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You are here: Home Leisure Dining & Cuisine Hungary: A nation of goulash gluttons learns fine cuisine

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18/10/2009Hungary: A nation of goulash gluttons learns fine cuisine

Hungary: A nation of goulash gluttons learns fine cuisine Hungary's restaurant scene has started to emerge from the sea of goulash and heaps of deep-fried pork that make tourists worry about their waistline.

Magyar gastronomy, known around the world for its goulash, never had the standing Hungarians believed it deserved but young chefs trained abroad are starting to change that.

"There is a huge gap between the picture we have of our 'world famous' and 'world class' cuisine and the reality," said Tamas B Molnar, head of the Hungarian Gastronomy Association, a grouping of chefs, culinary writers, intellectuals and celebrities aiming to reform the country's gastronomic culture.

Indeed, five out of six Hungarians quizzed in downtown Budapest insisted that Magyar goulash, paprika chicken and pork stew had shot the national cuisine to the top of the international rankings decades ago -- a belief shared by most of their compatriots.

The grim reality, however, is a painful lack of quality ingredients, educated palates and skilled and innovative chefs, according to Molnar.

His view is confirmed by two chefs who, along with Molnar and his gastronomy group, have set out on a mission to change the goulash landscape.

"Not even (renowned French chef Paul) Bocuse could cook a good meal without good ingredients," said Molnar.

Buying abroad

However, in order to get good ingredients, Hungarian restaurants need to search beyond the country's borders, as the desired variety and quality of products is unavailable at home.

AFP PHOTO / ATTILA KISBENEDEK
Diners sit in the Stand Bistro in the 5th district of Budapest on September 11, 2009. While Hungary's most important addition to world cuisine, the goulash, is known around the globe, Magyar gastronomy is yet far from the top-of-the-list rank proud Hungarians think it holds

"Vegetables and as much as 90 percent of the meat come from abroad," estimated Viktor Segal, the 41-year-old chef of the stylish Stand Bistro in downtown Budapest.

Segal spent 13 years abroad, working in top restaurants in Lyon and Paris before returning to Budapest five years ago to serve quality Asian-Western fusion meals.

His colleague Tamas Szell, at the more upscale Onyx restaurant in the city centre, struggles with the same lack of quality tomatoes and beef.

But he sees signs of improvement, partly thanks to Molnar's efforts to bring together conscientious producers and top chefs.

"I hope that the choice of good ingredients will expand,” the 26-year-old Szell said, pointing at another sensitive issue in the local culinary scene: the customer. “But I also expect an understanding public to develop sooner or later."

Changing the customer?

"Over the last few decades, Hungarians have turned into a nation of gluttons, where eating a lot is a kind of manly virtue," Molnar said.

Szell agreed: locals tend to prefer a filling one-course meal and frown upon delicate tasting menus served on designer plates.

Also, Hungarians like to gobble down their meal quickly, without waiting too long.

Although it is difficult nowadays to get a table in Stand at lunchtime, it took a while for guests to understand that fresh food takes time to be prepared.

"Unlike elsewhere, where gastronomy is understood as part of a nation's cultural heritage, people here still go to the restaurant primarily to eat, not to absorb culture," Onyx chef Szell remarked.

Thanks to a group of well-traveled gourmets however, Hungary's restaurant scene has started to emerge from the sea of goulash and heaps of deep-fried pork that make tourists worry about their waistline.

AFP PHOTO / ATTILA KISBENEDEK "Hungarians coming back from great restaurants abroad have started to look for the same treats at home too, and I really believe it is thanks to them that a few years ago the scene started to improve," Segal said.

Fresh spices, new interpretations of old cookbooks, fusion cuisine: the new approaches are mostly employed by a young generation of Hungarian chefs who often spend months abroad and return with higher standards.

"The training remains deplorable, yet teachers who have been giving the same instructions to their apprentices for 35 years are reluctant to revisit their guiding principles," Molnar reflected.

But there is hope.

According to the Hungarian restaurant and wine guide, a listing compiled annually after rigorous testing by Molnar and his partners, about a dozen venues now have standards worthy of a Michelin star -- the French culinary recognition for the best restaurants worldwide.

Hungary has yet to receive its first star but the chefs and experts agree: in a decade its gastronomic reality will be much closer to what is now only wishful thinking by its citizens.

Eszter Balazs/AFP/Expatica


1 reaction to this article

vekertesz posted: 2009-10-18 11:37:22

Goulasch is not a traditional Hungarian food....

It s a strange hybrid of the traditional "Gulyas soup" and the "pörkölt"
And doesn t even exist in traditional the Hungarian cuisine in its know form. It probably was created during the K

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1 reaction to this article

vekertesz posted: 2009-10-18 11:37:22

Goulasch is not a traditional Hungarian food....

It s a strange hybrid of the traditional "Gulyas soup" and the "pörkölt"
And doesn t even exist in traditional the Hungarian cuisine in its know form. It probably was created during the K

Add a comment
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