Introduction

Hungarian cookery, similar in many respects to Austrian cookery, is distinguished by its more highly seasoned and pungent dishes, and by a more generous use of onions, fat and cream. It invariably evokes visions of bright scarlet dishes, tinted by the favourite Hungarian condiment, paprika, which looks far more vicious and fiery than it actually is. It has, in fact, a distinctive and pleasing flavour, and is only slightly hot. It is used in soups, in fish dishes, in meat dishes—in fact, in almost every Hungarian dish with the exception of sweets and puddings.