Monthly Archives: June 2010

A Sparkling Future

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Winemakers can be an eccentric lot. József Szentesi, who makes wine in the Buda-Etyek region, has got to be one of the most eccentric. He is a self-taught winemaker, who has previously owned and run a restaurant, and sold produce. His passion is re-discovering old Hungarian grape varietals, some of which are hardly found anywhere but at the research institute in Pécs where he finds them. He cultivates them in his vineyards (which are mostly near Lake Velence) and then makes wine from them by hand (with minimal technology and no machinery in sight) in his Budafok cellar, sometimes in quantities as low as five liters. He constantly experiments with old varietals and techniques. His small Budafok cellar, which belonged to his father, is stuffed with containers of all sizes holding his experimental wines, some of which are quite exceptional.

The fact that he produces wines made from unknown varietals like csóka, vörös dinka, porcsin, laska and fehér góhér is reason enough to head out to visit his cellar. But there is another reason to keep an eye on Szentesi. He also has a 2,000 square-meter cellar in Budafok (Hungary’s center for sparkling wine-making) where he has been quietly starting up an operation for making high quality méthode traditionnelle sparkling wine. With his partner—Josef Watzl, a German sparkling wine specialist—Szentesi will dramatically up the selection of Hungarian sparkling wine by the end of the year.

This year Szentesi will be producing 40,000 bottles of sparkling wine in his Budafok cellar (and more next year if the results are good). Szentesi and Watzl will not only make their own brand under the J&J label (József + Josef), but they will also make sparkling wine for 14 other small wineries, which until now didn’t have the facilities or the capital to produce their own. About a third of this year’s production will come from their own J&J brand and the rest will be labeled under other wineries’ names (which will include Zoltán Demeter, Sarolta Bárdos, Patricius, Orsolya, Hummel, Matias, Heimann, Merfelsz, Miklós Csabi, Rókusfalvy, Ottó Légli, Szent Andrea, and Kálna). They will be made from common varietals like Rhine riesling, chardonnay, and pinot noir; native varietals such as furmint, hárslevelű, and kéknyelű; and the practically unknown Hamburgi muskotály.

While Hungarians love sparkling wine (which anyone who has ever been on the street in Budapest on New Year’s Eve can see), the selection of Hungarian sparkling wine is currently mostly limited to the wines from the enormous Budafok cellars of the Törley group and the smaller ones of the Garamváry family. These companies produce a range of sparkling wines, some of which are quite high quality (as well as good value). It is less common to see sparkling wine coming from smaller or family-owned cellars (Polgár in Villány and Kreinbacher in Somló are exceptions). Making sparkling wine calls for big investments, different techniques, and even more bureaucratic rules and regulations (we are in Hungary, after all).

Szentesi doesn’t want to imitate French Champagne, he says, as Hungary’s climate will never produce the same flavors as the soil and the cool climate of Champagne can. According to him, Hungarian sparkling wines are more similar to Italian or Spanish sparklers. These new sparklers will be ready in December (although we have preliminarily tasted a few of them already). We are already counting the days until these new sparklers emerge from their rest in the underworld of Budafok.

Find a few of Szentesi’s wines (as well as wines by other wineries) at his wine shop in Budapest, Kézműves Borok Háza (Budafoki út 111-113, Budapest 1117).

–Gábor

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Eperleves {Recipe}

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{Strawberry Soup}


Cold fruit soups (hideg gyümölcslevesek) are a staple of summertime eating in Hungary. The best-known version is made from cherries (either sour or sweet), but fruit soup can be made from nearly any type of fruit. During the summer, restaurant menus in Hungary hold soups made from whatever is available in the market at the time—cantaloupe, watermelon, gooseberry, apricot, apple, peach, plum…you get the picture. There are a variety of ways to make the soup, depending on what type of fruit you use. Sometimes the fruit is cooked (in water or wine with some spices and perhaps lemon zest). Sometimes the soup is thickened with flour. Sometimes wine, cream, or milk is used.

It is strawberry season now in Hungary, and strawberry soup is one of my favorites. It is also one of easiest to make since it requires no cooking. But the thing about cold fruit soup is that I usually would rather have it for dessert than as an appetizer. And I could even imagine having this soup, which is almost like a strawberry smoothie, for breakfast. We ate this soup with a few crumbled lemon balm leaves on top, but I was wishing that I would have had a handful of basil on hand to throw into the blender with the soup. Just to make it feel less like a breakfast smoothie and more like dinner, the adults at the table added a secret ingredient to their soup: a hefty splash of white wine .

Eperleves
{Strawberry Soup}

800 grams (1 ¾ pounds) strawberries, cleaned and hulled
½ cup honey
1 ½ cups milk
½ cup sour cream, plus extra to garnish
2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
Squeeze of lemon juice

Slice one-third of the strawberries and reserve. In a blender, puree the remaining strawberries with all of the other ingredients. In a serving bowl, add the sliced strawberries to the puree. Garnish with a dollop of sour cream and some mint, basil, or lemon balm.

–Carolyn

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Vienna’s Fashion District

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When I first moved to Budapest in 1999 shopping was much more difficult than it is today—both for food and clothing. In those days many expats still made regular trips to Vienna to shop, and even basic items (contact lens solution comes to mind) were hard to find in Budapest. Now the many international specialty food shops; international clothing chains; and many, many malls make shopping remarkably easier. Far better than the malls, however, is discovering the growing number of local designers (the best place to do this is at the monthly WAMP design market, coming up on June 27th).

But I still like to take the occasional day trip to Vienna, just a two-hour drive from Budapest. Inevitably, I spend most of my time at the Naschmarkt where you can shop, have coffee, shop some more, and then have drinks and dinner. Afterwards, I like to head over to my favorite Viennese neighborhood, the nearby 7th district, where the cafes spill out onto the sidewalks and every block holds at least one little quirky boutique. I recently wrote about shopping in the neighborhood, which is the city’s center of creativity.

Here are a few shops that were left out of the article:

At Art Point (Neubaugasse 35), Russian-born Lena Kvadrat (pictured below) is influenced by men’s clothing, and many of her designs incorporate men’s shirt or suit fabric, cuffs, or collars. Ulliko’s (Kirchengasse 7/4) designs are characterized by symmetric lines and the colors black, white, gray, and red. Ina Kent (Lindengasse 46) creates beautiful multi-functional leather wallets, bags, and purses, only available in Austria (pictured above). Check out Elke Freytag (Lindengasse 14) for elegant and feminine designs, with bold colors and cuts. Maronski (Lindengasse 1) sells colorful and functional cotton outfits, several of which can be worn multiple ways.

If you’re interested in checking out some of these shops June 25th would be a good time to do it. The neighborhood’s shops and businesses are throwing a huge party which will include art exhibitions and concerts. And plenty of shopping, of course.

I already know what I’m buying on my next trip to Vienna.

–Carolyn

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Where Everything is Made From Scratch

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It has been such an adventure exploring the food of Hungary over the past ten years. Still, after all of the restaurants and homes I’ve eaten in, some of my most memorable meals have been at the table at Gábor’s mother’s house. Undoubtedly, Kati néni has been the biggest influence to me in my quest to learn (and taste) all there is in Hungary. She is a perfectionist in the kitchen, and it was at her house that I learned how every Hungarian dish is truly supposed to taste when done right. I picked up lots from her by osmosis, just by hanging out in the kitchen, asking questions, and tasting. The best part: she takes special requests—something that four-year-old Anna is also learning—and asks us what we are in the mood for a few days before we go for a visit. And she always sends us home with a bag or two of home-cooked goodness. Read what I wrote about her cooking this week for Culinate. Also included with the article are my recipes for csirke paprikás and its traditional accompaniments, galuska and cucumber salad.

–Carolyn

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Zöldborsó Főzelék {Recipe}

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{Creamed Green Peas}

I wish I could tell you that I shelled these peas myself, but I didn’t. Now that peas (cukorborsó or zöldborsó) are in season in Hungary, most market vendors shell peas when they have a few minutes of free time, so they can sell them at a premium. I don’t know how I got inspired to make főzelék, a common vegetable dish in Hungary, when I saw these gorgeous freshly shelled peas (especially since I have never been much of a fan of the dish). Főzelék has no real translation (I usually translate it as “creamed vegetables” or “stewed vegetables”). I usually find the vegetables too overcooked and mushy for my taste, and the sauce to plentiful and bland. But my kids come home raving about the főzelék that they eat nearly every day at school, and there are a few different fast-food chains in Hungary specializing in the dish. So it clearly has many fans.

It is quick and easy to make, and there are a few different ways to do it. The dish can be made of any type of vegetable, and essentially just involves cooking the vegetables in a bit of fat and water and then making a sauce by adding the cooked vegetables to roux or adding sour cream mixed with a little flour at the end (called habarás, a common method of thickening soups and other dishes in Hungarian cooking). Some dishes also call for milk in the sauce. If you have any fresh herbs on hand, feel free to stir those in near the end.

Főzelék is usually served with a piece of fried or roasted meat on top, or an egg. These days tökfőzelék, made from thinly grated strips of pale green summer squash and dill, is available on menus throughout the city. But there is something about the sweet crunch of fresh peas that made them the perfect vegetable on this rare occasion when I had the urge to cook főzelék. I’ve been trying unsuccessfully to get the kids to eat asparagus splashed with lemon juice and olive oil for the past few weeks. But this pea főzelék very quickly disappeared, and the experts—the kids—gave it high marks. Maybe sour cream and bacon are all it takes to get kids to eat their vegetables?

Zöldborsó Főzelék
{Creamed Green Peas}

A few slices of smoked bacon, diced
450 grams (1 pound) peas, shelled
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt
1 Tablespoon flour
150-200 grams (5-7 ounces) sour cream

In a skillet or pot, over low heat, slowly sauté the bacon until it is a little crispy and most of the fat has been melted. Add the peas, sugar, a pinch of salt, and half cup of water (more if needed). Cook for about 15 minutes (or until taste), until the peas turn lighter green. Meanwhile, mix the flour and the sour cream (use more sour cream if you like your főzelék with lots of sauce). Thin the sour cream mixture with a few spoonfuls of the liquid from the peas. When the peas are cooked, add the sour cream mixture and cook, while stirring constantly, for about three more minutes.

–Carolyn

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