Such a beautiful city! Why hadn't anyone told me before just how gorgeous Budapest is?

And the loveliness of the city is rivaled by the yumminess of the food. Hungarian cuisine is rich with flavor and texture, as tasty and as full of history as any of the cuisines of Europe. Most people have heard of Hungarian goulash and paprika. Unlike the German version of goulash which is more like a stew, goulash in Hungary is a soup invented by herdsmen. In fact, the word gulyás means both herdsman and the beef and vegetable soup flavored with paprika.

classic chicken paprika (paprikás csirke) with dumplings

We stayed at the famous Hotel Gellért, a large hotel that just happens to have an amazing set of naturally hot and cold swimming pools and a full spa. The Buda side of the Danube river has natural hot springs and the hotel is built on one of them.

We had such a humorous stay as you were not allowed to use the spa without slippers and we had not brought them. The spa in the hotel wanted 32 Euros a pair but that was absurd to us. In addition, once we were in the spas, you could not enter the cold pool without a bathing cap or comparable device. Which my companion solved by wearing a shower cap with the ear areas pulled out so that he could hear! It was a laugh to get it in without caring what the fashionable people thought of us.

Across the river from the hotel is the Central market. ike most Budapest markets, it's constructed of wrought iron and glass. Upon stepping into the building, where selling started in February 1897, its sheer size and train station-like interior are amazing, but what really catches the eye is the number of people constantly moving around from stall to stall, to buy fresh goods, directly from the producer.

many, many kinds of duck and goose liver, one of the countries main exports

While we were there we visited the Museum of Ethnography (http://www.neprajz.hu/en/), which was filled with fascinating exhibits on everyday Hungarian furniture and folk costumes. They have amazing films on how women dressed in the very involved layers of regional clothing.

We asked the woman working in the store at the museum for a recommendation for dinner and she steered us to a restaurant called Gettó Gulyás, where she said that they cooked like her grandmother.

So of course we went there (https://www.facebook.com/gettogulyas/?ref=page_internal) and were completely delighted.

Along with the amazing main dishes of wild boar ragout and stuffed pasta, we had a couple of the pickled side dishes that were both beautiful and delicious.

As part of the hotel breakfast buffet, we were able to try another Hungarian specialty that is used as a side dish at many meals, served both hot and cold: lecsó.

I’m very surprised that more people don’t know about this wonderful paprika pepper stew. There is a large variety of lecsós, the base of all being a mixture of tomatoes and peppers (both sweet and hot), onions, spiced with salt, some variants also sugar, a fair amount of red paprika powder, and often garlic. Some recipes may also use bay leaf, ground black pepper or thyme.

Lecsó often stands alone as a lunch dish, in which case it is usually eaten with bread. It can be served as a side dish accompanying various main dishes, for example roasted chicken, pheasant, pork, beef or Eszterhazy steak. In Hungary, the dish is very popular, and even has its own festivals.

I’ve listed 2 other variations of this ragout: with sausage (called "kolbász" such as lecsókolbász) or thickened with beaten eggs.

Serves 6 as a side dish

Preparation and cooking time:

Ingredients:

2 1/4 lbs/1 kg long paprika peppers or bell peppers, any colour combination
I lb/500 g tomatoes or 2 large cans of diced or whole tomatoes
1 large onion
4 tablespoons oil (or bacon drippings if you have it)
1 heaping tablespoon ground paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Remove the stalks and the seeds from the peppers and cut into finger-width strips or rings.
Chop the tomatoes.
Finely chop the onion. Heat the fat in a deep frying pan and sauté the onion for 5 minutes. Add the peppers and cook for another 15 minutes, stirring often.
Add the tomatoes, paprika, salt, and pepper and cover with a lid. Simmer gently for 20 minutes.

Lecsó with Sausage

Slice 200g/7 ounces of sliced smoked sausage and fry from the beginning with the onion and peppers.

Lecsó with Eggs

Once the vegetables are fully cooked, whisk 6 eggs with a fork in a bowl until well blended. Push all of the vegetables to one side of the pan and pour the eggs into the empty half of the pan. Allow them to cook about halfway, then stir everything together, and cook for another 5 minutes.

May 31 Budapest: Peppers and Hot Springs