THOSE SOUNDS COMING from Hungary are the popping of champagne corks, not the roar of Cold War cannons, and the noise is coming from an elegant dining room, not a grungy battleground.
Of all the countries locked behind the Iron Curtain, Hungary was the most gastronomically inclined. Nonetheless, under the communist government, food lovers were reduced to dining on memories.
That`s changing. Since May, Budapest has been a focus for culinary celebration and a beacon for travelers with an appetite. That city`s grandest restaurant, Gundel, has been reborn and is offering a culinarily enlightened
(or perhaps just ”lightened”) version of the rich Hungarian and Continental cuisines of yesteryear.
Hungarian immigrants, including Chicago`s chef Louis Szathmary, played important roles in the upgrading of the American restaurant scene in the 1950s and `60s. Talking to one another, they often discussed their desire to revive culinary enterprise in their native land. Finally, one of them, New York-based consultant George Lang, took up the challenge. He found financial backing, negotiated with the Hungarian government and the Gundel family and assembled an international team of consultants. Over two years, at a cost estimated to be at least $15 million, the 1894 building in a park setting was restored and refurbished, a staff trained, musicians hired and a new menu instituted. The new Gundel has a 200-seat dining room, a magnificent ballroom and terrace-garden seating. A culinary school is on the drawing board.
Lang, who wrote ”The Cuisine of Hungary” (published by Atheneum in 1971 and since updated), followed Karoly Gundel`s lead when dealing with food. According to Joseph Wechsberg, Gundel ”created the modern renaissance of Hungarian cooking by raising it to the level of elegant, fine cuisine-making it lighter yet retaining the characteristic elements of folklore.”
So visitors to Gundel will find soups and stews, veal and goose liver, dumplings and desserts from the classic repertory but cooked and portioned to suit modern Western tastes.
Here at home, making Hungarian food is becoming easier because Hungarian food products, notably the unequaled sweet and hot paprikas of Szeged and tangy salamis, are increasingly available in U.S. markets. So are wines, including the legendary dessert wines of the Tokay region. And these should improve soon because winemaking and vineyard practices are being modernized and upgraded throughout the country.
To explore the evolving wine selection, the best places to start locally are the two Kennessey restaurants, the Cypress in Hinsdale and the Wine Cellar at Belmont Avenue and Sheridan Road in the city. Hungarian culinary specialties dominate the menus of both, and a recipe from each restaurant is offered below along with a classic Gundel dessert.
VEAL PAPRIKAS CYPRESS
Six to eight servings
8 slices bacon, diced
2 medium onions, diced
2 tablespoons paprika, Hungarian sweet preferred
1/2 cup garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 1/2 pounds veal shoulder, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 very ripe medium tomato, cut into chunks and seeded
2 green bell peppers, diced
1/2 pound white button mushrooms, quartered
Salt and white pepper to taste
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sour cream
1. In a heavy saute pan, cook bacon until crisp. Remove to paper towels. Add onions and cook over medium heat until soft and light brown. Off the heat, add paprika, garlic and veal. Mix well. Return pan to heat and turn veal until seared on all sides. Do not allow paprika or vegetables to burn.
2. Add 1 cup water and deglaze the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Partially cover pan and simmer mixture for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add water as needed to keep mixture from scorching.
3. Add tomato, green peppers, mushrooms, reserved bacon and salt. Cook another 15 minutes or until meat is tender.
4. Combine flour and sour cream. Add to the stew and stir until sauce is heated through and thickens. Do not boil. Add white pepper to taste before serving with noodles.
KOLOZSVARI-STYLE LAYERED CABBAGE
Six to eight servings
1 1/2 pounds sauerkraut, squeezed of most but not all its juice
1 cup beef broth
1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 pound lean ground pork
1 tablespoon paprika, Hungarian preferred
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
4 slices smoked bacon, cut into a fine dice
1 pound Hungarian smoked sausage, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch slices+
1/4 cup milk
1 cup sour cream
+If unavailable, substitute smoked kielbasa
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Wash squeezed sauerkraut in at least 2 changes of cold water. Drain and place in a saucepan with 1 cup water. Bring water to a boil and simmer sauerkraut, covered, 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. In a separate pan, bring broth to a boil. Add rice, stir and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. In a frying pan, heat oil with onion and cook until soft and golden, about 5 minutes. Add pork, stir well and cook for 15 minutes. Remove pan from heat, add paprika and garlic and stir to mix well.
4. In another frying pan, cook bacon until crisp. Add sausage slices and cook briefly until lightly brown. Remove bacon and sausage with a slotted spoon.
5. Into a casserole suitable for serving, pour bacon and sausage drippings. Spread to coat the bottom. Line the bottom with one-third of the sauerkraut. Top with half the pork mixture, half the rice and all the bacon and sausage. Mix milk with sour cream and pour half over the ingredients in the casserole. Cover with half the remaining sauerkraut, the remaining pork and rice. Top all with remaining sauerkraut and pour remaining milk-cream over it.
6. Bake for 1 hour. Remove from the oven, let cool somewhat and serve from the casserole.
PANCAKES A LA GUNDEL
Six servings
For the pancakes:
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon sugar
Pinch salt
1 cup carbonated water
Clarified butter for cooking
For the walnut filling:
1/3 cup light cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons rum
8 ounces walnuts, ground
1/4 cup chopped raisins
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
For the sauce:
4 tablespoons butter
For the sauce:
4 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 scant cup milk
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons powdered cocoa
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 tablespoons light rum
1. Make the pancakes: Mix eggs, flour, milk, sugar and salt to make a smooth dough. Let rest 1 to 2 hours. Stir in the carbonated water just before cooking.
2. Heat an 8-inch frying pan. When the pan is hot, add 1/4 teaspoon of butter. Let it melt and cover the bottom of the pan. Pour a ladle of batter into the pan, tilting it so batter covers the entire bottom. When the top of the batter begins to bubble, turn and cook 4 or 5 seconds longer. Remove and repeat with remaining butter and batter. You need at least 12 pancakes.
3. Make the filling: Bring the cream to a simmer, add sugar, rum, walnuts, raisins and orange rind. Simmer over very low heat for 1 minute.
4. Put a heaping teaspoon of filling in the center of each pancake. Fold, in four folds, instead of rolling.
5. Make the sauce: Melt the chocolate in the milk over low heat. Whip in the egg yolks and remove from heat. Mix in sugar, cocoa, butter and rum and stir until smooth. Add a little more milk if sauce is too thick to pour.
(Recipe may be done ahead to this point. Reheat sauce in top of a double boiler while cooking pancakes.)
6. Saute the folded pancakes in butter in a large shallow pan for a few minutes on each side. Arrange the pancakes overlapping on a warm serving dish. Pour warm sauce over the pancakes and serve at once.
-From ”The Cuisine of Hungary”
