Hungarian Cookbook: Old World Recipes for New World Cooks

I gave this book 5 stars because it accomplishes so many things at once that most cookbooks fail to do! Its genuine and honest tone captures you and makes you want to refer to the book again and again. It makes you feel like your grandma is talking you through the experience. It also helps that it is written without the assumption that all Hungarian spices and other ingredients will be available at any part of the world... And most of all, it's not just about the food, it's about tradition and life in Hungary too. It helps the non-Hungarian reader understand the occasions for which a dish is prepared, as well as remind the Hungarian reader of their childhood experiences of eating those dishes. Reading certain parts of it brought back memories that made me emotional and want to prepare the food then and there. :)The book gives some background on the language too, and helps beginner cooks with some basic tips, reminding others of those same ones in an effective, no nonsense manner. Short cuts always help, as do "rescues" for any dish and I enjoy learning about other cooks' methods before reading their recipes. This book has a great structure for that.I see some reviewers complaining that the book leaves out some ingredients and makes things "bland" but the truth is that sometimes it just isn't practical to make things the old school "hearty and Hungarian" way. If you are ordering this book from Amazon in English, chances are that you live outside of Hungary and trying to cook with what you can buy in your local "ethnic food store". You are probably also cooking for your non-Hungarian friends, some of whom were not raised with food that spicy. Making the food more "authentic" will mean that they may never try it again, or they will forever talk about how they were "traumatized" by your cooking. Last but not least, there has been a change in cooking styles in Hungary too. The younger generation tends to cook less, well... Some would call it less flavorful.Lard has been replaced by olive oil (there goes 50% of the flavor you grew up with), salt use has been decreased to a third of what it used to be (there goes the rest of the flavor), there is less paprika and more "exotic spices" used, and overall everything is more likely to be prepared in healthier ways. I feel that this cookbook is somewhere in the middle of the road. Not quite Lajos Mari style "hardcore" and authentic, but also not completely bland and boring as some reviews suggest. It contains a great number of recipes that you and your family will enjoy for a long time to come, that are explained in an easy to understand manner and that you will want to share with others. I have given this book as a gift as well as used it myself and would give it no less than 5*.

Making some of these items brought back fond memories of my childhood. I made the Dios Kifli, and it turned out fantastic, just like I remember. Excellent book!My parents were born in Budapest and came to America in 1956 ❤️

I bought this cookbook for my mother to give to her on Mother's day. Our family is Hungarian (my great-grandmother immigrated to America from Budapest, and we still know family that lives there), and we have passed down recipes through the generations. I thought it would be interesting to buy a Hungarian cookbook, so that we could learn more Hungarian recipes.The food in here is delicious, I won't deny that. But is it authentic Hungarian food? That I'm not so sure of.About half of the recipes in the book are comparable to recipes that have been passed down in my family. What worries me is that there is a vast difference in both seasoning and ingredients. The main meat ingredients are the same, and the recipe titles are pretty much the same, but beyond that they're often so different from one-another that without the title I wouldn't have even known that they were supposed to be the same recipe. We haven't compared taste-wise yet, as we have been trying the recipes that we don't already know so far, so I can't say if they taste similar or not. But with such a big difference in ingredients, I'm doubtful of that.There could be a lot of explanations for the differences. It could be that the recipes are from different regions of Hungary, and the differences are based on regional tastes. It could be that my family made slight variations over the years, based on what was available and what each person preferred. It could even be that the recipes in this cookbook were varied slightly based on the authors tastes. I don't know. But what I do know is this: when it's a choice between what a cookbook says and what three generations of my Hungarian family say, I'll go with the latter.That said, the food still does taste good. They're decent recipes in their own right. My only question is about truth to menu.

I purchased this book to share some of the Hungarian history I found in your book with my 29yrs. son. The recipes are pretty close to my 'family/church' Hungarian cook book. I came across facts that I grew up with that I have forgotten about. My father is from Hungary and my mother's parents were from there as well. In the book family and traditions are mentioned. One that comes to mind, addressing my grandparents by their surname then their title. My grandmother was called DankoGrandma. Unfortunately, the tradition was not kept in my family. My parents' title was reversed (Americanized?). Another fun fact was the Bacon Cookout. That was our typical barbecue, no hamburgers or hot dogs. I was raised in Toledo Ohio and moved to Southern California as an adult. We introduced the 'hungarian nosh' to all our friends. While in college in North Dakota and then living in Colorado, our son had 'hungarian turkey' to all his friends as well. Of course, hearing about the ingredients of the recipe 'frighten' some with 'eating grease' on a sandwich, but once they try it, THEY CAN'T STOP....and want more....I have enjoyed reading the 'diary' of Hungarian Cuisine, I plan on making notes on the pages as 'memories' come to mind. I think anyone who was raised in a Hungarian Kitchen would enjoy this book. I would love to talk with the author and share our memories!

When I bought this book I expected recipes that had been handed down through generations. I didn't expect the wonderful stories from Mrs. Fintor's life. She shared stories regarding Feast and special holidays her family keep dear to their hearts. Even though her grandparents migrated here from Hungary, they brought Hungary with them and I am so glad they did.

I love this book! It contains the classic Hungarian recipes my family love.The comments about adapting recipes are spot on imho; very similar to the changes adaptations my family have made in the UK. Overall very similar to the way my family do things which is a testament to the cooking abilities considering my Hungarian great-Nagymama showed my Italian Nona via a language barrier!The author has made a good job of recording recipes traditionally done by experience & eye rather than weight & volume.

Had what I needed and good delivery

Its a shame the pictures in this book were not in colour. Other than that the book is good.

So good I bought it for kindle then paperback too

I came across this book while looking for a cookbook for my friends. They love my cooking and wanted to recreate the specialities they enjoyed at our parties. Since they don’t speak Hungarian, I needed an English book. I was worried to find out if the author cooks as I do, a healthy translation of the otherwise heavy Hungarian meals, using ingredients that one can find in any supermarkets and I can confirm that the writer did not disappoint me. I don’t mind that the photos are seldom and monochrome, the recipes are easy to follow, and the result is an almost authentic experience.