I’m not a chef, but, thanks to my mom, I do know how to cook.
She wasn’t a professional, but she did prepare the most fabulous Hungarian cuisine.
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A native of Budapest, her gastronomic wonders had always been a natural gift.
I share those homemade treasures with my bride who, thanks to her Italian ancestry, has quite an impressive flair in the kitchen herself.
Turns out that Italian-Hungarian combination has presented us with a wonderful award, producing three great kids, not to mention that plus fabulous cuisine.
There’s rarely a day we don’t enjoy yet another fabulous dinner.
Perhaps it’s my mom’s amazing paprikas csirke (chicken paprika).
Chicken pieces are sauteed in a sauce made with fried onions, a little garlic, imported paprika, and thickened chicken broth, served with a dollop of sour cream and some homemade galuska (Hungarian dumplings).
It was a staple throughout my childhood, and remains a favorite in our home today.
But that’s just one of my mom’s fabulous gifts. She also taught me how to prepare her amazing homemade pastries, such as cherry or apple strudel, palascinta (Hungarian crepes filled with apricot jam and ground walnuts), and dobos torta, a seven-layer cake made with thin pastry sheets filled with chocolate cream and decorated with ground walnuts or hazelnuts.
I’m so grateful that she taught me her magic, and it’s been a regular part of our daily cuisine.
Like her fabulous, becsinalt csirke, chicken sauteed in a garlic sauce combined with chopped parsley, salt and fresh-ground pepper. It’s served with those amazing dumplings.
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Also, Kaposztas testa, browned sauteed cabbage combined with egg noodles.
Then there’s her fabulous soups like caraway with garlic croutons, or her delicious lentil soup.
Perhaps it’s her cherry soup served cold, with a dollop of sour cream.
Plus her wonderous stuffed cabbage, or cucumber salad.
Maybe it’s her magnificent stuffed peppers.
Add my bride’s own fabulous Italian creations, like her amazing eggplant parmigiana.
Or her ravioli that she prepares with our pasta machine. Thin sheets of dough are stuffed with fresh ricotta cheese, a little imported parmigiano, and some chopped parsley, skillfully stuffed in squares of that homemade pasta, boiled, then served with her delicious tomato sauce.
Maybe it’s her lasagna, prepared with the same homemade pasta, fresh tomato sauce, mozzarella and ricotta cheese, topped with ground imported parmigiano, then baked until bubbly.
Sometimes she’ll prepare osso buco (baked veal shanks slowly simmered in a rich gravy.)
Or her fried cauliflower.
Perhaps it’s her baked ziti.
Maybe chicken marsala.
For dessert, it’s often my mom’s szilvas gomboc (plum dumplings). I purchase those delicious so-called prune plums. They’re pitted, cut in half, topped with sugar and a little cinnamon, carefully wrapped in a thin dough made with potatoes, flour and eggs. They’re boiled, then rolled in ground walnuts, topped with powdered sugar, and served warm.
It could be a dessert, or even served as a main course.
Life’s good here in beautiful San Diego, with fabulous climate, just a few miles to the ocean, three fabulous children, all the grandkids, and that amazing cuisine.
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Erdos is a freelance humor columnist. Contact him at [email protected].
