H, for Hungary.
Images, like from a fairytale, for me! Budapest on the Danube, and the Balaton, called the Hungarian Sea. The wide open Puszta, with its daredevil-riders, that seemed to be born on horses and invincible. PAPRIKA... everywhere! My Grandparents met up with Omis sibling there often, and I listened to their stories afterwards, with wide open eyes... about the incredibly beautiful buildings (awesome beauty from the times of Art Deco and the Guilded Age...), the Gellert-bath, a palace for the people, around hot springs. The incredible patisserie- all around poppy and Marzipan, my favourites!
Later, my Grannies cleaning lady, born and raised in Hungaria, told me more and more and more.
She told me how they all slept on straw-bags, instead of matresses, and that she loved it so much, that she insisted that her German husband would change her mattress into a plump, huge sack filled with fresh straw! She taught me- passionately, as you would expect of a Hungarian, how goulash is REALLY cooked, and that we can't buy real chili or good paprika in Germany- it must be from Hungary. She told me about the huge, wide, open land that seems to end nowhere, and how the forests of her childhood bloom in the summers, and smell like heaven. Later I learned that she talked about robinias, who indeed have a heavenly fragrance, and make up lots of the trees in Hungary. I KNEW, someday I would go there and look myself! It didn't happen, yet. But I dream, and I adore!
What people- certainly I, (until our cleaning lady informed me otherwise)- think about Hungary first, in regards to food, is "
Gulyás" =goulash, (see above). But really, the true Hungarian one is a, relatively, thin soup. Not the hearty, thick stew that I had in mind! Which exists, and when it's with chicken, it gets called
Paprikash" (see below):
Pörkölt comes with all sorts of meat and pork and venison- and the potatoes belong INTO the stew, cooked with all other, long and slowly, with MUCH of garlic, and all the spices! And when you REALLY want it good, add Sauerkraut into it, too! I still have the cleaning ladies voice in my ear, she was adamant, and certain, and LOVELY!
Dödölle, dumplings, are a big thing in Hungary as well, made from fried dough, or from potato, and then best fried, afterwards, as well. With ONIONS, please!!
Streetfood is
Langos, which is a deep fried flatbread. It comes with all sorts (sometimes, literally) of savory toppings-
...or sweet.
Which brings me to the sweet dreams of my childhood...
...the wonderful flat Palacsinta- what I described in Austria and Czech Republik already as Palatschinken or as German Pfannkuchen or Dutch Pannekoeken, and which are known and loved in whole Europe, called by the one or another name. They are CHILDS PARADISE. Ohhh!!!
Budapest, just 3 hr drive apart from Vienna, and connected through close regal bonds of the K.u.K Austrian-Hungarian Dynasty, enjoys it's café culture just as Vienna. There are incredibly beautyful Kávéház, and the most stunning one is probably Café New York in New York Palace-Hotel, above! Oh my, I dream of staying in this incredibly beautiful hotel and having my breakfasts in the Café- without any waiting-lines! I think I would just sit and bask... and maybe have abite of my Palacsinta or...
...of my Dobos-Torta. Orgasmic: Layers of chocolate buttercreme, and an extra topping of crispy Caramel! I can feel the delight dancing on my tongue! It is said, you could wander through whole Budapest and eat sweet delightful treats all day long. I yearn for the Marcipán =(Marzipan)- treats, as this cookie, below! Ohhh!
All over the place you can eat Rétes, strudel, filled with poppy and cherries and apples and nuts, sweet curd with raisins and even with sauerkraut. And I think that even better than those, it is to listen to a Hungarian, who speaks such a small word as Rétes- with such amazing emotional, rolling pronunciation, that whole worlds of passion come up in your mind while you listen.
Perhaps the secret is moving from the head to the heart
SO MUCH more satisfying 
)
it was!! And, we could NOT wait the whole 4 hrs. 
What a beautiful dessert to share with your loved ones and celebrate the upcoming weekend!
As cookie said- Wow, you are GOOD at rampaging! And 
