Transcarpathia is a multi-ethnic region, so its culinary traditions are striking in their diversity: every nation that lived on this generous land left several popular recipes to their descendants. However, the influence of Hungarian cuisine was and remains the strongest. In winter, the bean goulash, a traditional Hungarian hot bean soup, can warm you up a lot.
The most popular meat dish is bograch, which Hungarians they’ve been cooking since the crossing over Carpathians to Pannonia. Bograch is a thick mixture of meat, mushrooms, onions, peppers, garlic and other ingredients. Cook it in a pot over an open fire (even the name indicates this: in Hungarian “pot” – “bogracs”). According to legend, the Hungarians strongly peppered their dishes during the Turkish wars, so that the enemies could not eat the prepared food. The Turks have long not threatened the peace of the inhabitants of Transcarpathia, and the tradition of adding a lot of pepper to food has remained.
Hutsulska a component of Transcarpathian cuisine is banosh and brynza. These dishes were traditionally prepared only by men. For banosh (banush) need fresh cream (or sheep’s sour cream) and corn flour, and stir it should be a wooden spoon. According to legend, this porridge was first prepared by Hutsul Banosh during the famine, when only sour cream and flour remained from the food. The banosh is traditionally served with pork rinds and fried mushrooms.
A bit like banosh Romanian contribution to the Transcarpathian cuisine, Hominy, she tocane – corn porridge (the Italians call it sticks, and the Hungarians – Polska). Hominy is served with mushrooms, cheese, meat, sour cream,and bacon.
In General, corn played a very important role in the diet of Transcarpathians. According to legend, the first ear of corn in Transcarpathia was brought from Turkish captivity to Uzhgorod region,in the village of Baranyntsi, a local soldier who was able to get it out of hiding in his hat. This was back in the XV century. For a long time, corn in Transcarpathia was even called “Turkish wheat”. And the tradition of gatherings for cleaning the cobs, when relatives and friends could talk about anything on a simple topic, even entered into the catch phrase: in Hungary, there is an expression “to clean corn”, equivalent to the Russian “to breed tours on wheels”, or Russian “sharpen your teeth»
Another Transcarpathian dish – palacsinta (Moldovans call them pies). These are pancakes made of unleavened dough, which can be with sweet or unsweetened filling.
It is also worth to try kremzliki (other local names: kizlik, girl, recylemania) – potato pancakes similar to hash Browns.
From Slovakia came the traditional appetizer-grilled cheese-a great appetizer with local wine.
The German contribution to Transcarpathian cuisine is shovdar (smoked pork ham), which is traditionally prepared for Easter.
From the Czech Republic to Transcarpathia came an original dish with many variations-dumplings. They are prepared from yeast dough, raw or boiled potatoes, meat, cheese and boiled until ready. Dumplings are perfectly combined with sauces, broth, fried onions, sour cream, and sweet dumplings, sprinkled with crushed nuts, are used with a variety of fruit syrups.
Mikhail Mitsko, author of the book “Transcarpathian cuisine”, highlighted in it as much as a thousand ancient and modern recipes. In the Transcarpathian region, a “Gastronomic tourist route” has recently been developed, and there are more than thirty festivals that are themed around certain dishes.
Tourists who have already discovered the raisins of Transcarpathian cuisine can only envy. And for those who are just planning to do this, we wish you to go on your gastronomic tour of Transcarpathia as soon as possible.