Hungarian Food Presents Vegetarian Alternative
Monday, December 14th, 2009Vegetable stews can be found almost internationally, but in Hungary, they are considered a major subset in gastronomy. The főzelék, as it is called, is Hungary’s take on the vegetable stew, and is unique in its recipe and the endless variations associated with it.
Főzelék is naturally for the health-conscious. It is free of animal proteins, which is the basis of a healthy diet, and also possesses many beneficial properties including promoting bone-growth and healthy digestion.
Every culture is different when it comes to vegetable stews. While some cook the vegetables in water and put flower or butter on top, főzelék is unique in that it undergoes a special thickening process after cooking, which gives the stew a robust and exotic taste, and produces a dish that will appeal even to meat-eaters.
It is customary to eat főzelék with meat on top. The meat can simply be cooked or made into pörkölt, or prepared in any other way. However, the type of meat is important, as there are only certain types of meat to go with each kind of vegetable. Beef goes well with carrots, pork with cabbages, and poultry with green vegetables.
You will not find főzelék in high class restaurants, as it is considered a rural type of dish by many, which is of course a mistake as it has a place at every dinner table. To be sure, those in the mood for vegetable stew should visit smaller, cheaper, and cozy looking home enterprises in gastronomy, which are sure to have it. Also, a special form of fast food restaurants has sprung up in recent years specializing in főzelék. A blessing for us vegetable-lovers.
