Aside from the differences in culture, history, and buildings, traveling to a different country also means trying different foods.
As stated in my past posts, I went to Budapest for my Christmas vacation, which means that the streets were full of Christmas Markets around the city. This also means that I had a full week trying all sorts of foods and have plenty to add to the foodie’s guide to Budapest.
Of course, I didn’t spend my entire time eating at the Christmas Markets, I also had typical foods from local restaurants offering Goulash and other local favorites.
Traditional Hungarian dishes
My first foodie adventure was at a local restaurant. It was late at night and I had walked a whole street of what seemed to be nothing, but souvenir stores. That is until I found a hidden little restaurant offering some popular Hungarian dishes. When I sat down at the table, the waitress brought bread and a plate that looked like pieces of cheese.
My mother, who was with me at the time grabbed a piece of this “cheese” and tried to eat it, but as soon as she realized it was butter, she spit out a whole mouth full of it. Neither one of us had seen butter on ice before or butter that had a resemblance to cheese. Although this isn’t too important in the foodie’s guide, I think it’s important to mention not to eat the butter on ice.
Töltött káposzta or Stuffed Cabbage rolls is a delicious roll with your choice of stuffing. I chose to get the rolls with ground beef. What makes this dish so delightful is that it uses the number one Hungarian ingredient – Paprika.
If you haven’t already figured it out, paprika is a spice that Hungarians like to use on many of their dishes. Goulash also has paprika as one of its ingredients.
Budapest’s Street Food Scene
As I stated before, Christmas Markets offer plenty of local foods and desserts. This is also a nice place to get warm wine and hot chocolate.
I know this isn’t really something too out there, but this was actually my first time trying cabbage and apple slaw. It was a very interesting experience, but unfortunately, my taste buds did not enjoy the taste.
Kürtőskalács is a stove cake baked over an open fire. The end result looks like a loaf of bread, but it has the texture of a sweet doughnut. If ever in Hungary, I recommend trying this at least once. You will not regret it.
There are plenty of dishes to try and though a lot of them are very delicious, keep in mind that Hungarians like to use a lot of paprika in their foods. Hopefully, I’ll be headed back to Hungary to bring you part two of a foodie’s guide to Budapest.
xxHanny
No Comments