Etiquette

Before eating anything, whether it's a piece of cake or a five-course meal, it's polite to do as the Hungarians do and wish everyone "jó étvágyat" ("good appetite"). If you're dining in someone's home, tell your host that the meal was "nagyon finom" ("really delicious"). A few key phrases like these will take you far in Hungary. Follow the generally accepted table manners and be polite, and you won't need to worry about offending anyone.
When Hungarians are finished with their meals they lay their knife and fork parallel to each other across the center of the plate. If the fork end knife are crossing each other, that signifies to the waiter that you're still eating.

When wine is served, it's considered rude to take a sip before everyone's glass has been filled and you've raised or clinked your glasses and wished everyone "egészségedre' ("to your health", "cheers"), which you du while making eye contact. Many people also consider it rude to refill a wine glass before it has been drained down to the last drop.

When drinking beer, things aren't as straightforward. Dating back to the end of the failed Hungarian revolution against the Austrians, October 6th 1849, clinking beer glasses has been considered offensive in Hungary. As thirteen officers were executed in Arad (which is in today's Romania) and former prime minister Lajos Batthyány was executed in Pest. Legend has it that the Austrians clinked their beer mugs in celebration (though this may be an urban legend, it is still widely believed). Because of this, Hingarians vowed not to clink their beer glasses for the next 150 years. Toasting was fine, but just no clinking. Technically the ban has now expired, but out of habit or respect many people still don't dare to clink their beer mugs.

Hungarian cuisine: fact and myth

As any Hungarian cookbook will explain, a good Hungarian recipe starts with onions slowly cooking in fat, with a healthy portion of paprika stirred in. It's a combination that gives off a distinctively Hungarian aroma.

But Hungarian food isn't all about paprika. Even though it is essential to many of the best-known recipes, there are many more that don't require any whatsoever.

Hungarian food is not hot. It may be heavily spiced with paprika, but not the hot kind. When Hungarians cook, almost without exception they use sweet paprika. There's always hot paprika available, but it's used to add extra heat at the table.

Traditionally Hungarians didn't use butter or oil for cooking, just rendered duck , goose, or pork fat. In this more health-conscious era, sunflower oil is preferred.

Hungarian food has a bad reputation for being heavy and greasy. Innately, it doesen't have to be greasy, and when prepared by good chefs, it isn't. Pörkölt and gulyás, for example, use very little fat.

Soups are thickened with either sour cream or a rántás (roux) of flour slowly browned in hot lard. Sour cream is a favorite Hungarian ingredient - in addition to soups, it's also added to stews like paprikás and székelykáposzta, vegetable főzelék, and even some sweets.

The most commonly used fresh herbs are dill and parsley, and favorite dried herbs are marjoram for seasoning meat, and caraway seeds, savory, and thyme for seasoning soups.

Vinegar is another favorite condiment, which is often added to soups at the table.

Throughout Hungary's history cooks were forced to be economical with ingredients, and they developed ingenious ways of doing things when little was available. This is still evident in the way that most people cook at home, which this is why you'll see animal parts like tails, necks, and feet at the markets in Budapest that ate rarely seen anymore at the butchers and markets in Noth America and Britain.

Artistic Soups

In Budapest's late 19th/early 20th century café golden age, artists and writers spent their time restaurant and café hopping and inspired these still common soups:

 Újházy-Tyúkhúsleves (Újházy chicken soup) is named for Ede Újházy, a 19th-century actor. Like many artists of the period, he was a well-known gourmand but was chronically short of money. Rather than lowering his standards and dining in a cheap eatery, he always ordered soup at his favorite high-priced restaurant. So the chef created a special hearty soup for him, with enough chicken, vegetables, and pasta to make an entire meal for the poor actor.

Palócleves (Palóc soup) was created by János Gundel at the end of the 19th century for novelist Kálmán Mikszáth, who was known for writing about the Palóc people of northern Hungary. It's a broth full of lamb and green beans, and finished with sour cream.

Jókai-bableves (Jókai bean soup) is one of the most popular, and tasty of all Hungarian soups. The world prolific would be an understatement to describe the soups's namesake, 19th-century writer Mór Jókai who wrote more than one hundred books. This deliciously heavy soup is made with shell beans amd smoked porc knuckle, with carrots, parsley root, and csipetke (pasta). It's flavored with a bit of vinegar and sour cream.

Picking your Paprika

Hungarian paprika is one of the most popular souvenirs from Hungary. It's known for its strong aroma and intense color, which varies from deep reddish brown to bright orange.
Skip the paprika in the touristy sacks at the market and buy it at the grocery store instead for much less. Like any spice, store it tightly covered in a dry, dark, cool place anf try to use it within eight months.

We are four basic types of hungarian paprika:
>Különleges (Special) is the most finely ground, brghtest red paprika, with a strong aroma, amd can be sweet or mild.
>Csemegepaprika (Gourmet) is alight red, slightly coarse paprika, which can be hot or mild.
>Édes-nemes paprika (Noble) is a light red paprika, less finely ground than Csemege, with just a little heart. It's mainly used to flavor stews and meats.
>Rózsapaprika (Rose) is a dark red, medium coarse paprika, which tends to be very hot.

Paprika comes with varying degress of heat:
>Édes - Sweet
>Félédes - Mild or Semi-Sweet
>Csípős or Erős - Hot

Paprika also comes other ways:
>Piros Arany - is a smooth, creamy, red paprika paste that comes in a red tube. It has a rich texture and flavor. Has a high salt content. Piros Arany comes mild (csemege) or hot (csípős).
>Erős Pista - is a much hotter and coarser paste than Piros Arany with the seeds left in. It's often served along with soups and stews for extra heat.
>Édes Anna - is a mild version of Erős Pista.