Hungary Hoards
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday August 4, 1998
Don't forgo the goulash, but there really is much more to life ...
World favourite Sweet apple strudel, Almas retes, is easy to make with Greek filo pastry.
Photograph by george fetting T'S not the flavour of the month, nor the year, nor even of the century. Yet Hungarian cooking should not be dismissed as simply unfashionable. Nor should it be dismissed for being heavy or stodgy, because these recipes prove you can cook lightly and easily in the Hungarian style without sacrificing flavour.
What is Hungarian food, anyway? Some dishes can be traced back to the cooking pots of early nomadic tribes that roamed Eastern Europe; some came with the Turkish occupation; and some are legacies of the Austro-Hungarian empire. It's more than schnitzel, and lashings of sour cream and paprika. It's more than hard-boiled eggs topped with anchovy mayonnaise, and herring salad, and the famous Liptauer cheese spread (made with cream or cottage cheese, paprika, mustard, onion, anchovy, caraway seeds, capers, and, sometimes, beer).
It's more than goulash, too, although "gulyas" (pronounced gulyash) has become one of the international signposts of Hungarian cuisine. Traditionally a beefy soup, rather than a stew, flavoured with paprika, potatoes, tomato and green capsicums, this gypsy favourite is served as a main course. Veal, pork and chicken are cooked often, cabbage and mushrooms are never far away, and fresh dill and caraway seeds are to hand.
Pancakes and dumplings play their part in adding weight and sustenance to a meal and sweet omelets, pastry strudels, fritters and pancakes bring up the rear.
Middle European cafes have long been a part of the fabric of the Sydney dining scene. Corner Seven in Randwick, Bondi Road Brasserie, the Gelato Bar (Bondi) and the Double Bay Hungarian Steakhouse all do wonderful, heart-warming jobs of reconstructing the glories of Hungarian cuisine.
Mind you, cabbage rolls have recently appeared at Surry Hills's MG Garage (albeit stuffed with lobster or pigeon), and crumbed veal makes regular appearances on Sydney bistro menus, so you don't have to feel completely passe when cooking Hungarian.
Serve the gulyas as a hearty, soupy main course on a cold late-winter night. Serve creamed spinach at any time, treating it more as a lush, rich sauce for grilled meats or roasted veal shanks than as a vegetable on the side. And serve a sweet, nutty apple strudel for dessert, because it is simply the nicest, simplest way to finish a great home-cooked meal.
The rhubarb compote is an optional extra, just because rhubarb is so good at the moment. In Hungary, it is used as much as a tangy relish with game and boiled meats as it is a filling for pancakes and an accompaniment to sweet fritters.
Just don't tell anyone they're eating Hungarian food, however. It's far too good to become relegated to being merely The Next Big Thing.
Recipes
Goulash (gulyas)
The real gulyas, originally a shepherd's way of preserving beef, should be beefy, spicy-hot and quite soupy.
2 tbsp vegetable oil (or lard)
2 onions, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 kg beef (blade or brisket), cut into 2cm cubes
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
Salt
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1 litre water or beef stock, boiling
400 grams canned tomatoes, chopped
1 green capsicum, cut into rings
4 medium potatoes, peeled and finely diced
1 tbsp finely chopped marjoram or oregano
Heat oil and cook onions for 10 minutes until soft. Add garlic and beef and cook, stirring, for 10 minutes, until browned. Remove from heat and add caraway seeds, salt and paprika, stirring. Return to heat and add boiling water or stock, stirring well. Cook gently for one hour, partly covered, and skimming occasionally.
Add tomatoes, green capsicum and potatoes and cook for another hour until meat and vegetables are tender and the juices are still a bit soupy.
Give the whole dish a big strong stir towards the end to help the cooked potatoes dissolve and thicken the liquid.
Taste for salt and pepper and serve in wide shallow soup or pasta bowls with a ladleful or two of soupy juices.
Scatter marjoram on top and serve hot. Serves six.
Wine option: Tim Adams Cabernet 1996 (SA), about $17.
Creamed spinach
I can't bring myself to thicken this in traditional Hungarian style, so it remains light and creamy. Serve with chicken, lamb or sausages.
2 bunches spinach, about 1 kilogram
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
Sea salt and pepper
2 tbsp thickened (whipping) cream
Fill a sink with cold water and wash spinach leaves well. Cut off and discard stems and cram the leaves into a saucepan with one cup of water. Bring to the boil and cook for five minutes until wilted. Drain really well and puree in a food processor until smooth. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg and cream and give it a final whizz. Return to the pan and heat gently until ready to serve. Serves four.
Wine option: Schinus Chardonnay 1997, about $16.
Apple strudel
(Almas retes)
There are sweet and savoury strudels in Hungary, but the sweet apple strudel has become the world's favourite, and is remarkably easy to make using Greek filo pastry.
100g butter
3 tbsp sultanas
3 tbsp walnuts, roughly chopped
2 tbsp ground almonds
125g castor sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1kg Granny Smith apples (4 or 5)
1 pack filo pastry, fresh or defrosted
Icing sugar and cream for serving
Heat oven to 200C. Melt butter and set aside to cool. Mix sultanas, walnuts, almonds, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Add 2 tbsp of the melted butter and stir well.
Grate the apples, unpeeled, discarding core and seeds. Squeeze gently to get rid of excess juices and mix immediately with the fruit and nut mixture.
Place a clean, damp tea cloth on the bench and unwrap the filo pastry. Working quickly, lay one sheet on the cloth and brush lightly with melted butter. Place another sheet on top and brush with melted butter. Repeat until you have eight sheets.
Arrange the apple mixture in a mound along the length of the pastry, about 5cm in from the edge closest to you. Lift cloth and use it to help roll the pastry into a log shape, tucking in the ends as you go.
Brush the last remaining edge of pastry with melted butter and complete the roll. Carefully place the roll, joined side down, on a lightly oiled baking tray and brush the top with melted butter. Bake for 30-40 minutes until crisp and golden.
To serve, dust with icing sugar, cut across into thick slices and serve with whipped cream. Serves six.
Wine option: Brown Brothers Very Old Tokay (Vic), about $29.
Rhubarb compote (Rebarbarakompot)
Again, this would traditionally be thickened with flour. Again, I can't. Serve warm with apple strudel, cold with duck, beef, or game.
1kg fresh rhubarb
3 tbsp soft brown sugar
3 tbsp water
Wash rhubarb and trim, discarding ends and leaves. Cut into 5cm sections. Place in a saucepan with sugar and water and bring to the boil. Simmer for five minutes until rhubarb is soft. Strain rhubarb and set aside. Return the cooking juices to the pan and boil until reduced by half. Pour the juices over the rhubarb and serve warm or cold.
Wine option: Taltarni Brut Tache NV (Vic), about $16.
© 1998 Sydney Morning Herald