Glories of Hungarian Cuisine Trivia Quiz

Answer: Herdsman

Gulya means a herd of cattle. A Gulyás is a herdsman; they probably invented this savory stew. Goulash is usually prepared with beef, veal, lamb or pork - preferably a tough cut, so the collagen in the meat thickens the stew as it simmers. (Please, no flour-based roux!) Among the many varieties is Hamisgulyás ("Fake Goulash"), made with beef or veal bones instead of meat. Don't forget the paprika ... hot or mild as you prefer.

Answer: Cherry pits

Sour cherry soup is traditionally made from fresh whole Morello (tart) cherries, pits and all. The basic ingredients also include sour cream and sugar, with perhaps some cinnamon and cloves. It's served chilled, with an optional dash of white wine. Go easy on the sugar; you want to retain some of the tartness. Canned cherries really won't do; no paprika either.

Answer: It's a pork cutlet

Wiener Schnitzel is always made with veal; Puszta Schnitzel is made with pork. The Puszta region was once 20,000 square miles of grassland, where the Csikós (Hungarian cowboys) herded horses. Today, it's mostly cultivated farmland. Legend has it that the cutlet was placed beneath the saddle to tenderize it. (It remains unclear why cowboys ate pork cutlets.) In the modern and more sanitary version, a pork loin cutlet is breaded and prepared like those Austro-German Schnitzels, and served with a remoulade or paprika-flavored sauce and hot peppers.

Answer: The level of sweetness

Tokaj is made using grapes affected by "noble rot"; Aszu in Hungarian. Don't worry. It's perfectly safe. The more Aszu grapes the sweeter the wine. The Puttonyos number tells you how sweet: from 3 (semi-sweet) to 6 (very sweet indeed). There's even a type called Aszu Eszencia, made from 100% Aszu grapes, but the sweetness number scale doesn't go that high.

Originally, the Puttonyos number was based on the proportion of Aszu grapes in the wine. Today, it's determined scientifically, based on the number of grams of residual sugar per liter.

Answer: Bull's Blood

The Romans planted vineyards in the region of Hungary in the 5th century CE, though viticulture may have taken root even earlier. Turkish invaders brought red wine vines with them in the early 16th century. During the Turkish siege of Eger in 1552, the blood of bulls was supposedly mixed with the red wine to fortify the Hungarian defenders.

More pleasantly, the Ottoman Turks introduced Tokaj wine, as well as other culinary influences. Hungary's first paprika was produced in the late 1520s, by - you name it, the Turks. Let culture trump conflict.

Answer: Sour cream

Sour cream is a key ingredient in much of Hungarian cooking. Here, the pan juices are thickened with a paprika roux, and flavored with additional sweet paprika. Sour cream is blended in to create a red-orange sauce that just naps (coats) the chicken.

Some folks add a bit of tomato paste for color. Serve it with thick hearty noodles or rice, to gather up the sauce. Run out of noodles? Cut a wedge of fresh-baked Cipó - crusty round bread - and don't be shy about dipping.

Answer: There's no roasting involved

In Hungary, Pörkölt is second only to goulash in popularity, but it is not well-known outside Eastern Europe. It's a meat stew - like goulash - but with fewer ingredients and less gravy. One recipe: sauté onions in lard, then add chunks of meat and some paprika. Stir-fry the meat quickly to sear in the flavor; add a little water; reduce the heat; simmer until done. Take your time, and enjoy the aroma as it cooks. You can add bell peppers, tomato or vegetables - but never potatoes.

The Transylvanian version actually omits the paprika. Ah, well.

Answer: A hard boiled egg

It's sometimes called Stefania Slices because of the striking appearance of the white-and-yellow egg when the loaf is "carved." Traditionally, the loaf contains three hard boiled eggs, placed carefully in the center of the loaf so that the maximum number of slices include the picturesque pattern. Remember to hard boil the eggs before baking the loaf, and plate the slices in the kitchen so the best-looking side faces up.

Answer: High-gluten wheat flour

Although the name Strudel is German, this dish (and the Hungarian word for it) likely originated in Turkey centuries ago. Rétes has a pastry shell composed of many paper-thin layers, similar to Greek Phyllo. High-gluten flour is a must: stretch the dough until you can read a love letter through it.

Morello cherries, poppyseeds and sweet cheese are popular fillings. In the old days, Rétes was formed into a circle before baking. Now, it's a long strip like Strudel - but ever so much better, some say.

Answer: Hard caramel topping

József Dobos created a thinly-layered cake that was both tasty and practical. In an era when most cakes used whipped cream, Dobos formulated a chocolate buttercream frosting that fared better without refrigeration. To keep his cake moist, he added a thin top layer of hard caramel.

He also used lots of eggs: about a dozen for the batter plus 4 or 5 more for the filling. Want the recipe? Dobos kept it secret until his death in 1906: he left the recipe to a Budapest confectioners' guild with the proviso that all members could use it. You can too, even if you're not a guild member - or Hungarian.