Eating my way through Central Europe
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I have been to the Czech Republic often…recently, but also once or twice before 1989. Always for concerts or music festivals. The beer is tremendous. The bread is wonderful. A bit hard to be a vegetarian there (ate a lot of “smaženy sýr” (fried cheese). But some Italian and vegan restaurants have taken hold.
One surprise is the proliferation of tea-houses. Often frequented by younger folks, perhaps it is a reaction to the dominant beer culture.
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HUNGARY FOR MORE
Dinner on the Danube in a long riverboat with a swanky dining room below deck. Buffet style. Our host carefully explained each dish to us before we started and it was clear that she loves these traditional foods.
Salads first, lots of them. Including:
Potato salad. Very unusual - made with yogurt. Far too much yogurt. Just potatoes and yogurt.
Tomatoes and cheese in vinaigrette. The tomatoes were exceptional - does she grow them herself?
Pickled catfish - didn’t see that one coming. Caviar on top - didn’t see that one coming either. Kind of wasted on me as I’ve never thought much of caviair and the fish covered up what flavor it had.
A green salad that started with a layer of deviled eggs on the bottom of the bowl. Nice!
Entrees. Three heavy hitters:
Hungarian beef stew. Not goulash. Not what I think of as stew, either. Beef tips in gravy, nothing else. Really great gravy in the “a real chef made this” style. Very rich, very smooth, very glossy. Served over barley but not pearl barley - more finely ground like rice. I’ll be making that barley at home.
Chicken Paprikash. I’ve made this - it’s a favorite of the toddlers. This one is better. Again great gravy with just a hint of sweet paprika. Subtle. Very nice.
Our host suggested we try the hot paprika paste if we liked a bit more heat. Yikes! This stuff packs a wallop! I’ll be bringing some home.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/07duiMngXCAp4dPORzTdES6Xw
Stuffed cabbage leaves with sauerkraut. As expected, with a softer meat filling than the stuff I get at the deli. The sauerkraut has been caramelized somehow - very nice.
Dessert:
Our host raved about their local chocolate layer cake with crisp caramel on top. This one missed - strictly hotel banquet fare with a hard candy (Lifesaver?) on top.
No matter - I was too full anyway.
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HUNGARY FOR MORE
Dinner on the Danube in a long riverboat with a swanky dining room below deck. Buffet style. Our host carefully explained each dish to us before we started and it was clear that she loves these traditional foods.
Salads first, lots of them. Including:
Potato salad. Very unusual - made with yogurt. Far too much yogurt. Just potatoes and yogurt.
Tomatoes and cheese in vinaigrette. The tomatoes were exceptional - does she grow them herself?
Pickled catfish - didn’t see that one coming. Caviar on top - didn’t see that one coming either. Kind of wasted on me as I’ve never thought much of caviair and the fish covered up what flavor it had.
A green salad that started with a layer of deviled eggs on the bottom of the bowl. Nice!
Entrees. Three heavy hitters:
Hungarian beef stew. Not goulash. Not what I think of as stew, either. Beef tips in gravy, nothing else. Really great gravy in the “a real chef made this” style. Very rich, very smooth, very glossy. Served over barley but not pearl barley - more finely ground like rice. I’ll be making that barley at home.
Chicken Paprikash. I’ve made this - it’s a favorite of the toddlers. This one is better. Again great gravy with just a hint of sweet paprika. Subtle. Very nice.
Our host suggested we try the hot paprika paste if we liked a bit more heat. Yikes! This stuff packs a wallop! I’ll be bringing some home.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/07duiMngXCAp4dPORzTdES6Xw
Stuffed cabbage leaves with sauerkraut. As expected, with a softer meat filling than the stuff I get at the deli. The sauerkraut has been caramelized somehow - very nice.
Dessert:
Our host raved about their local chocolate layer cake with crisp caramel on top. This one missed - strictly hotel banquet fare with a hard candy (Lifesaver?) on top.
No matter - I was too full anyway.
@Steve-Miller your posts are making me hungry!!
Also, isn’t it fun to just enjoy a cuisine that’s different from you normally have! Even some things which are sort of average, every day, it’s just neat to notice the differences.
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Breakfast at the Novotel. Not as extensive as yesterday but still interesting.
Eggplant cream to spread on toast. Who knew this was a thing? Have you ever seen it?
Onions sautéed in butter.
Mushrooms sautéed in the British style, this time tarted up with onions and bell pepper.
The bread appeared to be very healthy but there was no sign indicating exactly how healthy.
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We just returned from Eastern Europe (we started in Bucharest and ended in Budapest). I was so thrilled with all of the eggplant dips/spreads - especially in Romania, but we had them everywhere!
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HOT FOR GOULASH.
Very warm today and we were glad when our guide lead us in to a medieval wine cellar circa demonstration of how to make goulash. I’ve heard of it but have never tried it. Cool!
Our instructor had a little demonstration burner set up and perfectly arranged mise en place on an an adjacent table.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/069WNxzFb5q1NdPcg82-fi3cQ
It’s easy enough to make and it used two vegetables that I had never seen in California but I have seen in Ohio grocery stores - celery root end parsley root. I had wondered what one might do with them and now I know. So do the Hungarian people who shop there, presumably.
I really like it! It’s not quite like any soup I’ve ever had, owing largely to the inclusion of crushed caraway seeds. The noodle making procedure is interesting - you make a standard wheat dough, hydrated to the level of Play-doh, and then pick bits off with your fingers. Those are cooked separately and stirred in at the last.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/06c9JQPx6vUNosLr3N6jB5VgQ
That little red dot on the rim of the bowl is some of that hot paprika. I bought some more on the way out.
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FOOD AND WINE
Dinner was billed as a small family winery, operated by the same family for 5 generations. Turned to be somewhat more grand than that - a thriving facility with two restaurants, everything as up to date as next week.
First wine tasting in the 300 year old wine cellar that looks like it’s built yesterday. 3 wines to try -Red, White, Rose. White quite good, Rose OK, Red, not so much. Don’t take my word for it, though, because I don’t drink much wine.
Generous pours as tastings go, so when we sat down to dinner everyone was in a great mood. All local fare in a style I’d describe as CA wine country cooking. All very well made.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/071WRrPn9CuyEvt4wAa7oFhWA
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0b4L0vruMtJNr3VOWGmYQYp7w
https://share.icloud.com/photos/02aB44fIjxCvhhsN_VJOyPmHQ
More wine with dinner, a round of toasts, then everyone sang 1970’s pop hits in the bus on the way back to the hotel.
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All sounds lovely @Steve-Miller !
How long is your vacation, all told?
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This bottle cap design is very clever in that the cap doesn’t come fully off. I’ve never seen it before.
All of the bottles are like this - probably a EU regulation. Deserves adoption in the US.
@Steve-Miller said in Eating my way through Central Europe:
This bottle cap design is very clever in that the cap doesn’t come fully off. I’ve never seen it before.
All of the bottles are like this - probably a EU regulation. Deserves adoption in the US.
I fucking hate those things. They make me want to rip them off and litter in protest.
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All sounds lovely @Steve-Miller !
How long is your vacation, all told?
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We’re going home Tuesday.
@Steve-Miller so almost another week to enjoy all the yummies!
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FOOD FOR THE SOUL!
Vienna is the home of Strauss (and Junior) along with Mozart. Classical concert tonight. I’m not a big classical guy despite listening to like 17 cassette tapes on how to enjoy classical music back in the day. I don’t dislike it, just don’t really get it.
This concert was designed for people like me! The selections they chose were ones I know from cartoon shows and Merry go Rounds. One was a piece I recognized from a music box my mother had. They folded in a medley from The Sound of Music and even a bit of Chubby Checker.
The purists in the group were a bit disappointed that they abbreviated each piece to fit it all in. I didn’t mind and want to hear more.
Spectacular hall - 1870-ish. Strauss conducted there at one point. Great acoustics.
And the piano! A fine big Bosendorfer, maybe a 190? It mostly stayed in the background but every once in a while he could really let ‘er rip. The upper register sounded especially pretty to me.
Sweet!
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FOOD FOR THE SOUL!
Vienna is the home of Strauss (and Junior) along with Mozart. Classical concert tonight. I’m not a big classical guy despite listening to like 17 cassette tapes on how to enjoy classical music back in the day. I don’t dislike it, just don’t really get it.
This concert was designed for people like me! The selections they chose were ones I know from cartoon shows and Merry go Rounds. One was a piece I recognized from a music box my mother had. They folded in a medley from The Sound of Music and even a bit of Chubby Checker.
The purists in the group were a bit disappointed that they abbreviated each piece to fit it all in. I didn’t mind and want to hear more.
Spectacular hall - 1870-ish. Strauss conducted there at one point. Great acoustics.
And the piano! A fine big Bosendorfer, maybe a 190? It mostly stayed in the background but every once in a while he could really let ‘er rip. The upper register sounded especially pretty to me.
Sweet!
@Steve-Miller Sounds wonderful! (no pun intended!) And the hall looks fantastic!
I have no problem with making music accessible, and given the trend of fewer and fewer people listening to classical music, I think it's really important as a way to get new listeners and keep casual ones.
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THAT MOZART GUY.
Lunch at the Mozart cafe. You can’t hardly turn around without seeing his name plastered on something. Cafe very nice, ate outdoors.
Had “Schinkenfleckerl”. Think carbonara without any peas. Lots of pepper.
Accompanied by a cucumber salad, again awash in sour cream.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/08f5uSG7FK7GpH2AP1Fe-Kddw
Sachertorte for dessert, made at the hotel that invented it. I really liked it, Sharon not so much.
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Our guide told us about them but I haven’t seen them.
I’ll keep looking.
