Barka Sandor (remember, Hungarians put their family name first) treated us with a nice helping of palacsintas. Those are large rolled up crepes filled with apple pie filling, berry jam, or cottage cheese and raisins.
Sandor lives deep in the forest as a caretaker of a former border guard camp. We drove through Austria to get there as the Austrian side had paved roads and beautiful neatly tended fields but the Hungarian side had dirt roads more like trails and thick forest for miles so the communists could keep people away from the border. One member who used to be a border guard during his required time as a soldier says they would get a bonus if they shot and killed someone trying to escape. Now you just drive through, though some of the guard houses are still there and you can imagine you are in a spy thriller making an escape.
Of course you start the meal with soup. the Edes family has some picky eaters so they do a "make your own" soup. Elder Bohner is showing mom how to put it all together, topped off with a nice spoon of hot Hungarian paprika sauce.
Here's Mom trying it out. First the noodles, then the broth. Last the veggies and meat topped off with the paprika.
The Joo family stuffed us with goulash soup, stuffed cabbage and pörkölt (what we call goulash). Hungarians like to balance the sour and the sweet. Pörkölt is a sweet food, so you have to eat it with Hungarian sour pickles on the side so the sour balances the sweet. The sauerkraut with the stuffed cabbage serves the same purpose so you don't need pickles.
Doesn't the stuffed cabbage with sauerkraut look great? It is stuffed with onions, ground meat, and rice.
How about this dish of small thin steaks topped with onions, peppers, and tomatoes? The Edes family served these. This was a sweet food that needed pickles on the side.
Does it look like I am enjoying the pórkölt? Sorry that I ate my pickles already so you can't see them. Many make their own in small vats on their window ledge so they'll be fresh for dinner.
Of course you have to have dessert. Joo Julia (9) is showing off her favorite dessert.
Kron Gizi (88) is insisting that we eat every bit of süti ("shootie" or dessert)
Bohner Elder is an obedient elder.
Kiss Maria (80) is serving her best. Of course anything you don't eat they send home in little packages. So we had stuffed cabbage for breakfast and for dinner pörkölt with süti and ice cream for dessert. (For a change of pace we had Turkish fast food for lunch.) Hungry in Hungary? No way!!
Wow, lots of food. The missionaries are German? Both of them? That's interesting. Are most of your missionaries from Germany or Europe in general?
ReplyDeleteThese are the only two from Germany that I know of. One just went home. We have one from Hungary and I think one from Lithuania. Except for special minimissionaries, the rest are from USA (or oosha, as they say here.) The missionary we have out from Sopron is in Hamburg, Germany.
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