Hungary food

Hungary has a lot of different foods, some people think that they only eat goulash, but this is far from true. Hungary is very famous for its goulash but they also eat other things.


Goulash is a spicy dish. It looks like a kind of soup with big pieces of meat in it. It usually consists of beef, onions, red pepper and paprika powder. But a lot of the Hungarian people have their own version of goulash. they add other spices and they sometimes also prepair it with different sorts of meat. Goulash has a very special taste. There are a lot of people who like it but also a lot of people who don't.

Several kinds of Goulash

Goulash soup. It's the original Hungarian dish.

Mutton Goulash. It's goulash with mutton in it.

Gypsy Goulash. It's mixed with more vegetables. Green and red bell peppers and carrots are most often used.

Partisan Goulash. A mix by the Slovenian Partisans in WW2. Most meat is replaced with quartered potatoes.

Székelygulyás Goulash. A quite different stew, prepared with pork and sauerkraut.

Some people think that goulash is a dish only eaten in Hungary, but this isn't true. It also tastes nice when you eat it with fries and vegetables. Goulash is often served in restaurants and cafetarias, because it is easy to make and it doesn't have very much ingredients.

But if you think that that is the only thing they eat in Hungary you're WRONG. The Hungarian people are also used to several dishes we know here. They are for instance used to all kind of green vegetables. They have a lot of dishes which look quite like the things we eat here in the Netherlands, the only thing that is different is the taste. Not all of the Hungarian people are used to eat potatoes often, but instead they are used to prepare other things, which they eat instead of potatoes.

In the picture you can see a typical Hungarian bakery. As you can see it looks quite like a dutch bakery. the bread is always prepaired in the early morning and the bakery's are often open all day.

The Dutch people often think that the only dish they know in Hungary is Goulash, but that is far from true. I think that they are more used to our dishes than we are to theirs. The Hungarian people also eat things we eat, but we don't eat the things that they eat very often.

In Hungary there are a lot of places which aren't very fertile. Because of this a lot of farmers have animals, like cows or pigs. So instead of producing a lot of vegetables they produce a lot of meat. This is the main reason why they use meat in a lot of their dishes. In a lot of villages there are butchers who provide meat from their own cattle. But there are also places in hungary which are very fertile. In those places a lot of green vegetables are produced. There are also a lot of people in Hungary who just keep sheeps or cows as a pet for instance. People in Hungary are more used to have a cow or sheep as a pet, while we like to have a cat or a dog.


Other parts of the world

Goulash is also eaten in North America. People have changed a lot in the original recepy, so it doesn't look a lot like the original Hungarian food anymore.
The amount of peppers and paprika is reduced a lot. Hamburger has replaced the original beef in the goulash. This reduces the cost, and the cooking time as well. The meat and onions are put in the pan, then the other ingredients are added and you can eat it after 30-45 minutes.
The American version is often finished with noodles or pasta, which doesn't make the food as thick, as it absorbs a part of it.
This form became popular as it was added to cooking books in the 20th century.

By Jeroenski and Lucski

After Hungary

Now, we are back and we had a great time. The food in hungary looks very much like the food here in The Netherlands. We expected everyone to eat goulash there, but they did not. We ate other food as well, like fries and chicken and spaghetti.
You see a lot of Italian meals, like pizza. One evening we went to the pizzeria and had a really nice time. The food was delicious.
Hungarian people eat a lot. You get a huge lunch pack with you to school, and when you then come home they usually eat even more. After we went out to the pub, we came home at about 10.30 PM and my host asked me what I wanted to eat.
What we tought before, that goulash was one of the most eaten meal. This was not true. A lot of Hungarian people didn't even like goulash. We didn't ate goulash a lot but they were more familiar with Italian meals like spaghetti or so. There are a lot of little restaurants in Hungary who all have their own specialities. There are also a lot of pubs, which are crowded every evening. When we went out to a pub we had to search for a pub which still had a lot of place.
hungarian people are very nice and they wanted to take good care of you. they had other habits than we have, for instance they like to eat something late in the evening, and they are used to eat a lot of different things during one meal. They also eat a lot of salami and ham. They dont have slices of bread like we have here but they always have croissants or kaiser bread.
