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VEGETABLE STEW - FŐZELÉK

What is Fôzelék? 

Not quite like a soup and thinner than a stew… This may sound quite terrifying, but in Hungary, the traditional style of serving vegetables used to be fôzelék. Take any vegetable, boil it to thick soupy consistency, thicken it with roux and serve it with a slice of bread. If you were lucky, an egg or a piece of sausage floated on top, but you were quite content with a bit of meat dripping or some paprika grease flavor boost. After a long winter of potatoes and beans, when one by one seasonal vegetables started to appear, you were delighted to see a plate of fresh peas, wax beans or kohlrabi fôzelék. At the height of summer when finally lecsó made its grand entrance your joy was complete. Traditionally fôzelék was one of the mainstays of Hungarian cuisine, next to homemade soup... literally.