The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-06-24

those Of health my Hungarian friends patron
lied the kosher butchers. Thus they had the
assurance that none of their meat had been
killed more than twenty-four hours. A
chicken was always bought alive. and killed,
plucked and drawn only a few hours before
being cooked.
My former firm conviction that meat
cooked within a day or 80 of the killing must
necessarily be tough was entirely dis
PEELED by my course of Hungarian dinners
The cooking, however, had much, in fact
everything, to do with this. Quick broiled
steaks and chops, or ever meats roasted
in the oven, are quite unknown.
"Porterhouse steaks are cut two or three
inches thick, placed in a kettle with season.
ing, and just enough butter TO keep them
from sticking, the pot covered tightly and
the meat allowed to cook very gently in
its own juice for three hours. 1t ome on
the table so tender that one can almost
nourishnient intact. except the little which,
drawn forth oy the heat, mipgles with the
butter ard seasoning tn form a delicious
gravy.
an this same manner fricassees OF chicken
and veal are prepared in the Hungarian
household. They come to the table steam
ing and savory, and red with the paprika
used as a seasoning. Gravies OF pure
blood juice are the only oGos the Hum
garians acknowledge as eatablo
Irealn soups IN tne goOd ttungarlan
menu are made by gradually stirring real
sour cream into a vegetable soup while
it is boiling, and then allowing it TO boil
up once more until it thickens. Tho tart
taste thus given is much re ished by these
foreigners, and ! grew to like 1t immensely
myself. Ever in midwinter fresh vege-
tables were used as the foundation Of all
such soups, string beans, peas and potatoes
being the most popular.
in making a clear chicken soup they
will sometimes mix an egg with a teaspoon
full of -four, and then add it, a drop or two
Immediately cooks in. a myriad Of tiny
particles, far more delicious in a soup, to
my, way Of thinking, than either rice or
barley.
Then they form various desserts by
stirring noodles in a pan of hot butter after
with a little powdered sugar. and sprink-
ling nuts, jams, poppy seeds, or perhaps
sauerkraut between the layers, as they
dish them upon large, fiat plates. One
in thisf fashion is sheep cheese.
1T looks something like Philadelphia
cream cheese, only drier and more neatly.
1t is made from the fresh milk Of sheep
and there is only one store in New York,
the Hungarians told me, where it may he
obtained, though it is very popular in their
own land.
"The French pancakes, thin as a sheet
of paper, are also greatly in favor among
the Hungarians, and are rolled or folded
about filings Of nuts, %jellies or poppy seeds,
with soft sugar sprnkled on the outside.
Dishes such ss these form the pastry of
the Hungarian home. Our pie crusts and
puff pastes and sweet cakes find no well
come there,
Vegetables, on the other hand, are all
cooked with a degree Of sweetening Ameri-
cans do not deem necessary, Even the
sauerkraut is not the ordinary kind pro-
durable at the delicatessen shop. Their
sauerkraut is the result Of soaking the
cabbage for one week in a crock OF salt
water, and is known to them as fresh or
sweet sauerkraut. Savoy cabbage, made
with a thick cream dressing, is also a dish
greatly relishe6 ~ .Nem
"A remarkable transformation is wrought
in the COMMON carrot by the Hungarian
method of cooking it. 1t doesn't taste like
a carrot at all, but becomes a delicious
sweet to be served with meat.
"The carrots are cut into thin pieces about
an inch long, placed in a saucepan, sugar
and a tablespoonful of butter placed on
top, and just enough water to cover them
is. poured on. They simmer until quite
soft, when the water has almost all boiled
away. A little -four is stirred through them