Bug trying paprikash for the first time
Bug and her dumplings
Bear and his dumplingsMost people who know me know that I am a bit of a picky eater. I would like to say in my own defense that I know people who are a LOT more picky than me but there are certain foods that I just don’t like, no matter how they are prepared. Among those are sausages, pickled vegetables (like sauerkraut) and mushrooms. Well, guess what are the three most common foods in Eastern Europe? You guessed it – sausages (and various other kinds of encased meats), pickled vegetables (especially sauerkraut) and mushrooms. Yippee! I knew I would be able to find something that I would enjoy eating but I also knew it might take some work. I have pretty much managed to avoid sausages, sauerkraut and mushrooms, although I have agreed to try a bratwurst from a street vendor in Prague.
In Romania, by far the best food was the Chicken Paprikash. That is chicken in a paprika sauce. I haven’t really eaten a lot of paprika before just because it doesn’t appear in many foods we have available in Seattle and I was a little worried because paprika comes from peppers and we all know that I don’t like spicy foods. I finally tried the Paprikash at lunch in Sighiaşoara and I had no idea what I had been missing. It was not spicy at all and was actually quite sweet. I am definitely going to have to make that when I get back home.
When we moved on to Hungary, all the travel books said that their main dish is Goulash, which is a beef and vegetable stew with paprika, but that they liked much spicier paprika. I tried a bite of my parents goulash and it was much too spicy for me to eat. But I did discover another truly wonderful dish that they seemed to have in every restaurant we went to. I asked a waiter if it was a common Hungarian dish and he said no but we saw it all over. You take a thin cut chicken breast and grill it, top it with something like tomatoes and then put cheese on it (like parmesan or mozzarella) and broil it so the cheese gets melty and brown and even a little crispy. Yum-O! This is another thing that I am definitely going to have to make back at home, but I could experiment with it a bit, like other stuffings (like spinach or broccoli) and new cheeses like cheddar or swiss. I can’t believe I had never thought of melting cheese on a grilled chicken breast but I must say, these Hungarians are geniuses!
In Prague, they again eat quite a lot of goulash and it is still too spicy for me (although not quite as spicy as Hungary). They also really seem to like roast beef in a sauce (which is strangely sweet – not a combination I have had very many times) but with the most wonderful dumplings you have ever had. The name dumpling does not actually even begin to capture the wonderfulness of these things. They make something like potato bread dough (that seems to have real pieces of potato in it), form it in to a log, steam it so it is just barely past doughy, cut it in thick slices and put it on the plate. Oh, how did they know that slightly under-cooked dough is one of my favorite things in the whole world? I don’t really care what the meat or sauce is, as long as I can have some of these dumplings with it. As an aside, one night I had my roast beef in a “creamy sauce.” They had pictures of the food and it looked like it was more like an au jus with sour cream on top. Not quite. It was a thickened au jus, but with orange, honey and cinnamon in it, and it wasn’t sour cream but un-sweetened whipped cream and cranberry sauce. Odd but strangely tasty.
As SewDiva mentioned, when we stopped in Slovakia I managed to order the Slovakian national dish. In the menu they called it “Liptauer cheese dumpling with bacon.” Alright, mac and cheese. This sounds good. But when I ordered it, the waitress (who spoke surprisingly good English) gave me a very odd look. I asked her if it was good and she just said it was the Slovakian national dish made with the Slovakian national cheese. She asked me again if this is what I really wanted and although I was quite scared of her reaction, I didn’t want to look through the menu again and so decided to stick with my first choice. If it was horrible, we had some cheese and crackers back in the car. Well, it was delicious! Another thing I am going to have to make back at home. It was homemade spaetzel noodles (can’t go wrong there) in a light creamy sauce with a cheese that tasted a little like blue cheese. Not as strong but that same flavor. Then the bacon on top wasn’t like bacon we would expect. It was bacon fat (but no meat) that had been pan fried until it was crispy. Totally amazing. When she came back to take our plates, I said it was delicious and she gave me a very surprised look. She said that most Westerners found the cheese too strong and did not enjoy the dish at all. I don’t know who these people are cause I’ve eaten a lot stronger cheese than that!
In Romania, by far the best food was the Chicken Paprikash. That is chicken in a paprika sauce. I haven’t really eaten a lot of paprika before just because it doesn’t appear in many foods we have available in Seattle and I was a little worried because paprika comes from peppers and we all know that I don’t like spicy foods. I finally tried the Paprikash at lunch in Sighiaşoara and I had no idea what I had been missing. It was not spicy at all and was actually quite sweet. I am definitely going to have to make that when I get back home.
When we moved on to Hungary, all the travel books said that their main dish is Goulash, which is a beef and vegetable stew with paprika, but that they liked much spicier paprika. I tried a bite of my parents goulash and it was much too spicy for me to eat. But I did discover another truly wonderful dish that they seemed to have in every restaurant we went to. I asked a waiter if it was a common Hungarian dish and he said no but we saw it all over. You take a thin cut chicken breast and grill it, top it with something like tomatoes and then put cheese on it (like parmesan or mozzarella) and broil it so the cheese gets melty and brown and even a little crispy. Yum-O! This is another thing that I am definitely going to have to make back at home, but I could experiment with it a bit, like other stuffings (like spinach or broccoli) and new cheeses like cheddar or swiss. I can’t believe I had never thought of melting cheese on a grilled chicken breast but I must say, these Hungarians are geniuses!
In Prague, they again eat quite a lot of goulash and it is still too spicy for me (although not quite as spicy as Hungary). They also really seem to like roast beef in a sauce (which is strangely sweet – not a combination I have had very many times) but with the most wonderful dumplings you have ever had. The name dumpling does not actually even begin to capture the wonderfulness of these things. They make something like potato bread dough (that seems to have real pieces of potato in it), form it in to a log, steam it so it is just barely past doughy, cut it in thick slices and put it on the plate. Oh, how did they know that slightly under-cooked dough is one of my favorite things in the whole world? I don’t really care what the meat or sauce is, as long as I can have some of these dumplings with it. As an aside, one night I had my roast beef in a “creamy sauce.” They had pictures of the food and it looked like it was more like an au jus with sour cream on top. Not quite. It was a thickened au jus, but with orange, honey and cinnamon in it, and it wasn’t sour cream but un-sweetened whipped cream and cranberry sauce. Odd but strangely tasty.
As SewDiva mentioned, when we stopped in Slovakia I managed to order the Slovakian national dish. In the menu they called it “Liptauer cheese dumpling with bacon.” Alright, mac and cheese. This sounds good. But when I ordered it, the waitress (who spoke surprisingly good English) gave me a very odd look. I asked her if it was good and she just said it was the Slovakian national dish made with the Slovakian national cheese. She asked me again if this is what I really wanted and although I was quite scared of her reaction, I didn’t want to look through the menu again and so decided to stick with my first choice. If it was horrible, we had some cheese and crackers back in the car. Well, it was delicious! Another thing I am going to have to make back at home. It was homemade spaetzel noodles (can’t go wrong there) in a light creamy sauce with a cheese that tasted a little like blue cheese. Not as strong but that same flavor. Then the bacon on top wasn’t like bacon we would expect. It was bacon fat (but no meat) that had been pan fried until it was crispy. Totally amazing. When she came back to take our plates, I said it was delicious and she gave me a very surprised look. She said that most Westerners found the cheese too strong and did not enjoy the dish at all. I don’t know who these people are cause I’ve eaten a lot stronger cheese than that!
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