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[Shirley Willard]

Varju at aol.com wrote:

> The next few bits are from Adamantius' post.
> 
> << Consider the fact that Hungary had a number of non-native ethnicities
> living there. There must have been Turkish merchants, even when there weren't
> Turkish soldiers. There were various German groups (notably Saxons). Are
> there any recipes you might raid from those groups?>>
> 
>  Unfortunately, I don't know.  I was unable to find any while I was still a
> grad student and could easily do Inter-Library Loans.  I will be testing the
> local library's ability to get materials tonight, but I'm still limited by
> not having any titles to request.  My other problem is of course language.

> Bogracs gulyas is supposed to be a relative to that early Magyar staple.  It
> has potatoes, tomatoes and green peppers in it, however.  Since the Magyars
> arrived in Hungary in 895 AD, I doubt those were among the original
> ingredients.  What would be good substitues for those vegetables?

Well, yes. What I had in mind was based more on descriptions of the
"original" dish as described previously, probably seasoned with some
kind of wild onion (for which scallions or leeks make a reasonable
substitute), garlic, salt, and a big dollop of black pepper. Apart from
the drying and reconstituting aspects of it, similar foods are eaten
today by peoples whose steppe-dwelling nomadic ancestry is less remote,
like, f'rinstance, modern Mongolia. I suspect tarhonya wouldn't be amiss
here, either. (Hope I have the right name; there's a Greek version with
a similar name). It is believed to have been developed originally as a
travel food as well: it's a sort of egg barley made by kneading a very
stiff wheat flour dough (probably without eggs), and grating it into
little shavings or pellets, which are then dried. They get made into
porridge or boiled in soup, and are probably the original spaetzeln.
They could just as easily be boiled in Magyar protogulyas. I imagine
this could sound a bit disappointing since there seem to be few
flavorful ingredients, but remember that it's just as important how you
use the seasonings, as what they are.  
> 
> Duke Cariadoc writes:
> 
> <<Domostroi has a few recipes, and Russia is in Eastern Europe. There is a
> 17th c. Hungarian translation of a 16th century German cookbook; I have
> photocopies of both. What is your one period Hungarian recipe, and where is
> it from?>>
> 
> I would be interested in more information on how to locate copies of  the
> Domostroi and the cookbook you mention.  My one recipe I found a translation
> of in _The Cuisine of Hungary_ by George Lang.  It is from a manuscript of
> four recipes that were served at the wedding feast of Mattyas Covinus in
> 1475.  Lang provides a translation of two of the recipes,  a carp dish and
> the one I use, Savanyu Vetrece (Sour Vetrece).  Not quite cutting edge
> research on period cooking, but I did end up with a quite tasty recipe.
> 
> Noemi

For what it's worth (being a secondary source and all, but still having
as much ultimate validity as protogulyas ;  )  ) Lang also has a book
called _Transylvanian Cuisine_, also with some old recipes. Some are
from the aforementioned Saxons living in Hungary. It's not immediately
clear how old some of these recipes are, but they are certainly
interesting.

Adamantius