Hungarian for 12 people Friday

We offered to invite a few people over on Friday, but it turned out that some of them had plans and invited us in return, so one way or another it turns out that 1) we are visiting friends on Friday and 2) we are taking the food and wine, and pretty much catering the event. These are the same friends that we visited on Thanksgiving, so we know that they can deal nicely with a dozen diners (which we couldn't).

Because I have been obsessing over beef goulash, I offered to take a big batch of that. I have had second thoughts -- I could have offered a large quantity of boeuf bourguignon or coq au vin, or any number of other things. But I am kind of stuck on that delicious beef and paprika taste and wanted an excuse to cook it again (this time no sour cream in the sauce!).

For a first course, I googled Hungarian Food and came up with Kohlrabi soup. This is an elegant white cream soup, mainly milk and kohlrabi. We'll serve it in cream soup bowls with two little handles and a saucer underneath, even tho it has a nice earthy winter vegetable flavor.

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Makes 4 servings of Kohlrabi Soup
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 pound kohlrabi bulbs, peeled and chopped
• 2 1/2 cups vegetable stock
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and black pepper
Preparation:
1. Melt butter in a large pan with a lid. Add onions and cook gently until soft, about 10 minutes. Add kohlrabi and cook 2 minutes. 

2. Add vegetable stock, milk and bay leaf to pan, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 25 minutes or until kohlrabi is tender. Let cool a few minutes and remove bay leaf. 

3. Using an immersion blender or conventional blender or food processor, puree soup until smooth. You may want to strain the soup through a fine sieve if the kohlrabi is especially fibrous. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve in heated bowls with hearty bread of choice.
Note: If your kohlrabi come with the green tops, blanch them and clean as you would for spinach, stripping the leaves down off the tough center stem. Roll the leaves and slice across as for a "chiffonade" of basil.

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I had never bought kohlrabi before and where I found it was in the Asian markets -- when I was buying Lan Chi sauce I noticed a big pile of kohlrabi in the produce section. I think the Chinese like to peel this stuff and slice it and use it in stir fry. I will need to make a bit more than 3 recipes.

So otherwise -- I will take a big bunch of Keller toast, and some Stilton (for Port and Stilton at the end, not Hungarian but I don't care, there is no reason for this to be Hungarian really), some Champagne for starters -- Louise will make cheddar gougeres to go with that. I have a bottle of Egri Bikaver for the goulash, and I have some really rich Cru Beaujolais as well for that course. Louise will probably make some sort of dessert that involves sour cherries. We can buy big jars of those at the local Russian grocery...

What do you think of as Hungarian food? Actually our friends are in New Brunswick, and NB was very Hungarian after the 1956 Revolution. There used to be some wonderful restaurants, and branches of the "Magyar Bank" etc. but mostly that is all gone now.

Well, it was a spectacular success, a group of good friends all putting something in. In the living room we had nuts and deviled eggs with gherkins, and our gougeres, all with Champagne (and some single malt).

The hostess and I between us had a dozen "cream soups" with the 2 handles -- I got those warmed in a dishpan of clean hot water and we ladled out the pure white kohlrabi soup and set it around the table before inviting everyone in to the dining room. Then we passed a platter of crunchy Keller toast so that everyone could break up their own croutons. Lots of praise for the soup which in fact is really elegant. After getting "fingernail" fragments in my first attempt I went to the effort of grinding the whole soup through a chinois with a wooden pestle, so it was just beautifully smooth. We had a new kind of Champagne, "Rose Sauvage" -- wild rose, which was very red and Christmasy looking with that course.

Then after clearing away the soup bowls we had everyone get up and serve themselves in the kitchen. Noodles, beef goulash, and a concoction of apples and cabbage that went very nicely with the beef. I opened various wines including an Egri Bikaver which was surprisingly good, a Morgon Cote de Py that I was slightly disappointed with, and a really good cotes du Rhone.

Afterward I opened a vintage Port and decanted into my new (from eBay) Waterford Colleen decanter, and explained that we had to pass to the left and that I was not allowed to pour my own glass until the decanter returned. One couple had been on cruises and she remarked that that was how they did things at the Captain's table on a ship. I like following the old rules sometimes, and I was pleased to hear that they are still alive in some quarters. I couldn't help myself from making the first toast "the Queen, God bless her!" The Stilton was lovely, people raved about that as well, the port sets it off so nicely.

Then Louise had made a Hungarian sour cherry cake which was much enjoyed, as well as some matzoh based "crack up" which may be beyond my power of description. Sweet and chocolatey. With some coffee...

We had taken a living room break for a parlor game after the soup, it was a classic long and enjoyable dinner.

Cooking is one of the few things I enjoy as much as teaching.

[Jenise]

My dad's wife was Hungarian. She was her mother's fifth child, and the first one born here after the family emigrated. She grew up in the Cleveland area and came to California with her parents in her early 20's. By the time I got to know her she was in her late 40's and the majority of her home cooking was full of Campbell's soup-based recipes--she copied recipes to perfection but absolutely required a recipe to cook from--with names like Viva la Chicken! and Pork Chops a la India. The corny names with the exotic places in them seemed to especially attract her, and she was so naive and untravelled that she believed these recipes were real ethnic food. I recall with amused affection that her meatloaf had the name 'Hawaiian' in it, though in make-up it was more Hungarian than Hawaiian: 100% pork with chopped green bell pepper and whole hard-boiled eggs buried in it. The 'Hawaiian' part was the Teriyaki glaze she poured over it.

But about once every two years she and Dad would go to Cleveland to visit the extensive family who remained there, and she'd come back with a croaker sack full of fresh, smoked and cured sausages (pretty much all pork) unlike anything we ever saw on the west coast, and she'd cook Hungarian food the way her mother Rosie taught (and sometimes helped) her to cook it until those things ran out. She'd also bring back Hungarian paprika, which of course was nothing like the McCormick's crap I grew up on. Oh god, did I love that food! This stuff was authentic and exotic to me in ways that the food she thought was exotic never could be. So goulash, paprikash, soups, various terrines and her heavenly cabbage rolls would happen. So would a lot of pastry things, most especially a moist, dense, pound-cake textured cake she'd make in a bundt type pan using some type of canned apricot goo and a bazillion poppy seeds. I wish I had that recipe today. The only Hungarian vegetable I remember her making was creamed savoy cabbage with a ground coriander seed. Loved that.

Bob and I went to Hungary in the late 80's. (The Russians were pulling out of town--literally, we passed tanks going the opposite direction--as we pulled in, and we were greeted like liberators. Upon meeting us and finding out we were Americans, people would try to impress us by singing American songs, which were strangely more often Country Western than Pop.) Living with the Russians had not made them prosperous and this was evident in the food, which we found odd and hard to get used to. Just about all things called 'salad' were made out of canned vegetables and bound with creamy white dressings, for instance. And there was this ridiculously vile and strongly alcoholic liqueur that they served us a shot of first thing in the morning, important for health they said. Bob thinks the name was 'Unicum'. Bob doesn't usually remember names like that, but it was so gross he's never forgotten. After that came something good though, scrambled eggs most days topped with a paprikash-like pan sauce made out of butter and sauteed peppers. We did manage to find some wonderful goulashes to eat while there, but otherwise there was almost no meat, and never anything whole/roasted. The other memorable thing was the desserts, all of which are made sans salt. They tasted lifeless to us, where our Hungarian travelling friends talked about how salty they found desserts in America when they first came over.

And that's about all I know of Hungarian food. Which makes me hungry. Betty's cabbage rolls, coming up next week! Your dinner sounds wonderful, btw. Kohlrabi soup is hard to imagine; would love to try it.

a Morgon Cote de Py that I was slightly disappointed with...

Which one?

I've only been to Hungary once, on my honeymoon in 2008. We had a few days in Lake Balaton and a few days in Budapest. We weren't very big on the traditional Hungarian food but the more contemporary versions were very exciting and affordable in Budapest. But your dinner still sounds like a great success!

Rahsaan, I will be able to answer that question because I took 2 bottles of the Morgon and then brought one back home. I do remember that 1) it is a 2009, 2) it is from a respected producer, and 3) that I have already drunk a few bottles of it and thought they were terrific. This one was a well made wine but just not wonderful like the previous ones. A little light, which one may expect from Beaujolais in general but not from Morgon Cote de Py. I am traveling now and will report when I get back home.

Jenise, I really enjoyed that, thanks for sharing. I don't have any connection to Hungary other than the fact that New Brunswick NJ used to have some good Hungarian restaurants. I just love paprika.

I would encourage you (and everyone else) to try this soup. Tasting it reminds me of many good soups I've had, I think there is a wonderful cream of cauliflower soup in Julia Child's "Mastering" books, and there is the classic potato soup. I think Julia may have a cream of broccoli soup that would be really close to this kohlrabi soup in flavor and texture. One nice thing is that unlike the French versions it is not full of heavy cream, just milk and veggies. This soup is both earthy and delicate, you taste it and you want more. We will be revisiting the goulash leftovers in a couple of days after we get back home.

And there was this ridiculously vile and strongly alcoholic liqueur that they served us a shot of first thing in the morning, important for health they said. Bob thinks the name was 'Unicum'. Bob doesn't usually remember names like that, but it was so gross he's never forgotten.

Unicum sounds a little like the bitters the Germans like to drink at the end of a meal. Will have to think of -- oh it came to me. Underberg! I actually kind of like Underberg. And the Swiss make "Enzian" which is named after the gentian flower that grows in the Alps, supposedly the bitterest of all. I bought a bottle but I gave it away to some friends on the trip. Never tasted it. Riedel makes a special glass for Underberg. Very tiny drinking part, shaped like a little conical flower, on a long thin stem. Guaranteed to break. I tried to buy some just for the perversity of it all but couldn't get them here in the states. I did find some Underberg on eBay. Little paper wrapped bottles packed into an attractive tin.

MAYBE the reason it was so disgusting is that they were still making the "Communist Version"??? See below

The liqueur is today produced by Zwack according to a secret formula of more than forty herbs, and the drink is aged in oak casks. During the Socialist regime in Hungary, the Zwack family lived in exile in New York and Chicago, and during this time, Unicum in Hungary was produced using a different formula. However, before moving to the States, Janos Zwack had entrusted a family friend in Milan with the production of Unicum based on the original recipe. After the fall of communism, Peter Zwack returned to Hungary and resumed production of the original Unicum.

In 1988, just one year before the fall of Communism, Peter Zwack returned to Hungary and resumed production with the original Zwack formula. He repurchased his family business from the State in the summer of 1989, and by the spring of 1990, the original Zwack product was reintroduced to the Hungarian market. That same year, Peter was named Hungarian Ambassador to the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwack_liqueur

http://sfinbudapest.com/?/archives/15-Unicum-6tus.html

And the Swiss make "Enzian" which is named after the gentian flower that grows in the Alps, supposedly the bitterest of all. I bought a bottle but I gave it away to some friends on the trip. Never tasted it..

It's the Alps in general, not just Switzerland. I'm a big fan of schnapps in general, as is my extended German family. But I made the mistake of ordering Enzian one time in Austria with my German in-laws and they still love to tell stories about my face after drinking it.

I found the glass -- it is the height of a wine bottle, more than 11 inches tall, and holds about 2 ounces of spirit.

How long do you think these glasses would last in your house? I have a really good record with Riedel glasses except for the Sauternes. But I think these would be gone in a week or two.

a Morgon Cote de Py that I was slightly disappointed with...

Which one?

Louis Claude Desvignes, 2009, La Voûte Saint-Vincent, Morgon

NOT a Cote de Py but I think generally thought of as as good??

a Morgon Cote de Py that I was slightly disappointed with...

Which one?

Louis Claude Desvignes, 2009, La Voûte Saint-Vincent, Morgon

NOT a Cote de Py but I think generally thought of as as good??

Yes, I never tried that one but Desvignes is a good producer. If I remember correctly that was one of the early drinking cuvees? Which means it might have less fruit then others. And then combined with the fact that folks like Desvignes who only do semi-carbonic may shut down harder than other more supple Morgon bottlings that could explain your outcome. I don't know.

From a Chambers St Wine email -- you appear to be right that it's softer.

Looking at my old email, I bought six of La Voute and six of the Cote de Py. So the wine I am remembering as incredibly rich was probably the Cote de Py and I haven't noticed the label difference (because they look nearly identical). Desvignes 2009 Cote de Py was very hard to come by.

Desvignes 2009 Morgon La Voute Saint-Vincent
Not usually seen in the US, the La Voute Saint-Vincent is from parcels in the climat of Douby, in the north of Morgon, near Fleurie. Here the wines are more aromatic and softer than on the Cote de Py and are meant to be drunk relatively young. There is deep berry fruit on the palate that broadens darkly in the finish. Quite ripe but with adequate acidty, it will provide delicious drinking over the next 3 to 5 years. The vines are sixty years old and the soils are decomposed granite with sand. We're very happy to have this cuvee in 2009 from the Desvignes, as their Cote de Py and Javernieres will need 5 to 8 years to mature.

Last night we were invited to a birthday dinner -- I am often asked to bring the wines.

I had a bottle of Morgon ready to take (the second one from the Hungarian party) but I rummaged around in my cellar and found a bottle of the Cote de Py -- same wine but Cote de Py.

Pretty spectacular. Almost closed and tannic at first sip but it opened out into something rich and beautiful. I do wish I had bought 12 of those...

[Jenise]

Unicum sounds a little like the bitters the Germans like to drink at the end of a meal. Will have to think of -- oh it came to me. Underberg! I actually kind of like Underberg. And the Swiss make "Enzian" which is named after the gentian flower that grows in the Alps, supposedly the bitterest of all. I bought a bottle but I gave it away to some friends on the trip. Never tasted it. Riedel makes a special glass for Underberg. Very tiny drinking part, shaped like a little conical flower, on a long thin stem. Guaranteed to break. I tried to buy some just for the perversity of it all but couldn't get them here in the states. I did find some Underberg on eBay. Little paper wrapped bottles packed into an attractive tin.

MAYBE the reason it was so disgusting is that they were still making the "Communist Version"???

In 1988, just one year before the fall of Communism, Peter Zwack returned to Hungary and resumed production with the original Zwack formula. He repurchased his family business from the State in the summer of 1989, and by the spring of 1990, the original Zwack product was reintroduced to the Hungarian market. That same year, Peter was named Hungarian Ambassador to the United States.

Never had the Underberg, but how interesting about the Unicum. Very cool of you to dig that up. I'm sure we would have had the "Communist version" . Tasted like Vegemite mixed with Chloraseptic--or something equally vile resulting from two really horrible and unusual flavors getting mixed!

[Jenise]

Hey, a question for you Frank. What kind of paprika do you use, and have you ever bought any Hungarian from Penzey's? (If you haven't, you owe it to yourself to discover how superior it is to anything else available in the U.S.)

I have about six kinds of Paprika at the moment. And I have tried Penzeys, which has a very bright color.

My emotional favorite is Szeged in the rectangular tin -- both sweet (red tin) and hot (white tin). I am aware that people have criticized this brand online and compared Penzeys favorably. I don't get it, to me it tastes like Paprika and I like that.

Still, with half a dozen kinds, you know that I am experimenting and maybe I will find something I like more.

When you say "Hungarian" do you have a brand in mind?

[Jenise]

Frank, after I came back from Hungary with paprika bought there in tow, both mild and hot, Szeged, which I recall thinking so wonderful after all the supermarket stuff I grew up on, was no longer good enough. The paprika I bought in Hungary was brighter colored, finer ground and more intensely flavored, sweeter and richer without the bitterness you'd get from doubling up on any other to try to equal the intensity. It was a long, dry spell of paprika purgatory before I discovered Penzey's. The comparison was reinforced yesterday when making my cabbage rolls. I only had a teaspoon left of Penzey's Hungarian and so I broke down and bought some Szeged at the store to get me thru this dish--my shipment from Penzey's seems to be bogged down in holiday traffic. Before using either, though, I tasted them. And the year old Penzey's bested the newly opened can of Szeged, as I thought it would. I can understand your loyalty to Szeged, as it's defined the taste of paprika for you and I can't change your mind. A week in Budapest, however, would fix you right up.

If I were closed-minded, I wouldn't have a variety in the pantry. I will have to figure out a tasting technique and report back. I have had Penzeys but it was the "sharp" kind and I wasn't that impressed. Great color but I thought not a whole lot of flavor. I will buy sweet Paprika from Penzeys and give it a shot. You are saying that you think Penzey's is Hungarian? I know Szeged is Hungarian...

[Jenise]

If I were closed-minded, I wouldn't have a variety in the pantry. I will have to figure out a tasting technique and report back. I have had Penzeys but it was the "sharp" kind and I wasn't that impressed. Great color but I thought not a whole lot of flavor. I will buy sweet Paprika from Penzeys and give it a shot. You are saying that you think Penzey's is Hungarian? I know Szeged is Hungarian...

Penzey's currently offers both a Hunky (Betty's shorthand) and a Californian, and I've only bought the Hunky. To be honest, I've repurchased several times and have found the batches to differ somewhat, the last being the best ever ("best" being brighter red color, intenser flavor and powdery fine grind), but all have been better than Szeged.

My order's going to show up any day, would be happy to mail you a sample.

As for tasting technique? Make two small piles. Lick finger, dip.

OK, I got a Penzey's catalog today, and I thought, time to order the Hungarian paprika!!

But what they list is "HUNGARIAN-STYLE SWEET PAPRIKA." Nothing about how it is produced in Hungary and imported from there. What am I to think?? They do use the word "Kulonleges" but it feels a little like it might be deceptive. If it's from Hungary, why not just say so???

PS online it says "Hungarian" so I will order some. But I am getting more and more uneasy about how Penzeys is changing.

[Jenise]

Hmmm...rather unusual. "Style" is not the right message, is it. I'll go check the label on what I just got (when I buy stuff, I cut out the labels and stick them in or on the jars I transfer the spice to, though in this case I may have left the old label on the jar. Not sure, I rejiggered a bunch this time but I'll be able to tell by looking at it. The label would have to be specific, I think, about origins.) Btw, I am very happy with this batch.

On the same page with the Hungarian "Style" Paprika (the whole text makes no sense with the word "style" added since it talks about the sunshine in Hungary -- how can you mimic that?) -- on that same page, this

"The sweet strong flavor of Turkish oregano can't be beat. Our travels to this area have allowed us to import some Turkish oregano, the best we've seen in years."

So it is not a blanket policy to pull back from saying a spice is imported from a specific country.

I would be money that some weasel at Penzey's is planning to sneak in some paprika from California, or China, or somewhere.

And quite possibly they are already doing that, and just haven't updated their website yet.

[Jenise]

Well, I checked my label and it's *in* the jar instead of taped to the outside, the change I made recently to some of my jars, which says it's from the previous batch and therefore no proof of what's going on now. But the label, FWIW, does say 'Hungary Sweet'.

I wonder if someone at Penzey's would answer the phone. I'll try to contact them, you've made me so curious. Stand by.

[Jenise]

Okay, I got the skinny from HQ: Penzey's prefers to deal with smaller growers, and currently large growers control the entire Hungarian paprika market which has made it increasingly difficult to nail their target for quality and price. Hence, they are looking at other sources and apparently left the door open when they wrote up the last catalog: however, what they've got right now is the real deal. It's true Hungarian. Order away!

Btw, because of you, Frank, I have an order coming from Whole Spice, too. They have things that Penzey's just doesn't carry, like Zahtar which I've never tasted but always wanted to.

Thanks for checking, Jenise. I am only slightly reassured. In the context of the other stuff they are doing "not Hungarian" paprika sounds like it might end up being just about anything. I did something slightly silly -- I ordered 2 eight ounce bags (along with my free cinnamon and sugar). That way one can stay fresh or, if necessary, I can give it away to a needy person. Of course I could do exactly that with a one pound bag for a little less money... But I like leaving the one bag totally sealed.

I have seen bugs get into Paprika. Not recently because I am using it up too fast...

Great about the Za'atar (I never remember how to spell it, that looks right somehow). It's something I enjoy but it's not a flavor that I dream about and long for. I really have too many of those anyway. (Now I want a masala dosa, just because I was thinking about flavors I long for. Beefy goulash, beefy Texas Chili, and Chicken Paprikash are also on that list)