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

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

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!