Many thanks to LD, JS, DR, CH, and SB who “bought me a beer” on International Buy A Priest A Beer Day! Much obliged.
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Matthias 0
victord
White to move and mate in 3.
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
In chessy news the 45th Chess Olympiad is underway in Budapest with 193 teams in the Open section and 181 in the women’s section. Some 2000 players are involved.
11-22 September. The opening ceremony was last night. Hungarian Chess legend Judith Polgar brough in the torch.
In honor of the Olympics being in Budapest, I made Hungarian food last night and, wow, am I glad I did. What to make was a toss up, but I chose Székely style Gulyás.
Some prep. Onion, green bell pepper, garlic, tomato, pork in chunks, the edge of a bag of sauerkraut.
Diced bacon as a starter.
After the onion, comes the pepper.
And garlic.
The recipe said that, after a few minutes, I should add the pork but cook it until the pink was going, but not quite. Along the way I was grinding in black pepper.
Five tablespoons of sweet paprika.
This is an important moment. Mix the paprika through and then take it off the heat for a little bit. Paprika does not like sudden intense heat. Let it sit and get used to things.
In go the tomatoes and caraway.
At this point, the mixture is covered, barely, with water, it is covered, and it is simmered for 90 minutes. Note the bay leaves. Note the larger chunk of tomato which I remembered I had in the fridge. It all dissolves.
When it has simmered for the allotted time, in went the sauerkraut (alas not shown). It was cooked for just a couple minutes and then it was adjusted with a little salt.
SPECTACULAR! FINOM! The recipe was for four portions. I ate two. I decided not to go with carbs, such as nokedli or spätzle. Next time, I think I’ll use smaller pieces of pork, although these were very tender.
This was Székely Gulyás, from the region near Romania. There is a fellow in our chess club from there, so I chose that style. The Székelys claim descendency from Attila’s Huns and they defended the East against the Ottomans. There are many variations of gulyás as you can imagine, swapping out this or that meat, potatoes or noodles for sauerkraut, less thick or more thick.
Next I am considering either Pörkölt or Paprikás Csirke. Both will get made. I just wonder which first. The Olympics will go on for a while so I really should pace myself or my skin might turn red. Also, I need to get some cucumbers for Uborkasaláta.
My diet has been supremely boring for weeks. This really spiced me up.
Beer or wine made by Benedictines (both) would have been great with this.
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That looks better than the Szekely gulyas I made last winter, though mine ate quite well. My recipe, based on the Dorcas Guild’s Our Kitchen Queen cookbook my Hungarian (maiden name Babos) grandma gave me many years ago, doesn’t call for nearly as much paprika, but I’ll make a note of this. I’d already made up my mind to spike it with about a teaspoon of my new secret weapon (Pride of Szeged hot paprika).
As Father did in this example, I went without carbs. Once the weather breaks and comfort-food season rolls in good and proper…. :-)
It’s interesting to me how much the national cuisines of the world owe to the Columbian exchange. Bell peppers and tomatoes are southern Mexican in origin, as you probably know already. You can hardly imagine several Asian cuisines without capsicum. And Irish potatoes are from the Andes, of course.
Will definitely try this variation in the autumn (sans kraut). Usually i use lamb, but that’s gotten quite spendy in these parts.
1. Rh1+ Bh4
2. Bh2 gxh2
3. g4#
This puts me in mind of a dish I had several years ago in Prague (my one visit to Europe) in a popular restaurant close to St. Adalbert’s Church (we stayed in a hotel in what used to be St. Adalbert’s Monastery). I could never find the recipe.
The dish had salt pork, a little sauerkraut, and gnocchi. It seemed like it was fried somehow to finish. So, maybe it’s not at all like your dish.
I so enjoy your cooking expeditions. I wonder if you are still working on Hungarian. I wonder why you are learning Hungarian. I bet there are a few people wondering about your book ideas as well, haha, good! I always knew you had at least one book to write. You have a gift, I think.
Why am I learning Hungarian? First, it’s hard. Second, I’ve wanted to visit Hungary for a long time and I am not keen on going places where I don’t speak at least a little of the local language. Sure, you can usually get basics done with English. Not the same.
Did I mention that Hungarian is hard? It’s not Xhosa, but it’s hard.