HUNGARIAN DOMESTIC LIFE Class distinctions were very much a part of Hungarian daily life until shortly after the Second World War. In the homes of aristocrats, lavish meals of many courses, each with intricately prepared dishes, were possible because of the availability of cooks, gardeners, and servants. Finely crafted tableware ...

HUNGARIAN SPECIAL OCCASIONS It is estimated that two-thirds of the Hungarian population is Roman Catholic, the remainder Protestant. The large Jewish population that was for so long a part of Hungary was either exterminated under the Nazis or escaped to other lands; few remain. Religious practice was not encouraged under ...

HUNGARIAN MEALS AND CUSTOMS The dishes comprising the Hungarian cuisine form the distilled essence of centuries of adaptations based on their native ingredients and the fine recipes from other peoples that have been a part of Hungarian history. What sets these dishes apart and makes them so distinctly Hungarian is ...

HUNGARIAN GLOSSARY OF FOODS AND FOOD TERMS Bankoti: name given to the high-gluten content Hungarian wheat. Barack: apricot brandy. Csipetke: literally “pinched noodles” made by preparing a stiff dough from eggs, flour, and water then pinching off tiny pieces and dropping them in boiling salted water to cook. Cukraszda: one ...

BUDAPEST The capital of Hungary, Budapest is actually a union of three cities, Buda, Pest, and Obuda, which joined in 1873 to form, among other things, what is, arguably, the pastry and coffeehouse capital of the world. Reputedly the city of “romance, wine and Gypsy music,” Budapest is also the ...

NORTHERN HUNGARY This area is called Paloc, and extends from the Danube River to the Soviet border. It is as famed for its many local crafts and embroideries as for the wine called hull’s blood or Egri Bikaver. Here in small villages, life has continued with little change almost since ...

THE HUNGARIAN PLAIN The rich, fertile Hungarian Plain is populated mostly by peasants and shepherds who have little formal education and who live in isolated villages. Paprika, grains, orchards, and rolling pastures with sheep and cattle all add to the produce of the area. It is one of the few ...

TRANSDANUBIA The area west of the Danube is famed for its vineyards and matchless wines. But the residents like to drink, in addition to their own wines, bottled mineral waters. This is one of the few places in Hungary where milk is drunk as a beverage and milk and home-baked ...

TRANSYLVANIA This area, populated by the Szekely people, has variously been considered Hungarian, German, and Romanian. Presently it is a part of Romania. The forests and mountains, as well as the people themselves, have contributed to the lore that is part poetry, part legend, and part mythology. Stones of ghosts, ...

FOOD AND CULTURE IN HUNGARY Hungarians do not take anything lightly, least of all food. The romantic, volatile, and soulful Hungarian uses food the way most other people use psychology, politics, literature, material acquisitions, and even medicine. Food is the prelude to a mood, the buffer for difficult situations, and ...