Posted on 12/10/2023 4:10:56 PM PST by DallasBiff
> Did your family make “dirty noodles”? <
It’s a bit surprising, but even my grandparents (who were all born in Hungary) rarely cooked traditional Hungarian food. I got to see a variety only by going to local Hungarian-American festivals. And one of them is still held near me every summer.
Some exceptions to my family’s Americanized food: Very often they’d serve the traditional stuffed cabbage, palacsinta (a sweet pancake), and as a treat kürtőskalács(chimney cake).
And now a confession. I know how to spell palacsinta. But I had to look up kürtőskalács. I mess up the accent marks every time.
And that’s what we call kapusta. My background is Polish and Serbian.
The same is true for those of Hungarian descent, that I have known in REAL life, to some extent or other. So I find your family experience somewhat unusual. But everyone and everyone's family IS different! That's what makes each of us "special" and interesting.
I LOVE palacsinta and make a special one every New Year's Eve, for good luck.
But they don't have to be desert/sweet; there ARE savory fillings for them as well...just like strudel!
The very BEST Hungarian desert is DOBOS TORTE; beats anything and everything hands down! And considering that all Hungarian deserts and cookies are marvelous, that's saying something!
> So I find your family experience somewhat unusual. But everyone and everyone’s family IS different! <
And since we’re swapping stories, here’s one more. My late mother was a decent cook. And she made a few Hungarian dishes, as I mentioned earlier.
But in her later years, she loved Bulgarian pastries. There was a Bulgarian social hall maybe 20 minutes away, and twice a month I’d make a pastry run there.
That was one nice thing about where I lived (and still live). Lots of interesting nationalities that all got along. That Bulgarian social hall still exists, and I’ll sometimes go down there for the music.
And yes, the band plays an occasional czardas!
I was watching the show with my grandmother, when the skit came one, and that was when she told me what kapusta meant. LOL
There's an Hungarian restaurant a couple of towns away, where I now live, but it doesn't compare to what we eat in our house, so we stopped going.
You're VERY lucky to still have some ethnic places nearby!
Fermented? Do you have a recipe?
Holupky.
Did not know it was Turkish. Just hearty Slavic peasant fare.
“An d now the Turks make paprika and it STINKS; it’ll also turn every sauce/gravy you put it in... a wretched BROWN! “
Szeged Hungarian Paprika keeps it’s beautiful red color in your sauces...
I agree about the recipe. Ours uses ground beef and cooked rice wrapped in fresh softened cabbage. We do add kraut in between the layers of rolls in a light tomato sauce.
I have Ukrainian blood...ate a lot of these and still make them on occasion.
Before that, my family, for 5 generations, my family bought their paprika from PAPRIKA WEISS, the MAJOR importer of paprika from Hungary, in Manhattan, from the time he began the business which continued to use his name, through his family's generations who ran that Hungarian emporium.
Thankfully, no matter where I've lived afterwards I could/can but the Szeged brand at local grocery stores, but thanks for posting the link, for other! It's THE only paprika everyone should buy!
The recipe, at the link, is a total mess and inaccurate! Perhaps it's the translator's problem, I don't know.
Price is up 1.00 where we get our smoked sweet paprika. It’s the best. 8.95 for 1 pound. They are in Detroit. They also sell lots of sausage making stuff, we get natural casings there.
On the sour heads. It’s just the same as making kapusta. Shredded cabbage and salt. I only use kosher salt. Trim the older leaves on the heads and surround them with the shredded cabbage. As I said this is how my Dad did it. Chicago climate, in the garage all winter. I use a #6 crock and layer the outer leaves of the cabbage heads only. When it’s all fermented you can fold up the leaves and can them separate, cover with kraut juice and a little water.
I went there for my 70th birthday. It certainly was a Taste of Poland. I think we ordered everything on the menu, then we bought kielbasa from their deli to take home.
My family did not use tomato sauce on our galumpki. We spread a thick layer of sauerkraut on top and added the juice from the sauerkraut jar to the pan. I guess that’s how it was prepared in the southern part of Poland my Babcia came from.
If you aren’t already, rinse the saurkraut in a sieve before cooking. Makes the taste much milder.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the link: https://www.butcher-packer.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=32_135_160&products_id=1122&zenid=1dc67a49b4bfb667720e84cc4840e0ef
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