London -> Budapest
And the foods we loved along the way
Sara,
This past week with you in London was a dream! I can’t believe in all the years you’ve lived in London, we hadn’t been there together. Starting out with bang at a day party the day we landed then to walking around and cozy dinners together, every minute was perfect. And London food! Your Central London recs were great and can’t to come back and try them. We had some great bites on this trip thanks to you and Emilie (our lovely host’s) food expertise. My favorites:
Sausage Roll at the Ginger Pig
Kubba at Juma in Borough Market
1/2 Pint of Prawns at The Mall Tavern
Black Dal at Dishoom
Oysters at Achill in Borough Market
Hello from Hungary! Here for the next few weeks myself and this first week with Clare. This is another place I can’t believe we haven’t been together. We will absolutely be fixing that one day. Until then, I revisited some favorite Hungarian recipes to re-share with you from the Book.
Note for readers: When Sara moved to London in 2018, I sent her off with a book full of memories, inside jokes, and recipes called the Big Book of Friendship. These recipes were ones I had made for her and wanted her to have handy in London.
Sara, as you had mentioned, specifically about rakott kel (recipe below), Hungarian food is food that tastes like “food that tastes like a hug.” Hungarian food is unique in my opinion. It has all the meat, potatoes, cabbage, sour cream, of your favorite Eastern or Central European food but what sets it apart is the spice. As mentioned in the Chicken Paprikash post, we use lots and lots of high quality paprika powder, spicy sausages, and more. My mom happened to make the exact foods mentioned below in Book for this visit. Can’t wait to eat them here with you one day!
Before we jump in, one more fun excerpt from the Book. In a section title “The Future.” Then in 2018, I set goals for the rest of our friendship:
Stay in touch !!!
Remain adorable
Live together in London perhaps?
Go to Sziget together!
Try every dumpling on Earth
Make the world’s best and most creative ice cream sundae
Start a restaurant and/or
Start our FUCKING BLOG
Guess what? We’re not doing too bad Sara! We’ve stayed in touch, remained adorable, AND here I am writing this on our fucking blog! I forgot how long we wanted to do something like this. (Note: early name idea for blog was Little Paprika). Knowing our past selves, who were so sad about being separated and across the world, they would be so very happy finally did it!
Hungarian Recipes
Some of my absolute favorites I think you’ll too! PS: Also, will probably write about Hungarian food again while I’m here so don’t get sick of it.
Rakkot Kel
AKA Layered Cabbage Casserole
Adapted from Mind Megette
Ingredients
1 head savoy cabbage
1 lb ground meat (best is half beef half pork)
1 cup brown rice
1 large cup of sour cream (more to serve)
2-4 yellow onions
2 tablespoons paprika (spicy or smoked better than sweet)
Knorr seasoning, chicken or vegetable bouillon
Neutral oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Cut the cabbage into 4 slices. Cook in seasoned, boiling water for 15-20 mins. Prepare the rice in bouillon for extra flavor. Dice or chop the onions.
Start to fry the onions. Then add the meat, salt, and pepper, then simmer until it's juices cook down more. After, add the paprika, a bit of water, and let it simmer until the meat is cooked and onions are soft.
At the bottom of a pan, layer half of the cooked cabbage, then all of the rice, and on top all of the meat. Then cover with the rest of the cabbage and slather in all the sour cream.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes until the ingredients have melded together and the top has browned. Let stand for a few minutes to cool. Serve hot with dollops of more sour cream.
Tárkonyos raguleves vajgaluskával
AKA Tarragon Soup with Dumplings
Adapted from Recept Neked
Ingredients
1 lb chuck roast or stew meat
1 medium sized yellow onion
2 carrots
1 parsnip
2 cups mushrooms
1 cup frozen peas
6 cups chicken stock
2 teaspoons Tarragon (high quality, more to taste)
1 teaspoon paprika
3/4 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
For Dumplings:
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon melted butter
Method
Dice the onion and cook them in neutral oil in a soup pot. Cube the meat and add to onions. Let it cook, stirring, until the meat is cooked through. Then add the diced carrots, diced parsnip, and the seasonings except the tarragon. Add chicken stock, bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer until vegetables have softened.
To make the dumplings, combine the softened butter, egg, and flour. Add more flour if needed. You should be able to dollop with a spoon without it being too runny. The dumplings will get harder as they cook. Use a tablespoon to dollop the the dough into the soup. Then add the peas.
In a small bowl, combine the heavy cream with a small ladle of soup. Add the mixture to the larger pot. Stir in the tarragon and more seasoning to taste. Let simmer until dumplings and peas are cooked. Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream (naturally), splash of vinegar, or squeeze of lemon for extra acid.
Rakkott Krumpli
AKA Layered Potato Casserole
Adapted from Nosalty
Ingredients
8 medium potatoes
6 eggs
2 long sausages (dry, spicy, fatty like Hungarian sausage, chorizo works in a pinch)
2 cups of sour cream
Lots of smoked paprika
1 cup shredded cheese (gouda or edam)
Neutral oil
Instructions
Peel the potatoes and cook them in salted water for 20 mins until cooked through but not crumbly and soft. Hard boil the eggs in salted water for 8 minutes. Cut both into half inch rounds and set aside. Cut up the sausage into one inch rounds.
Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix the sour cream with smoked paprika, salt, and a tablespoon of oil. Grease a pan with the oil. Layer half the potatoes on the bottom with half the egg slices and sausage on top. Dollop generously with the sour cream mixture. Layer with the rest of the potatoes, eggs, and sausage. Slather the rest of the sour cream on top.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with cheese, then cook for another 5-10. Let stand for a few minutes. Then serve hot, with you guessed it, more sour cream.
A running letter between long distance friends who love to eat
Do you miss your best friend? Are really hungry you right now? If the answer to either of these is yes, you know what to do.