Discovering Hungary through its cuisine – vol.2 – RECIPE

Frankfurter soup Photo: Pálma Bruder - Daily News Hungary

In stressful times, just like in the case of the coronavirus, one of the best things you can do is have some comfort food. If you want to avoid sweets or unhealthy snacks and eat well while drowning your stress in food, keep reading.

One of the best ways to discover another culture and at the same time bond with its people and hopefully find new friends is through food. It is especially the case in Hungary, where the saying “the way to a man’s heart is through food” might be a bit more true than in other countries.

“Frankfurt soup” is one of these dishes. Yes, you read it right, it is the German city’s name. What is it doing in an article presenting Hungarian specialities then? The answer is very simple: it has nothing to do with Frankfurt. Well, to be 100% precise, there is some connection. In Germany, in many restaurants, you can find different types of Frankfurt soups (Frankfurter Suppe), the only criterium is the special type of sausage in them, the Frankfurter.

The Hungarian version, of course, also contains Frankfurter sausage, but in our case, the recipe is fixed, always the same ingredients go in it (maybe except for some minor changes by regions).

It is the perfect dish containing protein thanks to the sausage, carbs thanks to the potatoes, and vitamins provided by the cabbage.

It is delicious comfort food, especially for the end of March when we can still experience some colder days with low temperatures.

Here is everything you will need:

1 tbsp of lard (can be replaced with sunflower oil or even a bit of coconut oil for a healthier version)
1 medium-sized onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
4 potatoes
1 medium-sized kale
100 grams of Frankfurter sausage (around 4 pieces)
salt and pepper
175 grams tejföl (can be replaced with greek yogurt, it is not advised but better than nothing if you do not have tejföl)
1 tbsp flour

Start by chopping the onion, peeling and dicing the potatoes, and washing and cutting the kale leaves.
Then get a pot and melt the lard or the oil before adding the onion to it. Stir it twice, then take it off the stove to quickly add the paprika and cumin.

Frankfurter soup Photo: Pálma Bruder – Daily News Hungary

Stir it again and add the potatoes. It has to go back on the stove for about a minute while constantly stirring, before adding around 2 litres of water to the potato-onion mixture.

Add the finely diced or grated garlic and cook it under the lid for 5 minutes.
Next, the chopped kale goes in with the salt and pepper, to be cooked for half an hour.
Once the vegetables are nice and soft (it depends a bit on your personal taste), add the chopped sausages and cook the soup for an additional 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the flour with the tejföl. When it is well incorporated, add some tablespoons of the hot soup into the mixture and stir it together. The now colourful tejföl goes into the big pot to be stirred and cooked for about 2 more minutes.