All about the food! (Cultural Proof #2)

Again, this post was written specifically for the McBride Honors Program. 

Here in the land of Goulash and Paprika, rich comfort food is always on the menu. I think it has something to do with the bitter cold...

The other night I went with a large group of international students to a restaurant that served traditional Hungarian food. Like most good food places in the city, it had a walk up counter and a casual atmosphere that catered to the locals and the visitors to the streets many bars and night clubs. It was also fairly inexpensive for a large hot meal. I'll list a few of the things I tried. 

Crispy Duck 
Duck is actually a fairly common menu option here, although I'm not exactly sure why. It is much richer than chicken, and the way they had it prepared was delicious! The spices were very similar to what you might find in the states. 
Pickled Cabbage 
Cabbage is everywhere!!! With cold winters, pickling was necessary to preserve it in the winter months, but now it serves to cut the heaviness of all of the other dishes. While I might not be keen to eat a whole plate of it, as a condiment it's really nice. 
Potatoes
I ended up ordering homemade potato chips, but potatoes were available in a variety of different ways. They like to eat them with paprika, roasted in the oven, or put into Goulash stew. 
Liver 
I wanted to try something very different so I asked the lady at the counter for a very small amount of liver. Apparently that translated into about two heaping scoops. Although it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, I don't think I will be trying it again soon. It is very rich, and almost crumbly in your mouth. 

On a different evening I went to a buffet in town. It is all you can eat for only about $4 USD!! There I tried a lot of different marinated meats and I sampled the famous goulash. I fell in love with yogurt chicken (at least I think that's what it said...) that was grilled to order. Again this seems to be a very meat-and-potatoes heavy diet. I was eating with some Korean students and they were looking for the vegetables to no avail! 

As for the goulash, I think I will have to try it again. I would like to sample different forms of the famous dish, but for now it was essentially beef stew. Also, Chicken Paprikash is on the list for the next time I eat out. I believe it is the second most popular dish here. 

I also feel like I have to include the national drink, Palinka. It is a fruit brandy that they had us sample during orientation week. It was pretty terrible, very sweet and medicinal. The Hungarian students, however, told us that only cheep Palinka is like this. Apparently it is very common for many families to make their own Palinka, out of different kinds of fruit and even nuts. 

Finally, although it is not Hungarian, I think I should take a moment to talk about coffee. I live with three Italian roommates, and they have shown me the light! I don't think I will ever be able to drink a cup of American coffee again!! We have a small inexpensive coffee pot that sits on the stove, allowing the water to bubble up through the grounds. It is very strong. Hopefully by the end of the semester I will be drinking it like them, black. I should probably also slow down a bit because I'm shaking a little while writing this after drinking two espressos.


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