3+1 Hungarian recipes from the 17th century – From the first Hungarian cookbook

The history of Hungary is quite long and eventful, just as Hungarian cuisine is rich and tasty. This time, you can read about both, as in this article, you will find Hungarian recipes from the oldest cookbook written in Hungarian. Enjoy!

The first-ever Hungarian cookbook was published back in 1695 in the printing house of Miklós Misztótfalusi Kis in Kolozsvár. The book is titled Szakáts mesterségnek könyvetskéje, which roughly translates to The booklet of the cook’s craft.

From the first and second edition of this book, there are only three known copies: one in the National Széchényi Library in Budapest, another in Kolozsvár, and the third in Szeged. But thanks to Nosalty, you can read 4 recipes from the first-ever Hungarian cookbook.

As these are quite old recipes and might not work the way it was intended, where it was possible, we also tried to include more modern variations of the recipes under the ones from the 17th century. Here they are.

Sörleves – Beer soup

Illustration only
Photo: Nosalty.hu

Boil some beer in a pot. Crack one to two eggs into a bowl and add cold beer, then beat it. When you are done, add the boiling beer into the bowl with the cold eggs and beer. Salt it to taste and serve it with croutons. You can fry the croutons in butter to make them taste better, and you can also substitute the eggs with sour cream, and if the beer is too bitter, tone it down with water.

THIS recipe takes the dish in a sweeter direction.

Weirdest Hungarian dishes

The weirdest Hungarian dishes – vol. 2

Töltött tojás – Deviled eggs

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Photo: Unsplash / Tahirah Walker

This is quite unusual compared to the modern deviled eggs.

Break a small hole into both ends of a chicken or goose egg (but be careful, you will need the shell) and blow out the contents into a pan. Cook it. After it is ready, add parsley, honey, and pepper. Using a knife, chop up the egg as best you can and fill the eggshells with the egg and roast over the grill. Serve it and enjoy!

Find a more modern casino egg recipe HERE.

Boros aludttej – Curdled milk with wine

Crack 3-4 eggs into sour cream, add honey and wine and mix them well. Put it on the stove and get it to boil while mixing so that it does not thicken. Cut deep cuts into a bun so that the butter can penetrate into the inside and toast the bun in butter. Put the bun and 1-2 slices of bread into a bowl and pour the mixture on top.

Kenyér-torta – Bread cake

Illustration only
Photo: Unsplash / Joanna Lopez

Cut a loaf of bread into small cubes. Crack 5-6 eggs into a bowl and whisk them. Pour the eggs over the bread cubes and mix them in well, and then fry it all in a large pan. Fry one side and then flip it, until both sides are golden brown. When ready, cut it into larger pieces.

Add some honey to the wine and sour cream and mix them thoroughly. Add in raisins, figs, and halved almonds. Heat up the pieces of bread you previously prepared, add some saffron and ginger. Put it into a bowl and pour the liquid mixture on the bread. If you want, instead of the wine, you can also pour sweet milk on the prepared bread cake and add pepper, saffron, and ginger. Cook it until the moisture is absorbed by the bread. Enjoy.

NYT Cooking has a take on the sweeter variety. Find the recipe HERE.

Read alsoThe strangest and most nostalgic Hungarian dishes

Source: Nosalty.hu, Cooking.nytimes.com, bestofhungary.co.uk, epicurious.com