Customer Reviews

Hungary (Culinaria)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Very comprehensive! I'm impressed.

I purchased this cook book for my father as a Christmas gift. My father is from Serbia. His mother came from small town nestled between Hungary and Romania called Novi Knezavac, so Hungarian cooking was very much apart of my fathers family upbringing. This cookbook was the perfect gift for him.

The book is comprehensive, in that it explains the differences and origins of certain ingredients, like peppers, and ground paprikas. I know my father only cooks stuffed peppers in Toronto when he is able to find certain stores in the city that carry Hungarian peppers towards the late summer and early fall seasons. There is a very good reason for that... and the book explains this. Some peppers hold their shapes better during cooking, but more importantly some don't over power the dish as virtually all other peppers would. The book also talks about many other ingredients such as plum brandy (and how it's made), cheeses, wines, and wild mushrooms etc etc.

"Terroir" is a word the French use to describe how the natural characteristics of a place influences the taste of whatever is grown there. This term is certainly not lost in this cookbook. Whether it be the cherries, apricots, plums, paprikas, wines or even wild mushrooms, this book describes the different varieties that are found throughout Hungary.

This book is a gem. Of special note are the recipes for goulash, dumplings, strudels, sauerkraut, beigels (walnut or poppy seed loafs), or my all time favorite cake "Dobos torta". The first time I had Dobos torta was in a Opatija Croatia back in 1965. I fell in love with this cake. There are perhaps only 5 bakeries in Toronto that make this classic cake. I only have one very old French cookbook that has a recipe for it... and at that there is only one picture. Well to my surprise this book has 15 pictures of the finished cake and photo's of how it's made. I've been looking for a comprehensive recipe for this torta for years. To my surprise this book has the best one I've ever seen. Not only that... the origins or history of this cake is in this book too. My fathers family had always known this cake was from Hungary... but no one seemed to know how it got it's name. My late uncle said it was derived from the word "drum" or "dob" in Hungarian, because the caramel topping when hard looks like the skin of a drum. Well this commonly believed story is not true. The cake is named after a late 19th century master chef called Jozsef C. Dobos. His famous recipe for the cake was passed onto the Budapest Trade Association after his retirement in 1906. So this famous torta, popular with the Austrian royal family finally became known to the world... a very interesting story behind the creation of one of Europe's classic cakes. This is just one of many tidbits this book contains.

The book contains a great deal of very colourful and beautiful photographs (a must for a good cookbook). To sum it up... this cookbook is one of the best I've purchased in years. If you are serious about Hungarian cuisine. Then this book is for you.

What an amazing book.I would give it a sixth star if I could. I grow up in Hungary and left the country 15 years ago. I have been searching high an low for a good cookbook.This is the one. But this book is so much more than a cookbook. The whole hungarian foodculture is there,the traditions, everything. I warmly recommend it to anyone who wants to try the hungarian cousine and are ready to learn a little bit about the country as well.

Of all the central european gastronomies, I think that cuisine of Hungary is far and away the most intriguing, and this book offers a gorgeous and detailed look at the mystique of Magyar foodcraft. To be honest, even if you never tried any of the well-detailed recipes included in this book, it would well worth your money just for the breath-taking photography and cultural insights included. I plan to visit Hungary sometime in the next year, so we'll see how the recipes stack up against the genuine articles (I'm very optimistic, this book is really well done!) I'm looking forward to checking out other books of the Culinaria series.

I'm an experienced cook (not professional) and a lover of food. I gave this book to the best hungarian cook I know, which happens to be my grandmother, as a present. After reading through it she pronounced the recipes to be excellent. I also have to say that the background information is very interesting and the book is an overall winner.

The best book on authentic traditional Hungarian cuisine I have seen so far. Very well written and illustrated. Aniko Gergely did an excellent and thorough job on covering the origins and traditions of temporary Hungarian cooking that developed during the last centuries. The list includes ALL the food that I would consider Hungarian and enjoyed when grew up in Budapest. I found the information accurate, the photos abundant and of very good quality. Any serious culinary traveler planning to visit the country and stay away from burgers would benefit too. If you need a single book to understand the soul and culinary traditions of the Magyars, this is it.
Recommended without hesitation.

This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read - am I'm a librarian. It takes one on a culinary tour of Hungary. The text is informative, the photography is excellent, and the recipes are authenic. I specially liked the pictures of what the food looks like. I collect Hungarian cookbooks and this one is a winner.

I am coming from the southern Slovakia, which is a region inhibited by Hungarians and recently I do live in Hungary. This book covers everything, what you should know about the Hungarian cusine. As Hungarian I knew plenty about some of the food items described in the book (just because I eat them :) )but i did not know where they come from, how are they made. This book covers it all. Does not shield you from the truth ! We eat meat with meat (and a bit of cabage), lot of sweets and plenty of fat. And we like it with beer, wine and palinka. and if possible then all of them at once! Finally one book which does not try to make pink glasses over your eyes. We are fat, but happy :)))). I love the photos. They are soo real. I love the fact that they are made in the villages. Old granny making strudle or selling pickles. People working with garlic and paprika, cooking halaszle (fish soup). My favorite is a well built man eating sousage with mustard from a street stand with his hands.. I love that... I think I will have that for lunch with some pickles... jo etvagyat (enjoy your meal)

While the recipes themselves were excellent and authentic, the history of the recipes, the regions, and the pictures were an even greater treat. They brought back memories of our childhood in Budapest. I purchased the book for my own children as a way to preserve a treasured heritage.

This has got to be the best Hungarian cookbook I have ever seen! The layout and photograpy is just so beautiful. Having a Hungarian background, it brings a smile to my face everytime I look through it as I did not grow up with all the traditions.I am happy that being the second generation in Canada; I can look at this book and know what I have missed. I have made the Lecso twice now and it isn't even my book! It was so delicious! I recommend it to give as a gift for the younger Hungarians that can learn about the food and culture of their background.

The best book on authentic traditional Hungarian cuisine I have seen so far. Very well written and illustrated. Aniko Gergely did an excellent and thorough job on covering the origins and traditions of temporary Hungarian cooking that developed during the last centuries. The list includes ALL the food that I would consider Hungarian and enjoyed when grew up in Budapest. I found the information accurate, the photos abundant and of very good quality. Any serious culinary traveler planning to visit the country and stay away from burgers would benefit too. If you need a single book to understand the soul and culinary traditions of the Magyars, this is it.
Recommended without hesitation.