it the next day, and use as much as you desire when cooking your lecsó the next day.

In a hot pan, fry the shallots on oil, then add the three coloured bell peppers and the Hungarian paprika that you previously cut into triangular pieces. Heat them together over a medium flame for a few minutes, and then add the cherry tomatoes. Pour as much lecsó stock into the bowl as needed, and thicken it with the harissa butter. Season with salt and black pepper.

Boil the eggs for 4-5 minutes, let them cool in icy water. Breaded in flour, egg, and panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) fry them in the deep fryer on 180 °C until golden brown, then serve on the lecsó, garnished with chives.

Wine:

A ripe, full, flavoursome merlot with red berry notes is the perfect wine to pair authentic lecsó with.

Because of its greatness and simplicity, lecsó is the dream dish of beginner kitchen fairies and restaurant-goers alike. Visit restaurants where this authentic Hungarian meal is an essential item on the list of its food offers and get inspired! You can make good cheer at DNB Budapest (1052 Budapest, Dunakorzó), Lakatos Műhely (1054 Budapest, Hold utca 13.), Lecsó Hungarian Restaurant (1137 Budapest, Szent István körút 10.), Gettó Gulyás (1077 Budapest, Wesselényi utca 18.) and Restaurant Náncsi Néni (1029 Budapest, Ördögárok út 80.) as well.

BEEF GOULASH SOUP

The secrets to making a delightful beef goulash soup are: tasty ground paprika (sweet), greasy meat pieces, and lots of onion. In summer, it is best to cook it outdoors in a cauldron, this way adding a smokey flavour to our delicious meal. (Special thanks to HOKEDLI Pottage Bar.

Ingredients (for 4 persons):

2 tbsp. goose grease, 3 medium-sized onions, 4 cloves of garlic, 400 g beef shank, 2 carrots, 2 parsnips, 1 middle-sized celeriac, 2 middle-sized tomatoes, 2 bell peppers, 2 middle-sized potatoes, 2 litres of water, 1 coffee-spoon caraway, fresh rosemary, 2 bayleaves, 1 tbsp. red ground paprika, 1 coffee-spoon coloured peppercorns, 1 tbsp. salt, 1 celery stalk, fresh parsley leaves, 2 pcs of hot paprika (optional), a few slices of white bread, 3 dl sour scream (serving)

Recipe:

In a 4-litre cauldron (or pot), melt grease and add diced onion. Cook until translucent. Chop the beef shank into 3×3 cm cubes and mix with the onion. Don’t season it with salt yet! Stir-fry the meat until a thin coat appears on their surface. Sprinkle with ground red paprika and add thin slices of garlic. Pour water into the dish and stir it every five minute or so. Now add all the spices left (other than the salt). Stir it well, and bring it to a boil.

Add the tomato and the bell peppers (unsliced). Cook for 2 hours (after bringing to a boil) while stirring every 5 minute or so. Then add the cleaned vegetables sliced in thick rounds as well as the chopped potatoes. Season with salt, and wait another 30 minutes until the veggies are cooked. Before serving, take out the tender paprika and tomato. Cut the celery stalk into small pieces, chop the parsley and add them to the goulash. Serve the soup hot with fresh white bread, slices of hot paprika (optional), and sour cream.

Wine:

Eger’s red wine, Bull’s Blood

A special kind of Goulash:

GOULASH SOUP IN A BREAD BOWL

The national dish of Hungary, goulash is a must-try. Its scents are super enticing, but when this hearty stew of tender beef cubes, vegetables and plenty of paprika is served steaming in a round-shaped loaf of bread that softens on the inside but stays crunchy on the outside, it is entirely irresistible. Devouring this hearty, filling and flavourful soup is a great way to warm up, and the best thing is that you can also chow down on the bread bowl, dunking pieces of it into the succulent contents as you go. Goulash is normally quite dense, so it makes a proper meal.

TÖLTÖTT KÁPOSZTA (STUFFED CABBAGE)

Stuffed cabbage is a traditional dish to devour at Christmastime in Hungary. It is made of cabbage leaves wrapped around a variety of fillings, such as minced pork meat and, obviously, paprika, but the recipe for a perfect wrap varies by region. The cabbage rolls are baked, simmered or steamed in a covered casserole dish and served piping hot with cold sour cream on top. This dish takes several hours to cook, filling the air with irresistible aromas. At Budapest’s Christmas markets, this delicious Hungarian delicacy will definitely put a saucy smile on your cheeks.

HUNGARIAN GRILLED SAUSAGE SPECIALITIES (HURKA, KOLBÁSZ)

Hungarian sausages are revered, whatever the shape or filling. The best time to try them is during the festive season, when the freshly made selection is particularly abundant. Coming in a wide variety of meat types and flavours, hurka is normally boiled and flavoured with liver (májas hurka) or with blood (véres hurka), while sausage is often smoked and seasoned to be spicy or mild. At Christmas markets, sausages can be ordered with various garnishes – if one takes your fancy, you can pick one of the strings of s hanging from the stands to take home.

LÁNGOS (FRIED DOUGH, FRYBREAD, HUNGARIAN DEEP-FRIED FLAT BREAD)

Two thousand calories, irresistible enjoyment and instant regret crammed into a deep-fried dough – this is lángos, a national dish and the superstar of street food in Hungary. Locals simply love lángos anytime and anywhere, so it makes an appearance at Christmas fairs just like at beachside huts in summer. This heavy and oily savoury dough is traditionally topped with cold and fresh sour cream, grated cheese and garlic cream, but thanks to modern new-wave trends, it can be ordered nowadays with endless kinds of toppings from bacon to ham and sausage. Lángos fills you up for at least half a day – if you can finish a whole one at all – but it’s a sin to visit Hungary and not try it.

TYPICAL HUNGARIAN FANCY CAKES

RÉTES (STRUDEL)

Strudel occupies a prominent place in the culinary culture of the country, and while almost all Hungarians would say that their grandma makes the best, they are delicious at Christmas markets, too. A single bite into a slice of flaky Hungarian strudel will have you reaching for a second, and you wouldn’t want to miss out on all of the tasty flavour variations. This delicious dessert is popular throughout the entire year, but is particularly savoured during the holidays thanks to its evocative wintry tastes, such as apple-cinnamon, sweet cottage-cheese and sour cherry.

DIABETIC RÁKÓCZI’S CAKE (WITH COTTAGE CHEESE)

The recipe of a mouth-watering, sugar free Hungarian pastry (named after Hungarian confectioner János Rákóczi) is this month’s treat from us to you, first and foremost because A) Diabetes Day is in June, and B) it is summer and you want to look good in that bathing suit. This slow carb dessert is gluten and lactose free, rich in fibre and protein, which make it a perfect cheat-day item.

Ingredients (dough – a large amount):

200 g gluten free oat flour, 50 g ground walnut, 30 g plantain seed shell, 100 g lactose free sour cream, 150 g coconut oil, 75 g erythritol, 1 egg yolk

a pinch of Himalayan pink salt, 0.5 g baking powder

Filling: 850 g lactose free cottage cheese (túró), 2 tbsp. plantain seed shell, 3 tbsp. lactose free sour cream, 2 egg yolks, 2 scraped vanilla beans, 75 g erythritol

1 lemon’s peel, sugar free apricot jam

Top: 5 egg whites, 50-61 g ground erythritol, a pinch of salt

Restaurants in Budapest offering diverse Rákóczi’s cake alternatives:

Magyar QTR (1056 Budapest, Belgrád rakpart 18.), Desszert.Neked (1061 Budapest, Paulay Ede utca 17.), Gerlóczy Café (1052 Budapest, Gerlóczy utca 1.), Café Astoria Restaurant (1053 Budapest, Kossuth Lajos utca 19.).

RIGÓ JANCSI CAKE

A traditional Hungarian cube-shaped chocolate sponge cake and chocolate cream pastry. It gained popularity in the former Austria-Hungary and is named after a famous Hungarian Gypsy violinist János Rigó. He was born in 1858 in Pákozd with a great talent of playing the violin, which brought him to Pest and later travelled all around the world.

DOBOS CAKE

A Hungarian sponge cake ed with chocolate buttercream and topped with caramel named after a well-known confectioner József Dobos dating back to the end of the 19th century.

GUNDEL PANCAKE

A crêpe-like variety of pancake made with ground walnuts, raisins, and rum filling, served flambéed in a dark chocolate sauce. The recipe belongs to the wife of the famous Hungarian writer Sándor Márai, Lola. She introduced Károly Gundel to the recipe at a banquet held in the restaurant after one of the premiers of his husband. Károly Gundel liked it so much that he put it on his menu under the name “Márai pancake”. We still have the original Gundel pancake at the Gundel Restaurant, Budapest.

SOMLÓI GALUSKA (HUNGARIAN TRIFLE)

A dessert that is made with three different-flavoured sponge cakes, pastry cream, raisins, walnuts, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream.

KÜRTŐSKALÁCS (CHIMNEY CAKE)

Kürtőskalács, or chimney cake, is a sweet pastry originally prepared by the Transylvanian Székelys at various memorable and festive events. This typical Hungarian treat is a superstar at wintertime, served warm and in extra-special flavours, in addition to the traditional tastes at Christmas markets. These delicacies are baked over an open fire at markets, a traditional sight impossible to pass by. Slightly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, chimney cake comes sprinkled with sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, chocolate, coconut, walnut and all kinds of sweet coatings. At some stalls, they can be ordered filled with chocolate cream, whipped cream, Nutella, topped with Oreos or in various dreamy designs for that extra sweet experience. Don’t leave without trying this treat, but be warned that it’s addictive from first bite.

With the Budapest Card Plus, you can have an extra chimney cake free of charge at Molnár’s Café.

Disclaimer:

NEW CRAZE IN BUDAPEST: CHIMNEY-CAKE ICE-CREAM CONES

In 2016, an innovative summertime gastro speciality has been appeared in the streets of Budapest, offering the classic Hungarian treat filled with ice cream and whipped cream like a cone. Today you can encounter the patent-protected Töltött Kürtős (“Stuffed Chimney”) not only at cultural and gastronomic festivals, but it is sold at a permanent stand next to the Fröccsterasz Bistro in Erzsébet Square, as well.

ROAST CHESTNUTS

Roast chestnuts are the perfect accessory to any romantic walk, and an indispensable element to any merry market scene. Chestnuts are harvested in September or October around Hungary, and kept in the refrigerator for a while in order to make them perfect for winter, when they are roasted on covered coal fires on the street and sold in small paper bags as handheld treats. They are soft, fleshy, creamy and sweet, perfect to be washed down with mulled wine. Placed in your pocket, a paper bag of hot chestnuts is the perfect hand warmer.

BEIGLI (WALNUT/POPPY SEED ROLL)

Beigli might be the most traditional treat of the holiday season in Hungary: a pastry consisting of a sweet yeast dough (usually using milk) that is rolled out very thin, spread with a nut or poppy seed paste made from ground nuts or poppy seed and a sweetener like sugar or honey, then rolled up into a log shape.

MULLED WINE AND PÁ A PUNCH

The characteristic aroma of mulled wine always fills the air during the festive season, and when the cold kicks in, nothing beats a cupful of this tasty tipple that warms up body, soul and hands. Ingredients for the perfect concoction vary; the classic variety is made of red wine, usually containing some kind of citrus fruit – often orange – and other spices, such as cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg or even cardamom. Some believe that apple and pepper help perfect this mildly potent potable. While it is always lovely to hold mulled wine in your hand while strolling from stand to stand around the market, this delicious drink can also easily be made at home. This also holds true for the cup of apple punch infused with Hungarian fruit- d pá a brandy.

The best time to taste the traditional mulled wine – same as other specialities namely hurka (chitterlings), sült kolbász (fried sausage), Kürtőskalács (chimney cake), roast chestnuts and Beigli – is at the Budapest Advent and Christmas Fair from mid-November to New Year’s Eve.

You can enjoy these featured delicacies as well as other savories and local specialties with significant discounts by Budapest's official city pass, Budapest Card. It's your key to the city!

You can get 10 - 30% off by Budapest Card at almost twenty places of acceptance — restaurants, cafés and bars.

SEE MORE. SAVE MORE. BUDAPEST CARD®.

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