Horse Sausage, Duck Feet, Hog Leg, and Paprika

Howdy There!

Today I went back to Central Market. It's a little touristy compared to my local Hunyadi ter market, but I love it because despite the tourists, there's always something to see. The market near my house is cool for down and dirty shopping, and it's actually my favorite, but there's something about the spectacle of Central Market that just can't be beat.

Central Market is on the Danube's edge, near the Szabodsag bridge. It's a huge painted-brick building with gabled roofs and enough architectural detailing to be a school or a library or some other important civic building, but then again, isn't a market an important civic building? In this age of Wal Marts and 24-hour Harris Teeters, when buildings are made of saw dust and plywood and slapped up over night, we know in the back of our minds how important grocery stores, or markets are, but it's easy not to think about how important it might be to create a market space of some permanence, stability, and beauty, in our throw-away society.

Central Market Hall Budapest

Porch of Central Market Hall

Architectural Details of Porch Ceiling at Central Market Hall

One Place in Budapest you really CAN'T Smoke---And There are So Few

It's bustling inside with tourists and regular shoppers, and when you enter, one of the first things you notice, after all the people, is Hungarian goods for sale, like Tokaji and the goose liver pate.

Inside Central Market 

Hungarian Goods

Hungarians love goose liver, and goose liver pate is everywhere. In fact, I'd like to look up some statistics because I wouldn't be surprised if they eat more than the French. Certainly when I was in France I wasn't confronted with it at every turn like I seem to be in Budapest. Restaurants here inevitably have several goose liver dishes on the menu, and some restaurants even have entire menus devoted to goose liver.

Goose Liver 

Goose Liver Pate

The other thing that you can't fail to notice is the peppers and the paprika. There are peppers and paprika everywhere.

Peppers Peppers Everywhere Peppers

Don't those people look like they are thinking, "God, what a lot of peppers!"?

On this particular visit I saw some most unusual things, which I had not noticed on my previous visits. And I noticed plenty on my first few visits. Allow me to elaborate. Once again, this post touches on nasty things like animal parts. Dead animal parts. Vegetarians and animal rights activists may want to steer clear!

Sweet and Clean

The other day Caroline emailed me to tell me that she was watching Bizarre Foods and they were at Central Market in Budapest eating horse sausage. And that it was supposed to taste sweet and clean. Hmmm. Here are my feelings. I realize we eat pigs and cows and they are animals, but there is something about eating a horse that just seems especially cruel outside of wartime starvation. The Magyars were and are great horsemen, and one has to wonder, what kind of Hungarian eats a horse, and what kind of horse do they eat? My answer would have to be a bad Hungarian and an old yucky horse. One that served his master well and should have been retired to a quiet stable somewhere, not to a Central Market stall.  :)

There is a stall that sells horse sausage, but it's not very prevalent. My guess is that it won't remain there long. I see no need to dwell too long on the thought of consuming horse flesh, especially when there is so much pork to be had.

And there is plenty of pig meat to take it's place, trust me. Just to prove I'm not pulling your leg. . .

Plenty of Sausages to Go Around 

Plenty of Smoked Meat Too

Duck Feet

One thing I was searching for was a liba, or a goose. I had this idea that I would prepare goose for Thanksgiving, in the European style, since they don't eat a lot of turkey, and often eat goose on holidays (even though they don't celebrate American Thanksgiving). The smell that wafted over me as I looked upon the foul case of fowl convinced me I might want to strengthen my olfactory nerves before attempting to deal with a raw liba. Here is the liba and kasca.

Liba es Kasca

Here is something I saw in the duck and goose stall. It's feet. What, pray tell, does a person do with these rubbery webbed things? After they remove the mud, or is it algae?

Webbed

The link between reptile and bird is pretty apparent in this shot, huh? This reminds me of those chickens I have to periodically behead when I want to make soup. I have actually gotten more used to whacking off their heads than I have to pulling the feet out of the butt. There is just something about those three inch-long toenails I just can't abide. Some of these look like they would make good back scratchers!

Nuggets

All joking aside, the next stall I came to, which I had not heretofore noticed, was what I have aptly named the Nugget Stall. I kid you not when I say this stall sold every possible form and variety of breaded, frozen nuggets, from chicken fingers, to chicken nuggets, to vegetable sticks; from onion rings, to cheese sticks, to fish sticks, crab balls, "lobster claws" (as they call them at China 35), and everything in between. This is probably where McDonald's buys theirs.

Nuggets!

More Nuggets

Still More Nuggets

Can you see the ones that are in little fish shapes? I just stood and stared. And then I took a lot of pictures.

Hog Leg AKA Haunch

This next stall really grabbed me. Jimmy and I jokingly call our cat Amy "Haunch" sometimes when we tease her. We tell her she's got a big fat hog leg, and she's so chubby we could cook her hind leg up and eat it. Well, this creature's FOOT is bigger than my entire cat.

First, my cat. Here's old Haunch herself laying in front of the space heater in the sunshine.

Old Haunch Herself

Here is her namesake.

And They Call That a Foot?

The damage that could be inflicted by that toenail? cloven hoof? alone is frightening to contemplate. I'll stick with old Haunch. All she can do is scratch my knuckle.

That's it for this last trip to Central Market, but I plan to do a lot of Christmas shopping there, so stay-tuned. Maybe next time I'll take my camera downstairs where they keep the 5 foot long catfish they scoop out of the Danube!

Szia!

Ox, Snails, Bone Marrow, and Sausages: Beyond Goulash

Szia!

This post will take you far beyond the realm of goulash. Vegetarians beware!

Caroline and I ate our way across two countries, never daunted by unusual foods, heavy foods, paprika, or pig's knuckles.  :) This is another one of those posts that the vegetarians might want to avoid as it gets a little down and dirty with the animal flesh.

Allow me to say, Caroline tried goulash soup everywhere we went, from a cup at Ket Szerecsen the first night, to lunch in the Castle District (where I had some too), to venison goulash with mushrooms and dumplings at Tigris, to lunch in Vienna. I wish I'd taken pictures of all that goulash.

Here is a random shot google served up for me.

Gulyash

Here it is in a "clay pot" as the Hungarians serve it. Not sure why they call it a clay pot because it's usually a red enamel pot with a spirit lamp under it. Maybe in the olden days it was clay.

Gulyas Garnished with Hot Paprika Peppers

The Hungarians spell goulash as "gulyas". In Magyar speech, the "s" or "ss" has a "sh" sound. They try to Anglicize it by spelling it "goulyas" or "gulyash". Mostly for the tourists.

It's typical for Hungarians to use the hot green paprika peppers as garnish. Did you know paprika peppers come in red, yellow, green, and white, and the whiter and greener the hotter? I don't think I've seen a pepper here yet that isn't some kind of paprika pepper.

Red Paprika Peppers 

Yellow Paprika Peppers

A Rainbow of Colors

Yes, all of the above are paprika peppers. I have some in my fridge right now that look like the red ones on top. The sliced green ones do make a good garnish for their stews. I ate it as a garnish to their carp stew and it was tasty. I wish I'd taken a picture of that meal. That was pre-Ezstergom.

Here's some fish stew.

Hungarian Fish Stew Made with Carp

In any case, our long weekend of eating was a prolonged adventure in new edibles and old standbys.

We Started in Hungary
The first night Caroline was here we ate at my favorite restaurant, Ket Szerecsen, which happens to be Cynthia Nixon's favorite restaurant in Budapest as well.

http://www.ketszerecsen.hu/

It's a great place, and I've had some excellent game there. One of the most memorable meals was some particularly delicious rabbit served with mashed potatoes that had carrots mixed into them. Query: why does the meat taste best with the food it consumes? Something about those carrots went so well with that little herbivore!

When we ate there, I decided to try the wild boar Bolognese which was one of their chalkboard specials. Can I just say, game doesn't taste "gamey" if done right. Magnifique! Sorry, no pictures.

The next night we ate at Tigris with some friends. This was a restaurant none of us had tried but our friend selected it because they heard it was good and we were all in the mood for something nice and out-of-the-ordinary, and while Ket Szerecsen fits the bill for nice and good, it's an old-standby for those of us who live in Budapest. Here is the URL for Tigris.

http://www.tigrisrestaurant.hu/english

We started with appetizers. Caroline had rabbit pate. Thomas had shrimp soup. I tried Beef Tartare a la Francaise. I had always wanted to try it and I thought that might be a good place to start. It was quite tasty for raw ground beef. Susan tried our appetizers but saved her appetite for the main course.

For main courses, Caroline had venison with dumplings and mushrooms---essentially a venison goulash. I almost ordered venison tenderloin but I ended up having sea bass, primarily because good saltwater fish is so hard to get in Hungary and since it was a nice restaurant I knew the fish would be good. Our friends had duck. They place served us a celery cream as an appetizer prior to the appetizers we had ordered. We weren't sure whether to eat it with bread or with the spoon they served it with. It was tasty. I never would have thought celery cream would be tasty. Dare I say, I think it would have been really good with some real bacon bits on top!

In addition to these meals we chowed down on goulash on Castle Hill and had bacon and eggs in the New York Cafe.

Next Stop Vienna
The next day Caroline and I headed for Vienna. Lunch was awesome. We were tired and starving, and it was chilly out. Our hotel concierge recommended a new restaurant around the corner, and we headed there. Caroline had a delicious roast pork with sauerkraut and I had ox stead with pepper sauce and mashed potatoes.

Here is my ox steak. But first, a little friend.

Don't You Have a Bite for Me?

Oh, I almost forgot. We started our lunch with cream of leek soup.

Creamy Leek Soup in Vienna

Now for the Ox Steak!

Ox Steak with Pepper Sauce in Vienna

It was served with creamy mashed potatoes (yes, that's a homemade potato chip stuck on the top of the potatoes) and creamed spinach with pine nuts on top. It was one of the top 5 best steaks I've ever eaten.

Here is Caroline's roast pork with dumpling.

Roast Pork with Dumpling

That night we ate supper in the hotel. Hello, room service! I ate a hamburger. A sajtburger as they say in Hungary. (Bet you $5 you can't say that word as well as I can!) I had been craving a burger since I got to Hungary, so I decided to go for it. Caroline had schnitzel, and we had chocolate mousse for dessert. I think we were both hankering for some after we saw a little boy at a table next to us at lunch order a big dish of it.

The next day on our carriage tour the driver took us by this really old restaurant. We couldn't understand what he was saying because there was too much noise in the streets, but we could tell he was telling us that the place was really old, and the smell emanating from it was divine. After the carriage ride we wandered around until we found it, and we ate assorted sausages with kraut and potatoes. Caroline started the meal with goulash soup and I had beef consomme with a semolina dumpling, which is common in Vienna. Here is the consomme.

Beef Consomme

I'm trying to locate my picture of the sausages but in the meantime this will do. They were served with potatoes and sauerkraut.

Viennese Assorted Sausages with Kraut and Pretzels

The restaurant was cool. It was dark inside. We sat on benches. The man at the table behind us was elderly and he had a little Yorkie under the table. The little pup barked at the waiter each time he came by. He was so cute! The Yorkie that is. Sorry, I didn't get down on the floor under the table to take his picture!

I watched the elderly man. He drank a Gosser beer, then he had a cup of mulled wine after his meal with his dessert, then he had two glasses of Schnapps. It WAS a cold day!

Here are some pictures of the outside of the restaurant.

Our Luncheon Spot in Vienna

Lunch in Vienna

Later on we stopped at a cafe to have the obligatory Viennese coffee and pastry. I really wish I had not been too lazy to take pictures. History has taught me I always want the pictures later.

Caroline ordered a latte, I ordered "the Mozart". Yes, silly, touristy name, but I figured, "Hey, I'm in Vienna, what the hell." It was supposed to be an espresso with whipped cream and Mozart brand chocolate liqueur. The liqueur was served in a small bottle, which I proceeded to pour on top of the whipped cream. Instead of mixing itself into the cream, it splashed off of the whipped cream and out onto my saucer, causing Caroline to give me a look of derision. She then, in an uncharacteristic move, knocked her latte over with her elbow. (My move was, sad to say, not so uncharacteristic.) I said, "Dinner with the Queen," which is an old family joke. As a child one time I told my family that sometimes when I was eating that I imagined what it would be like to have dinner with the Queen (meaning, how one would need to behave, etc.) It has been the source of many jokes from that time on, mostly at my expense.  :)

We had a little mishap with the cake too. We decided we should order some cake for my mom's sake, but why we didn't just order a traditional Viennese cake like the Sacher Torte I don't know. Caroline told me to pick, and they had a picture of something that looked like a Black Forest Cake and I was craving something along those lines, so that's what I ordered. Our waiter messed up an brought a slice of cheesecake, but we were too lazy and unconcerned to do much about it so we just let it slide.  ;)

Here is a picture of the Satcher Tort for Mom's sake. Mom, I promise next time I'll order a piece and eat it for you. This came from the Sacher Hotel's web-site.

Sacher Torte

And here is a Black Forest Cake for my sake. Melinda, I promise to eat a slice for you sometime in the future!

Black Forest Cake

All that's left in Vienna is supper our last night, and what a supper it was! We ate at a little Austrian Kitchen, and I had Wiener Schnitzel. Guben Appetite!

Wiener Schnitzel in Wien

It was served with potatoes and salad, but those didn't make the cut.  :) I forget what Caroline had but it was covered in gravy.

Before we leave Vienna, I want to share some photos of the street food and the railway station food.

These noodle/hot dog/sausage/kebab stands were EVERYWHERE. The noodles looked damn good too! I've been craving Lo Mein ever since we left Vienna as a matter of fact!

A1 Noodles and Hot Dogs!

One On Every Street Corner---They Serve Beer Too!

And this was too funny not to get a shot of. In the land of Schnitzel, Schnitzel Land!

Schnitz'l Land at the Bahnhof Railway Station

Aufiderzein!

Back to Budapest
And now our adventures in heavy gravy-laden European meals take us back to the Magyar homeland. Caroline and I finished her stay with a trip to Kehli Restaurant. I had heard about this restaurant first in a guidebook when I was searching, upon arriving in Budapest, for traditional Hungarian food. This was pre-Esztergom where I had more paprika cream sauce and pig knuckle than I knew what to do with, and vowed to cook my own meals for 6 months.

What intrigued me about this place is that shortly after reading about it I learned that it was the favorite haunt of the famous Hungarian writer Gyula Krudy (or, as the Hungarians would say, Krudy Gyula. Hungarian convention is to put the surname first.) Here is a picture of Krudy.

Krudy Gyula

Apparently Krudy mentioned Kehli's bone marrow on toast in one of his novels, and they gave him a permanent seat in their restaurant. He was a journalist, and among many other things, a restaurant critic. It probably ensured a good business to do so.

The cardboard menu you are handed in the restaurant even mentions "Papa Krudy" in the introduction, and his love of their restaurant, although that part doesn't make it onto their web-site. Their web-site is great, though. This quote is taken directly from their web-site.

On the night when the keeper of this restaurant was born, his mother, Esztike Lévai, had a fine meal of stuffed cabbage, which was left over from the time of the last pig-feast and had obviously been warmed up several times. In this dish there was the knuckle, the ears, and the tail of the pig as well. It was very spicy, as a great deal of red paprika, marjoram and Hungarian pepper were added. The feast was so good for the mother’s stomach that Mr. Cecei was born a whopping 5 kgs, and he has continued to grow to this day, until he now has expanded to weigh over 100 kilograms. Esztike Lévai has been cooking her dish for a long time, and Master Eduard – our chef –learned from her how to perfect this dish so that nice and well-fed babies continue to be born.

If that wouldn't cause a person to go into labor I don't know what would! Classic Hungarian all the way. Pig's knuckles, warmed over several times. Pepper added. Yep, sounds like many-a-meal I've had here.

Here is their web-site. One of the best parts after reading the menu is to look at the photo gallery. Everybody from Woody Allen, to Sister Sledge, from Jimmy Carter, to Arnold Schwarzenegger have eaten there.

Here it is: http://www.kehli.hu/?p=nyitooldal

You'll be wanting to know if we had warmed over stuffed cabbage. We did not. Neither one of us are currently aiming to give birth to 5 KG babies. We started our meal with bone marrow on toast, and snails in sea salt.

Here is the bone marrow.

Bone Marrow Just Like Krudy Ate

Here is the toast. It was served with fresh garlic cloves, which you rub on the toast before spreading it with bone marrow.

Garlic and Toast for Bone Marrow

I must say, I never, in a million years, could have foreseen that I would one day willingly eat bone marrow. But it was Caroline's last night, and in the spirit of Krudy I decided to give it a whirl. You only live once, and I only have one year in Budapest. If I can't take home some good stories, what did I come for? 

I always pictured bone marrow being like blood. Like solidified blood. Red, mealy. It's not. It's like fatty, delicious-tasting beefy meat stuck inside the bone. Yes, it's a little greasy, but that's the worst that can be said of it. It's heavy, and no, I don't see myself running to the butcher for bone marrow to prepare for my Sunday dinner, but I'm glad I tried it.

Now here are the snails, another first for me. They came out flaming but the waiter snuffed them out pretty quickly.

Snails on a Salt Bed

For the meal itself, Caroline had goulash, served with "dumplings". Her dumplings were like spaetzel.

Goulash and Dumplings at Kehli

I had lamb served with dumplings. The lamb shank was prepared in gravy, and it was very tasty, but the dumplings were one of those Hungarian concoctions that I had enough of in Esztergom. The dumplings were cheese dumplings, topped with sour cream, with cracklings stirred in. I'm not so sure there wasn't some extra cheese component in there somewhere. I'm not opposed to fat now and then, or heavy food now and then, but after the bone marrow it was a bit much. I stuck mostly to the lamb.

Lamb and Dumplings at Kehli

We did eat apple strudel for dessert but neither of us took a picture of that, and we did it mostly for ceremony sake, considering we were pretty full from bone marrow and lamb and goulash. And so ended another adventure in foreign cuisine. But stick around. I have plenty more trips planned, and I'm still eating that Magyar cuisine (and still cutting heads off chickens too!).

Szia!

Wien

Gutentag!

Caroline and I did a whirlwind tour of Vienna. Unlike many places I've visited, I decided to forgo my anal-retentive-get-to-know-everything attitude, and I just enjoyed the scenery. I'm afraid to say this means I don't know what some of my pictures are of. I blame this mostly on the fact that we saw a good bit of Vienna on a carriage tour, and I had trouble hearing the tour guide.

Now for a whirlwind tour of Wien!

We stayed at the Bristol, thanks to Caroline and her impeccable taste! It was old-fashioned luxury.

Outside the Bristol Hotel Vienna

Bristol Hotel Lobby

Another Shot of the Bristol Lobby

Caroline in the Bristol Checking Us In

Old Fashioned Luxury Complete with Chocolates on the Pillow!

We had tickets for the opera, so after eating lunch and relaxing for an hour or so we changed and headed to the Staatsoper. Here is a shot of the outside of the State Opera House followed by some pictures of the inside.

Staatsoper Vienna

Inside Staatsoper Vienna

Chandelier in Vienna Opera

Closeup of Chandelier

Curtain in Staatsoper

We saw Mozart's Die Zauberflote, or, the Magic Flute. It was Mozart, so it was fabulous, although I must say I didn't appreciate the modern and minimalist set design which had the entire opera taking place in what looked like the stall of a dirty, graffitied public bathroom.

The next day we strolled around near our hotel for a few minutes, and of course the first statue we saw was of Maria Theresa. Of course!

Maria Theresa 

Closeup of Maria Theresa

This statue was actually pretty amazing. It was flanked by smaller statues of famous Austrians, but it was crowded and touristy and I didn't find out who they all were. Here are some closeups.

Horse Closeup on Maria Teresa Statue 

Closeup of Horseman

Another Horseman

Horseman in Profile

Another Horseman in Profile

Yet Another Horseman in Profile!

The courtyard where this statue was housed the Museum of Natural History. Here is a shot of the Museum along with some more statues.

Horse in front of Museum of Natural History 

Galloping Horseman

There is a fountain in this courtyard reminiscent of the one in the Buda Castle Courtyard of the children fishing, only this one depicts gods and goddesses.

Fountain in Vienna 

Who's Struggling More---the Goddess or the Fish?

Closeup of Fish

Here is a cute little elephant in front of the Natural History Museum.

Elephant in front of Natural History Museum Vienna

At this point we started our carriage tour and my notes become a little iffy. But the pictures are still great.

Our Horses 

If Wishes Were Horses. . .

Our Carriage Ride in Vienna

This is What Happens When You Meet Another Carriage

I have to say, the carriage ride was a special treat. It was Caroline's idea and she treated us and I thought it was peachy of her to do so. I was recovering from a sprained ankle and my foot was swollen, and it was nice to just sit back, wrap up in a blanket, and look at the wide boulevards of the newer town, the glistening white buildings, and the narrow cobbled streets of Old Vienna. Thanks Caroline!

I Think This is City Hall 

Pretty Sure This is the State Building

State Building with Circus

After getting carted down some of the wide boulevards we entered the Old Town. I remember passing the Beethoven House and the Schubert House right after we entered this part of town.

Beethoven House Vienna

Schubert House Vienna

Schubert House

Here is Vienna's famous astronomical clock.

Vienna's Astronomical Clock

Here are some more random photographs in Old Vienna that I'm sorry to say I cannot give you much detail on besides to say they are random buildings in Old Vienna.  ;)

Busy Vienna Street 

Domed Building?

Fountain

Another Fountain

Winged Statue on Lamp Post

Church 

Crowded Square

Steeple