The Gourmet's Cook Book [antikvár]

Foreword to the English Edition There are cookery books in every country in the world that are household names for those interested in the art of cooking. Elek Magyar's Gourmet's Cook Book is one of these, but with a fiindamental difference: Elek Magyar could not cook. He was a journalist who lived between the two world wars, and his passion in life was good food. He knew which restaurants to go to for the best of every item on the menu, and he wrote articles for the newspapers of the day on his experiences. Wherever he went he collected recipes. These first appeared in his articles and then later they were collected and published in the first edition of the Gourmet's Cook Book (Az inyesmester szakácskönyve). It is a vast, comprehensive book and covers virtoally every aspect of cooking from soups to sweets and from weekday peasant cooking to festive high table meals. It is a gourmet's book, but for gourmets of humble cooking as well as intricate cuisine: there are recipes for pulses and pastas, and others for truffles in aspic and hazelnut creams. 'fji, There are recipes for every occasion. í It is not, however, a book for an inexperienced cook: i;^' some of the recipes give no exact measurements for the Í' ingredients, leaving it to the cook's discretion and taste, while others assume a knowledge of cooking methods. For those experimenting with Hungarian cookery for the first time it would be advisable to stick to the recipes that C give the exact amounts. It is also essential that those using the English edition should follow either the, metric or the j}: Imperial measurements, as the quantities vary slightly, |, and mixing the two could result in the wrong propor- < tions. i, A few words are needed to explain some of the typical j',' ingredients used throughout Hungarian cooking. Cont- j;; rary to popular foreign belief paprika does not usually j! refer to the fiery, eye-watering type, but to a mild, almost J; sweet variety, which gives Hungarian food its character- > istic taste and colour, and enhances rather than dominates í the flavour. Where hot paprika is required it is usually i ; i::