What Do People Eat in Hungary? The Top Traditional Dishes

The most popular national dishes:

• halaszle (Hungarian fish soup);
• bogracs (Hungarian meat soup);
• lecso;
• goulash;
• porkolt (a very thick goulash);
• paprikash (a meat dish with paprika);
• langos (a flatbread);
• Gundel-style palacsinta (a famous Hungarian dessert).

Halaszle

Halaszle is a Hungarian national dish made from fish caught in local rivers and lakes. Essentially it's a fish soup. Pike, carp, common carp, pike-perch or catfish are most often used to make it. The main secret is that before use, the fish is soaked in running water; this way, any unpleasant muddy smell disappears. The fish is cut into large pieces, then stewed in pork fat with the addition of onion, paprika and salt. Interestingly, halaszle must never be stirred while cooking. And at the end, some cooks add thin noodles. The result is a rich, tangy, moderately spicy and delicious fish soup. You should definitely try it in Budapest - among the local food it ranks among the very best.

Bogracs

If you want to try delicious food in Hungary, be sure to add bogracs to your wish list. This is a meat soup: it looks like borscht, but the flavor profile is different. Sweet pepper, carrot, onion and tomatoes are always added to bogracs (the more vegetables, the better). As for the meat base, it can be beef, pork ribs, or sausages. The soup is incredibly tasty and filling. At the final stage of cooking, chipetke is added to bogracs - small pieces of dough, pre-dried in a pan or oven. They resemble dumplings and noodles.

Lecso

Do you think you already make great lecso and it's hard to surprise you with this dish? Just try it in Hungary, and you'll discover new shades of flavor. It's made from tomatoes, paprika and onion, and for extra tang, smoked meat products are added. For an impressive presentation, lecso is served with dumplings - one portion of such lecso is enough to feel full and happy!

Goulash

Hungarians love it so much that they hold an annual goulash festival. Some consider it a thick soup, others think of it as a liquid meat stew. There's no single universal recipe: poultry, beef and even fish are all used. But veal goulash is still considered the classic. Goulash is eaten in Hungary both on ordinary days and on holidays - there are more than 30 recipes, differing only in the combination and proportion of ingredients. But what stays constant is the incredible flavor, pleasant meaty aroma, thick consistency and abundance of stewed vegetables. And, of course, it can't do without spices. Cumin, bay leaf, ground paprika, pepper and salt are added to taste.

Porkolt

In appearance it resembles a very thick goulash, only the flavors are different. Perhaps it's all down to the onion, of which there's a lot, but it doesn't overpower the flavor of the tomatoes and meat. Try porkolt made from veal or beef - gastronomic pleasure is guaranteed!

Paprikash

A delicious and tangy meat dish, though the name itself gives away the main ingredient - paprika grown in Hungarian fields is always added. In the classic recipe, chicken is used: the fillet is cut into small pieces, and a creamy sauce is made with sour cream, mushrooms, tomatoes and onion. In recent times the recipe has changed somewhat, and paprikash is often made with different types of meat, combined together. Veal in particular is very popular. Only the sauce remains constant, and it must always include paprika and sour cream.

Langos

In Hungarian cuisine, this dish holds a special place. Langos is a flatbread eaten on its own or served alongside meat and fish dishes. Sometimes various sauces and spreads are made for it. Garlic-sour-cream sauce, melted cheese, and grated cheese in sour cream are popular. They're spread on langos and eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner or as a snack. It's a very tasty dish - made from yeast dough, stretched to the right thickness, then deep-fried. Quite calorie-dense, but it's simply impossible to resist. Try it as a stand-alone dish if you're worried about going over your daily calorie count.

Gundel-style palacsinta

A sweet and very tasty dish that's often made at home and also ordered in restaurants. Gundel-style palacsinta is pancakes generously drizzled with chocolate. But that's not all - there are two more secret ingredients: dried fruit and sour cream. This unusual mix of flavors appeals to many tourists. Some bring the Gundel-style palacsinta recipe home with them and happily make this treat themselves.

What else to try in Budapest

Hungarian national cuisine is so varied that it's impossible to fit every recommendation into one article. But we'll mention a few more dishes worthy of your attention.

Among soups, it's worth trying:

• "palocz" soup (made from lamb, with bacon fat added for richness, and paprika, garlic and beans for tang);
• "ujhazi" soup (made from mushrooms, with chicken giblets and spices added);
• "csorba" soup (its flavor profile is shaped mainly by mint and garlic - an extravagant and very tasty soup).

Among main dishes, these deserve special attention:

• sheep's-cheese pate;
• suckling pig (often stuffed with minced pork ham and vegetables);
• toltott paprika (stuffed red peppers);
• libamaj (a very tender goose liver served either cold or hot, kept "lightly underdone").

Among sweets, the most popular are:

• Somloi galuska (a creamy chocolate cake with a sponge base);
• kurtoskalacs (a tasty pastry shaped into a cylinder);
• "Esterhazy" (a thin-layered, very delicate and delicious cake that can be filled with poppy seed, cherry and other fillings);
• retes (a festive strudel roll dusted with powdered sugar).

Among drinks, the best known are:

• "palinka" (very common throughout Hungary, a fruit brandy made from local produce: grapes, apples, pears, plums);
• the bitter "Unicum" balsam, at 40% ABV;
• "Tokaji Aszu" (considered the finest Hungarian wine, made from a single grape variety harvested at different times of the season - which determines the sweetness level of the drink).

All that's left is one thing - to head to Hungary for a culinary adventure!