Étkezés – Meals in Hungary

I lay the table as I sometimes do for a Sunday lunch. I spread a nice white cloth over the dining table and put a vase with flowers in the middle. I put out the dinner plates first, then the soup plates. The knife and spoon go on the right-hand side, the napkin and the fork on the left. I put the side plates, goblets, glasses and dessert spoons in front of the plates. Finally I try not to forget about the saltcellar, the pepper pot and the toothpicks either.

Few recipes

How to make the ‘Hungarian lecsó (Stewed peppers and tomatoes with sausage)” Ingredients: –         Red pepper                 1 pinch –         Salt                              2 teaspoon –         Onions                         300g –         Sausage                       300g –         Green peppers             1kg –         Tomatoes                    ½ kg –         Oil –         rice Simmer diced onions in oil and add the cleaned peppers sliced in ringlets. Let them sauté for 5mn. Under covered lid at a low heat. Now add sausage slices, peeled and diced tomatoes and spices. Heat it at a medium range for a half hour. Prepare rice in the meantime and serve together with the ‘lecsó”.

How to make ‘rakott krumpli” Ingredients: –         6 eggs –         Cooking oil –         2kg potato –         red pepper –         sausage –         sour cream –         salt –         Red pepper/paprika –         pepper Cook the potatoes and the eggs then peel them. Then you have to make a sauce by the following steps: cut onions and simmer them in oil, add a bit red pepper to it, pour into it a carton of sour cream and stir it while boiling. Having sliced the eggs and the potatoes, you put them into a Pyrex dish/bowl (or a roasting/baking dish/tin) by making layers. Meanwhile sprinkle with salt and season with pepper. Cook while it is red.

• To eat out means to have a meal in a restaurant. If you want to dine out you have the choice of going to a first-, second-, or third-class restaurant, a self-service restaurant or in summer to an open-air restaurant. People choose the self-service system if they are in a hurry and they want to have a quick meal. You go into the restaurant and choose the dish you want to eat from the list (which is) hanging on the wall. Then you pick up a tray, knife, fork, spoon and queue at the counter where the food is on display. You pick out what you want and put it on your tray, which you have to push along a special rack till you reach the cashier. The cashier will give you the bill. After paying you take your tray to any table you like. You can sit alone or with another customer. Furthermore advantages are that you can have a hot meal in few minutes and you never buy a pig in a poke. The only disadvantage is that you may not always find a free table.If people have time and money, they go to a first-class restaurant. When you enter a restaurant, first you have to leave your coats in the cloakroom. After that you enter the dining-room and either look for an empty table yourself or the headwaiter shows you to one. Some people reserve tables in advance, otherwise they may not always have luck in finding a free table. You sit down at the table and ask the waiter for the menu. If you decide to dine a la carte, you go through the menu and give the order to the waiter. Sometimes you ask the waiter what he can recommend you. Some restaurants have certain special dishes which can’t be eaten at other places. As most dishes have a fancy name you sometimes ask the waiter what that dish includes. Paying for your dinner at a restaurant in Hungary is not always very simple. You have to make a sign to the waiter and let him know that you’d like to ask for the bill. He comes immediately and you can pay. You usually give the waiter a tip or leave it on the table. It is usually ten or fifteen per cent of the grand total. I love eating in restaurant because the atmosphere is so intimate/familiar there and a soft music is sounding at the background not to mention you are served. But I rarely go to restaurant unless there is an occasion. We often go to a café or a pizzeria where we go Dutch.  
• Most people in Hungary eat more than necessary. Our calorie intake is about double the amount we actually need. People eat a lot of carbo-hydrates in food like bread, cakes and sugar, which are very fattening. I think we also eat more meat and protein than necessary, especially fatty meats (which) are favoured by most Hungarians. That is why there are so many fat people among us. A healthy diet should contain at least the same amount of fibre as fat. It should also contain the major nutrients, such as vitamins, protein, calories or iron. It should be high in vegetables and grains, with modest amount of meat. I would say: eat when you are hungry, but don’t force the food down when you are not. I have never been on a slimming diet because I’m on the skinny side. I don’t easily put on weight even if I eat a lot. I think we are so wasteful while in some parts of the world there are millions of people (who are) suffering from malnutrition. I get very upset when I see people wasting food (e.g. throw any bread into the dustbin). 
• Last year I took one of my cousins to a good restaurant. She was wined and dined at my expense. We sat down at the corner and the waiter brought us the menu immediately. We both felt like some orange juice and apricot brandy first. Then we began to study the menu more closely. It contained a wide range of appetizers (hors-d’ oeuvres), that is: cold appetizers, soups, vegetables, meat dishes, salads, desserts, cheese, fruit and drinks. The waiter came up to our table and inquired what we would like to order. To start with I ordered fried cheese and a chicken soup ‘richly’ for her. I ordered slices of turkey with mushroom spreading whipped cream and rice as the main course for me and the other one was tenderloin steak with jacket potato. While waiting for the meal we were sipping our apricot brandy.Having had our supper, we drunk a full-bodied Hungarian wine from Badacsony. When it was the time for the sweet course we could hardly move. In the end we wanted to have a soft dessert like ice-cream and finished a glass of refreshment. We sat talking for a while then I called the waiter and settled the bill. I told him to keep the change. We left the restaurant with the enjoyable feeling that we had had a very good meal.

  Fogalmak: well-done-jól átsült hús rare-véres (marhahús)   Készítette:  Somogyi Péter