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Papua New GuineaFlavors · Baja
Baja fish soup from the banks of the Danube, made with carp, onion and ground paprika cooked together in a cauldron, without straining the broth. It’s served over a thin noodle, gyufatészta, with the fish on the side and hot pepper.
Traditional dish from Baja, Bács-Kiskun
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Bajai halászlé — Baja, Hungary
Bajai halászlé is the fish soup of Baja, in southern Hungary on the Danube’s bank. The ingredients go together into the cauldron: carp in steaks, onion, ground paprika, salt and water. The broth is not strained and is thinner and clearer than many other Hungarian fish soups.
What sets it apart is the noodle. At serving time, gyufatészta — a thin, matchstick-like egg noodle — is placed in the bottom of the bowl and the hot broth is poured over it. The fish is usually served on a separate plate, and the hot pepper, cseresznyepaprika, is left on the table for diners to season to taste.
According to the official Hungarikum record, the soup has been part of Baja family cooking since the second half of the 19th century and is not eaten only by fishermen: many people in the town know how to make it. In 2015 it became the first Hungarian fish soup entered in the Collection of Hungarikumok, an initiative led by the city itself.
The major gathering around the soup is the July festival, created in 1996 for Baja’s 300th anniversary as a town. Hundreds of cauldrons are lit at the same time in the main square and surrounding streets, and the event entered the record books as the largest simultaneous cooking of a fish dish following the same recipe.
Baja , Bács-Kiskun
The soup is part of family cooking in Baja, a Danube town that holds a fish soup festival every summer.
Carp (sometimes with other Danube fish), onion, ground paprika, salt, water; gyufatészta (thin egg noodle) for serving; fresh hot peppers on the side.
With the gyufatészta in the bottom of the bowl and the broth poured over it; the fish is served separately and the hot pepper stays on the table for each person to adjust the heat.
Everyday dish in Baja and a festive one; it has its big day at the July festival and also appears on Christmas Eve.
Your questions
The fish soup of Baja, made with carp, onion and paprika cooked together in a cauldron, served over a thin noodle called gyufatészta.
In Baja the broth is not strained and the soup is served over gyufatészta, a thin noodle. Other traditions, like the Tisza style, strain the broth and serve the soup with bread.
In July. During those days the whole town cooks the soup outdoors in cauldrons across the center. Check the dates for each year before you travel.
Flavors of Hungary
Wine mixed with sparkling water (szóda), in proportions that have their own names, such as kisfröccs, hosszúlépés and házmester. White, rosé or red, it is the summer drink of Hungary’s bars, cellars and terraces.
Beef soup with plenty of broth, onion, paprika, diced potato and csipetke, a pinched noodle that cooks in the pot. It is made without thickening with flour. The name comes from the gulyás, the herdsmen of the Great Plain.
Sweet yeast dough rolled into a strip on a wooden spindle, baked while turned over embers and coated with caramelized sugar. It comes off the spindle in the shape of a hollow cylinder. It originated in the Land of the Székely in Transylvania and is sold at fairs and Christmas markets throughout Hungary.
Yeast dough hand-opened and fried until golden, crunchy on the outside and soft inside. The classic topping is sour cream, grated cheese and, if you like, garlic. A street food found at fairs, markets and beaches across the country.
Fruit brandy distilled in Hungary from plum, apricot, pear, apple, cherry and many others. By law the fruit must be grown in Hungary, and all stages from fermentation to bottling must take place in the country. It is a protected geographical indication of the European Union.
Christmas bonbon, usually a fondant candy covered in chocolate, wrapped in shiny colored foil and hung on the branches of the Christmas tree. The most common fillings are fruit jelly, marzipan, coconut and caramel.
Layered sponge cake with thin layers of sponge alternated with chocolate buttercream and topped with a sheet of caramel. It was created by pastry chef József C. Dobos, owner of a delicatessen in Budapest, and presented at the 1885 National General Exhibition.
Crepe folded and filled with walnuts, raisins and candied orange peel, flavored with rum and topped with chocolate sauce. It is named after the Gundel restaurant in Budapest’s City Park, which put it on the menu; the recipe is attributed to Ilona Matzner, wife of the writer Sándor Márai.
Bitter herbal liqueur, dark, produced by the Zwack family in Budapest with a secret recipe of more than 40 herbs and spices, aged in oak casks. The round bottle with a cross on the label is recognised throughout the country.
Szeged river fish soup, red from paprika, made with a thick broth of several fish, carp heads and bones, and onion, passed through a sieve. Carp pieces cook in that broth, and the soup is served with bread and hot pepper on the side.
Sweet wine from the Tokaj wine region in northeastern Hungary, made from grapes affected by noble rot and harvested berry by berry. The aszú berries are crushed and macerated in must or wine, and the wine ages in oak barrels in underground cellars.
White wine from the kéknyelű grape, grown almost exclusively in the Badacsony wine region on the northern shore of Lake Balaton. The grape’s name means “blue stem.” The wines are usually dry with marked acidity, and there are also sparkling and sweet versions.
