Recipe of the week: Jókai bean soup

Mór Jókai, one of the greatest Hungarian authors, loved to include gastronomy and recipe-like descriptions in his novels. He adored Hungarian flavours just like he adored his wife, who was an amazing cook and who always surprised him with delicacies. His all-time favourite meal was a thick bean soup cooked with trotters.

Mindmegette.hu writes that Róza Laborfalvi, the celebrated actress of the time and Mór Jókai’s wife, amazed her husband with a so called “babcsuszpájz” which she probably developed in their mansion found in Balatonfüred.

The author was a real fan of gastronomy, therefore he frequently incorporated food-related episodes into his novels. One of his most famous novels, The Heartless Man’s Sons, is a compulsory reading in most schools. One of the scenes features the following dialogue:

“Well, Mr Pál, what’s for lunch today?” asks the captain who just arrived home.

“Greek beads (görög olvasó)” answers Mr Pál grittily.

“Sounds good” says the captain. “What’s inside?”

“Angel’s boot.”

“That’s delicious! Have you set the table for me, Mr Pál?”

You might be wondering what Greek beads and angel’s boot are. Greek beads refer to a type of bean, which is as big as the ones found on Greek monks’ beads, while angel’s boot is crispy smoked trotters, which is golden and shaped like the shoes of angels.

The writer mentioned “babcsuszpájz” in several of his novels, but never specified the recipe. All in all, Mór Jókai loved to eat, especially the meals his wife cooked. Róza, who was 12 years older than the author, organised divine feasts in their house and even dazzled her mother-in-law with her talent.

One time Jókai wrote that “the fire of love’s altar might die down, but the seduction of the stove is eternal. Every plate is the declaration of love, or its opposite: a quiet divorce”. Although, their relationship was far from divorce. It is believed that Róza Laborfalvi frequently made the famous bean soup in the mansion found in Balatonfüred. However, she only used beans and trotters contrarily to today’s recipes, which also call for vegetables and dumplings.