A taste of the past – Vianocka – braided sweet bread
Valerian got a funny Slovak cookbook a few years ago, Z Kuchyne starého Prešporka (from the kitchen of old Pressburg) by Peter Ševčovič. Pressburg is the German name for Bratislava, and the book is full of quirky cooking advice from the Bratislava of yesterday, collected from average and not-so-average people, since there are some recipes […]
Oven-baked langos
“Oven-baked lángos!” When I first saw the sign at the Budapest Christmas fair years ago, I was puzzled. What is lángos about if not deep-fried greasy goodness? But judging from the crowds gathered around the stand, where a clay oven was stoked with wood and slabs of speckled dough were rotated in to bake over […]
Mézeskalács/Perník/Spice cookies
You know you’re in love when your heart’s aflutter waiting to see if you’ll get a big gaudy gingerbread heart from the fair. What, that’s not the sure sign you were thinking of? At least then you’re spared the anxiety over whether you should save that cookie to gaze upon rapturously with thoughts of love, […]