As I mentioned, I have a Hungarian cooking class scheduled for today, so am very excited about that. We are to first meet at the market for a Hungarian breakfast and to explore Hungarian ingredients before heading to our class.
I arrived early, so had time to catch some photos of the bridge near the market, which was one I had not yet seen...
....take a picture back up the Danube towards the Royal Palace on the Buda hill...
...and take photos of some of the interesting buildings in this neighborhood...
...these were the ornaments on a museum next door which currently has an Egypt exhibit. I probably wouldn't have noticed that, except that I was to have been in Egypt right now!
...as well as take photos of the outside of the market building...
There was another person standing at the meeting place, so I wondered if he was there for the class too. When Violet, the "chef," arrived, sure enough, Marcus was waiting for her too. Marcus is a chef from Chicago who is interested in learning more about international cuisines. (It was easy to remember his name, as he did remind me of the Marcus whom many of you know and love!).
Violet explained that the market was initially an open air market, and that the building had been built in the late 1800's to house the market, more like he markets in other European cities at the time. When first built, it had a wide center aisle which was for the tourists...
the right hand aisle catered to the wealthy, and the left hand aisle was for the peasant class. Now it is all mixed together, and there is no longer any such distinction.
We started out looking at the pastries, and first chose a cherry pie for our breakfast...
Then we went upstairs and we bought another typical breakfast item, the lango, which is basically "fried dough," with sour cream, garlic and cheese...
(I was remembering the statue of the fat policeman from yesterday!!).
To finish off our breakfast, we ordered COFFEE....that was something I needed for my slight hangover :-) I thought the pie was too sweet, at least for breakfast, and the lango had too much garlic!! Plus, I was having visions of looking like this...
This is how they eat!! Way too much sugar, fat, salt!! Bob (at H3), you would have been cringing!!
Then off through the market to see the typical Hungarian ingredients. First, don't forget the paprika...They put it in everything, in very large quantities...
...some of them even grind it themselves from the actual peppers...
And don't forget the fat, here on the left...do people still cook with lard in the US?(probably)...
Pickled items are also a big item....
Then, they do have some wonderful fruits and vegetables...
...the asparagus was in season, and wonderful...
...and the strawberries were great,too...
...and no Hungarian kitchen is complete without sausages...
...or alcohol...
...so I was starting to feel that this cuisine was not going to be for me, but now it was time to go to the kitchen and get started..
Besides Marcus, the class included a couple from Portugal and a mother/daughter from Florida (they had not done the market option). Marcus and I were paired up....I didn't get a great photo of him, as he was tall, and I kept cutting off his head (sorry, Marcus :-)...
...and we were a good team....chop, chop....for our potato with beef soup and our chicken paprika...
Violet was trying to show us here how sticky the dumpling mix should be...
...and we all chipped in to help...
And believe it or not, the food was absolutely delicious....especially the chicken paprika....as well as the dessert pancakes we made at the end.
(I forgot to have someone take a picture of me--oh, well,later). We also got to try some sour cherry soup that another class had made....would make a good dessert, although they serve it as an appetizer.
Violet was a great teacher (she is majoring in nutrition, so she is aware of the changes that need to be incorporated into the Hungarian diet), and Marcus was a great partner. What great fun! (oh, and we did try more and more Hungarian wines :-)...but I passed when we got to the Palinka and Tokaji).
Time for a rest before heading out to a concert at the new Belo Bartok National Concert Hall...
This hall was yet one more bridge away...
The acoustics in this hall were amazing. I couldn't take a photo but found one online...
The wooden slats in the ceiling had something to do with the acoustics. Anyway, I saw Dianne Reeves, a phenomenal jazz singer with a range from bass to soprano, and it sounded like a small club rather than a huge hall. She even walked away from her mike at one point, and you could still hear her throughout the hall. And the seats were wide and padded and extremely comfortable for a concert hall. So a great evening out!
Beddy bye time (no need for dinner)....it's been a long day!
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Location:Erzsébet tér,Budapest,Hungary
My goodness girl, you are doing it all. I don't know how you discovered all the uniquenessof each place you've traveled to, especially given the language barrier in some of the places. Amazing, just amazing!!!! We're all so envious.
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