Hungarian cuisine - need help

[cara]

ah.. I just noticed the PM today... have a new popup-blocker..
is there anything you still need to know in German? ;o)
just ask or have a look yourself ;o)
and I'm sure you will improve your gastronomic vocabulary, so did I ;o)

btw: Kuemmel is not cumin, but caraway seeds...

[Claire]

I love how cosmopolitan this site is! I'd use butter instead of the chicken fat (schmaltz in its many forms) if I didn't feel like rendering it myself. Which I wouldn't. Ganzenschmaltz is goose fat, Schwein is pig. Go for the goose over the pig, it will be closer in flavor. I'd use butter before I'd use pig. The flavor wouldn't be identical, but would be close enough. If you can't get cumin in Denmark, I'd skip it. I don't remember it being a really distinctive flavor in Hungarian food I've eaten (unlike Mexican, where if it isn't there, you really miss it). I keep two kinds of paprika on hand -- hot and sweet. Sometimes the hot can be really hot (sometimes not at all -- peppers of all kinds are hard to control), so make sure you know how much your guests can take and taste a lot while cooking if you use the hot. To me the ingredients that really make it Hungarian are sour cream and saurkraut. Good Luck!

I often thin dishes to turn them into soup. I prefer to use chicken stock, canned tomatoes or tomato juice to just water.

[jpmcgrew]

If you want more sauce as you say, just add some beef broth if you add water you will lose alot of flavor.