Csirke (Cheer-ke) Porkolt (Pur-kult) es Galuska (Gah-lush-kah)

The first thing I ever cooked

Csirke (Cheer-ke) Porkolt (Pur-kult) es Galuska (Gah-lush-kah)

Chicken Paprika Stew with homemade Dumplings

By Zsuzsanna Goodwin

       The First thing I ever cooked was a classic Hungarian dish called Csirke Porkolt es Galuska.  Translated, Chicken Paprika Stew with homemade dumplings.  Soups and stews are the very heart of Hungarian cuisine and this particular dish was a favorite in my home.

       Having been born into a traditional Hungarian family and the only girl of four children my mom was determined to teach me to cook.  Every night, I watched her from a far never showing any interest.  She would prepare a very bourgeois  family style meal of traditional Magyar fare.  I  knew someday it would be my turn to show off my talents in the kitchen, and mark my step into true Hungarian womanhood.  I never had the urge to help out in the kitchen and always kept my distance. I knew very well that my mother had it all under control and didn't need me to get in the way.  She made everything seem so effortless. Putting home cooked meals together from scratch, never using anything from a can and always fresh.

My mom learned to cook from her mom and mothers teaching their daughters to cook was a rite of passage.  She used to say in her very heavy ZsaZsa Gabor accent, "darling.......you will never find a husband and get married if you don't learn to cook". At 14 years old I was not thinking of getting married just yet, but my mom thought it was time to get started.  After all she married my dad when she was just 16.  She grew up with old world European values and if you were not married by age twenty there was something wrong with you and you would be considered a spinster. And being considered a "SPINSTER" was like the worst curse that could ever happen to you.

Learning how to cook (Hungarian food) started in my mom's kitchen and everything was done her way.  This included the clean as you go method, because the i cook you clean method, is American not Hungarian. Women were expected to do it all.  Still to this day, I have never told anyone of this part of the tradition cause i hate to clean and I am a firm believer in sharing the cleaning part of cooking.  My mom slowly started to teach me different traditional dishes. Like Aspic of Pork (Disznokocsonya) which has pigs head, tongue, knuckle and feet cooked down and served as a cold gelatinous dish.  Sounds truly awful but it is actually delicious.  And a really spicy fish stew called Halaszle in which you need whole live Carp, head and all to make.     

At 14 years old I was still "Daddy's Girl" and wanted to make him proud of me so I choose to make his favorite dish as my very first cooking experience.  In his honor I decided to make Chicken Paprikas Stew with Dumplings.  

       To do this dish justice it must be served with the traditional garnish of home made dumplings.  These dumplings are very similar to spetzel in size and have the soft consistency of gnocchi.  It is very important to have just the right combination of ingredients or they can be too wet or to dry.  These dumplings are essential to the dish because they soak up all the fabulous sauce created from the chicken, vegetables and the paprika.

  

       Following my mothers instructions and never using a measuring cup or spoon I made this dish by eye.  Confident in knowing it would be great, I tried to remember and mimic her every move.  She always said "taste as you go", to make sure the seasonings are right.  It felt so natural to me, almost as if I knew instinctively the correct amount of each of the ingredients.  No two forms of this dish are ever alike and each Hungarian woman will claim that their version of this dish is to only way to make it. To the day my dad passed away he claimed that my version was the best he had ever tasted. It was not until much later in life that I had decided to become a chef and there were many reasons for me in choosing this path in life, but one thing I do know for sure my mom was right. You can always get a husband if you know how to cook.