Culinaria Hungary: A Celebration of Food and Tradition Hardcover – 28 May 2015

I bought it to my partner because he wants to understand more of the Hungarian culture and food. In this book you can find almost everything. Good recipes and stories from Hungarian culture. Very happy with this purchase. Thank you!

Some people who have bought this book have been disappointed because it doesn't have as many recipes as they expected, but I, as Hungarian born, rate this book among one of the best in terms of describing the Hungarian cuisine and its origins. The book is lavishly illustrated with superb imagery of the topics in discussion. I loved the fact that the recipes were divided into the regions from whence they originate, giving a history of the flavours and the methods arrived at to produce the final product. Everything from the simple bacon roasted over embers of a fire to the lavish banquet served to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip on their visit to Hungary is discussed. I cannot tell you how much I continue to enjoy this book and I heartily recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about Hungarian cooking and its history.

Fantastic book. Not only does it contain some wonderful recipes but there is also information on the culture and traditions as well. Educational in more than 1 way. I was surprised with how big the book is, it's probably a good 2/3 cm (1 inch) thick & quite a large size. Absolute bargain buy & the recipes are very easy to follow. Stock up on Hungarian paprika - you'll need it!

You probably wouldn't think Hungarian cuisine particularly highly unless you knew a bit about it, but I found this an excellent introduction to a country with a fascinating cooking heritage.I guess most people associate Hungarian food with goulash. This is the first recipe included, and other soups, stews and variants are fairly well represented. Also included are recipes for traditional puddings like strudel and dobos cake, roasts, Hungarian breads, dumplings, and pastries.Interspersed with the recipes are articles on Hungarian delicacies - wines, including Bulls Blood and Tokaj, cheeses, and spirits like palinka and Unicum. The book also gives detail about Hungarian festivals and celebration food.Chapters are split into regions (for example, Budapest, Lake Balaton and Transylvania all feature), although the different styles of cooking don't seem to vary that much from region to region.The recipes are mostly well photographed and relatively easy to follow. I found it relatively easy to produce fairly authentic looking goulash and porkolt. I even managed to make homemade pasta dumplings following the instructions, which I'd usually avoid as being more hassle than it's worth.The book also has loads of photos of life across Hungary, both in the touristy restaurants of Budapest and rural, less visited areas.Unfortunately, this book isn't going to win any plaudits from the World Health Organisation - cream and lard feature prominently! - however, it's reasonably easy to alter at least some of the recipes to make them less calorific if you need to. Sadly, I don't think there's any way to eat the delicious lenges (discs of pasty, deep fried and then topped with garlic butter) as part of a healthy diet, unless it's only very occasionally!Another problem is that it's really, really difficult to get most of the specialist food and ingredients mentioned here in the UK. It's not the book's fault, although it is frustrating!Overall, this is an excellent book and, having read it, you'll be itching to not only try out the recipes but to visit Hungary.

A Lovely book if you want to know more about Hungary, its food and its people. This is not really a page by page recipe book but more of an encyclopedia, it has plenty of well-illustrated information on the history and traditions of this country's fine foods and the making of the ingredients as well as some basic recipes. A must if you want to get into the culture of Hungary a little

The Book was a Fathers Day gift for my dad who is Hungarian, he says that its brilliant, lots of information on different areas of Hungary and how the traditional food is cooked which he can relate too, he is really happy that there are some recipes that his mother used to cook like the plum dumplings - Porkalot and various other recipes which I was also brought up on. Excellent !!!

Given as a Christmas present to my Hungarian sister in law who was absolutely thrilled with it. As no holidays home it gave her a little bit of Hungry, a book about it’s traditions, culture and recipes too!

I am Hungarian and I got this for my partner because he loves Hungarian cuisine and culture. Amazing design, interesting information about the country's background, and most importantly, fantastic recipes of all traditional Hungarian dishes. I will buy more as a gift to friends! Highly recommended!

Not just a recipe book, but lots of interesting history and info. So many pictures are of things familiar to me--- the butchering of the pigs, sausage making, noodle making, the pastries. We still make csiga noodles and have the chicken soup Christmas Eve. So many of the recipes are things we eat all the time. We went to Hungary a couple of years ago with our daughters. Mainly Budapest (the Market!! the Baths!!) but we made a side trip to my Dad's home village.Had the best meal of our trip in a little restaurant in a small town on our way back to the city. The pictures bring back a lot of great memories.Ordered this book last fall but repeatedly got messages it was not available, and didn't I want to cancel my order?? Then last week, there it was in the book section. I ordered it and it came, but am wondering why I never ever could get the one i ordered first.

great book

This book is authentic. It is not only a great cookbook but also a colorful introduction to the Hungarian culture. I am a Hungarian living in the US and have always had a hard time explaining our ingredients, dishes and delicacies to my friends and when I saw this book I realized that this was the best solution. That was all I needed in my kitchen, so now whenever I serve a Hungarian dish to my guests, I just show the book as an explanation. We always have a good laugh at the pictures and at the stories and memories they bring up, it is a great way to show where and how I grew up - and what I was eating meanwhile.The recipes are authentic and they cover the variety of the home-made dishes we eat.This book will make you want to cook a tasty gulyas soup and a chicken paprikas with noodles... but be careful! You may soon find yourself sitting in a cafe in Budapest trying one delicious pastry after the other, or getting dizzy on a wine-tasting tour near the Balaton or trying to sneak some sausage and pickled vegetables in your suitcase on the way back. :) Jó étvágyat! Enjoy!

I have been waiting for this book for years! My friend, who is Hungarian also received this cookbook from her mother and since, I have been borrowing it and searching high and low everywhere for it...even in Hungary on one of my trips. When I came back home, I went to a cookbook store and they sadly told me that the printer went out of business in Germany and will not print it again. Then one day while traveling in the US, I looked up to find if there are any other Hungarian cookbooks out there. To my surprise, I saw that this was being reprinted and was delighted! I look at this as a history of food for the Hungarians. The images in the book are great and the tips are fabulous. I can now make a better chicken paprikas than my mom! A must for you to pass along to your children or to anyone that is interested in the Hungarian culture. A real treasure!!

I'm very happy with this book. The recipes I've made so far reminded me of home. I especially lovedthe creamed spinach recipe (spenot), which turned out just perfect. (I followed the book's recipe to theletter.) Not everyone will like this particular dish, but this is what I grew up with and I always loved it.I have numerous Hungarian cookbooks--some from Hungary--but this is by far the best.I'm also impressed that on one of the first few pages there's a picture of carp soup. I'm originally from Baja,Hungary, where this soup is served at Christmas at many family's tables. There's nothing I've ever tasted inthe 50 years of my life that compares to a properly made carp soup--absolutely nothing. I'm so impressedthat this book gives this dish the attention it deserves.If you think that carp soup is a joke, do a Google search using the following key words:baja hungary fish soup festivalHowever, don't bother trying to make the soup...Update: If you feel adventurous, I put together a web page which has the Engish version of the recipe: web.mac.com/ferencho/halaszle/recept.html