Our upcoming nuptials pulled the beau and me this summer to the shores of Balaton Lake in Hungary. We rented a car in Budapest and drove first to Siófok, on the southern side, where we spent an afternoon relaxing poolside at our hotel and getting in the mood for a 10-day vacation ahead. After a…

I’m not quite sure whose birthday we were celebrating back in the August of 2014 at the restaurant terrace of the esteemed Savoy Caste in Ráckeve, Hungary. I remember my niece being there, my brother, his wife, my cousin? But while the memory of faces has long since faded, I remember the mood and food…

At around this time every year I get homesick for Hungary and nostalgic about the dishes I regularly enjoy there. I get to daydreaming about lángos by Lake Balaton, salted goose cracklins (libatepertő) on toast for breakfast, mixed Vecsési pickles on the side of all classic meat-and-paprika dishes, my grandma’s chilled sour cherry soup… And, although I don’t…

Sziget Festival blew my socks off this year. I was very impressed. It seems like this massive, weeklong, multicultural party gets bigger and bigger each year. If you’re a music lover (or, more generally, if you don’t hate a good time) and you haven’t been before, go. Take a train, plane, car to Budapest, then the boat or…

There is a rich tradition of after-hours kebabs in the city of Budapest. Between 3 and 7 a.m. you’ll find pockets of youth huddled around a gyros stand, clutching a steamy meat-filled pita in their palms as if it were the Baby Jesus, putting on pause all chatter about what went on that night –…

Lots of interesting things have happened in Budapest’s food scene as of late. Grandma-style classics and modest street food snacks have been reinvented and made trendy at new restaurants and gastropubs. “Locally sourced, sustainable and organic” is a thing. There’re food trucks, craft beer and foodie hashtags (like #mutimiteszel) to make sharing food finds easy. All that…

Pretty much every nation of people on this planet has a version of deep fried dough of which they are fiercely proud, one which they insist is unique and different from all other versions. India has the paratha, the puri, the vada. Bulgaria has the mekitzi. Turkey has lokma. In France it’s the sweet goffre. It’s akara in West Africa, bannock in Canada, frybread for…