In the month of May, I spent a week in Budapest playing music and a week road tripping in Romania. I took Barney to Europe so we could have lots of fun baking! He slept for two days after arriving in Budapest but woke up nicely.
Hungarians really love their flour. I was most amused that flour in Hungarian is called Liszt so we were buying random bags of Liszt! There were many types of flour including some "Super fine" flour which Barney loved. There was also flour especially for strudel. The Hungarian rye flour (left) was delicious and so cheap compared to how much it costs in Australia. We also got some buckwheat flour (middle) which had a strong earthy flavour.
Barney made some handsome loaves in Europe, and this was probably the best one that I made for our Saturday afternoon string quartet with the Hungarian boys. Again eyeballing rather than using scales worked out pretty well.
We ate him fresh out of the oven with a selection of cheeses and some excellent Hungarian wine. Sour cherry jam was also delicious, as well as this red onion cheesy dip that a random lady recommended at the market. Music is always better with food!
We ate some incredibly fresh produce in Hungary and Romania. Everywhere we looked there were vibrant colours beckoning to us and we couldn't believe how cheap it all was. The strawberries were amazingly juicy and sweet, like they must have been in the years before they turned into insipid watery strawberry-shaped objects. The tomatoes would just burst with juice as soon as you sank your teeth into them, also an incredibly strong flavour. The radishes were impossibly crisp and spicy. Everything tasted just how it should taste.
Finally, a picture of the Romanian white bean dip that I reproduced at home when I got back to Sydney. We ate this delicious garlicky bean dip topped with smoky paprikay caramelised onions in Romania and absolutely loved it. The home version to go with Barney was great too.
I'm sending this to Sherry's Pickings who runs the In My Kitchen series.
Hungarians really love their flour. I was most amused that flour in Hungarian is called Liszt so we were buying random bags of Liszt! There were many types of flour including some "Super fine" flour which Barney loved. There was also flour especially for strudel. The Hungarian rye flour (left) was delicious and so cheap compared to how much it costs in Australia. We also got some buckwheat flour (middle) which had a strong earthy flavour.
Barney made some handsome loaves in Europe, and this was probably the best one that I made for our Saturday afternoon string quartet with the Hungarian boys. Again eyeballing rather than using scales worked out pretty well.
We ate him fresh out of the oven with a selection of cheeses and some excellent Hungarian wine. Sour cherry jam was also delicious, as well as this red onion cheesy dip that a random lady recommended at the market. Music is always better with food!
We ate some incredibly fresh produce in Hungary and Romania. Everywhere we looked there were vibrant colours beckoning to us and we couldn't believe how cheap it all was. The strawberries were amazingly juicy and sweet, like they must have been in the years before they turned into insipid watery strawberry-shaped objects. The tomatoes would just burst with juice as soon as you sank your teeth into them, also an incredibly strong flavour. The radishes were impossibly crisp and spicy. Everything tasted just how it should taste.
Pengy with a selection of market goodies
Strange Romanian tomatoes
More strange Romanian tomatoes
Romanians love their cheese
Beautiful bowls and cups from Romania
Finally, a picture of the Romanian white bean dip that I reproduced at home when I got back to Sydney. We ate this delicious garlicky bean dip topped with smoky paprikay caramelised onions in Romania and absolutely loved it. The home version to go with Barney was great too.
I'm sending this to Sherry's Pickings who runs the In My Kitchen series.
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ReplyDeleteYou and Barney do have some interesting adventures. It's amazing that they let a sourdough starter on a flight -- I assume flying is the only way to get from Australia to Romania these days!
ReplyDeleteGood to meet you at Sherry's In My Kitchen blog event!
best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Thanks for dropping in Mae! I declared him... but the customs people seemed utterly uninterested in Barney. So hence I brought him back in one piece though he’s struggling with the cold
Deletehi there VD,
ReplyDeletegreat to see you here in IMK land. love your fascinating post. those romanian cups are adorable. hubby and i went to hungary many moons ago and loved it. i remember the beautiful cherries... thanks for joining in. cheers sherry x
Just a quick fyi - the new data protection laws have stuffed up my access to gmail and inlinkz the linking tool i use so i am having probs with my IMK stuff. am trying hard to fix it! cheers S
ReplyDeleteI am so going to look out for strudel flour when we are in Europe. I love the tomatoes and the different shapes. In Italy they will be used for different types of cooking :)
ReplyDeleteI baked a loaf with the super fine (next grade down from the strudel flour) but was so curious how sourdough would taste with strudel!
DeleteWhat great photos of the produce available. I love to visit markets when we travel. The food you laid out looks so delicious. Any chance you'll post the recipe for that dip?
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by Debra, I love markers too! I didn’t put much thought into it but focused on the Romanian flavours :) it roughly goes like white beans soaked, cooked and blended with garlic, lemon juice and olive oil, topped with caramelised onions with a generous splash of paprika!
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