EAT IN ASIA / Destinations / Other destinations / Europe / Hungary
Exceptional Hungarian style pizzas
Are you looking for an Italian cuisine while in Hungary? Don’t worry, you will surely find a lot of places where to get a pizza, ravioli, gnocchi, spaghetti or whatever else you just crave for. Yes, pizza in Hungary is so popular, that you might even wonder, whether that Is not a Hungarian national dish. In every city there is a plenty of Italian restaurants, that serve traditional specialties. Most of these places serve regular pizzas, just these you can find in every other location. Margherita, Hawaiian, Peperoni, Capricciosa etc. But what is interesting is the fact, that as pizza is so liked by Hungarian people, almost everywhere you can also get a pizza in a Hungarian style or with typically local ingredients or sauces. Doesn’t matter whether you are in a small town or in the capital, a Magyar pizza is very likely to be found in the menu. So, what is so Hungarian in this pizza, that it is called a Hungarian-style pizza or a Magyar one?
Let’s start and think about Hungarian cuisine. What is included in it? What are national staples? Answering these questions will give you an overview of what might be found on a Magyar pizza. Sausages, bacon, eggs, peppers, onion and tomatoes are widely eaten in Hungary. Add to it sour cream and mustard and try to compose a pizza. Do you think it is a challenge? Are you afraid, that if you use these ingredients, you will destroy your favorite meal? Don’t worry. Just give a try as it is really worth of it. Of course, at the beginning it might be a little bit surprising for you, but that will be a nice surprise. You will be able to try something else, something new, something regional and what is really important – something tasty!
Imagine local, aromatic tomatoes on a thin pizza dough, melted cheese and well fired sausages indulged in it. Then imagine another layer consisting of crunchy, grilled onions and peppers, which spiciness is mild by a thick sour cream sauce. Can you see it? Can you feel your mouth watering? If so, let’s have a quick look at what we tried and how was it.
Magyar-style pizza in Debrecen
The first one, that is worth mentioning is a Magyar-style pizza from Debrecen. Eaten in the old town, not far from the main square, in a popular and quite big restaurant serving not only pizzas but also a lot of other local dishes.
Thin and crunchy dough was well baked. Rims were crispy and nicely grilled. The crust was perfectly baked – neither over baked nor not enough. the dough in itself was almost like a pita bread. On it was a classic Hungarian tomato sauce. This kind of a sauce is a little bit different from the Italian one, as used herbs are not the same and that is what makes it even more special. As in a regular pizza, the tomatoes sauce was covered by cheese on which were small semi-thin slices of a sausage. This sausage tasted and looked more like a salami in miniature. You could distinguish in it small parts of meat and fat. Thanks to that after baking, the fat from the sausage was diluting and spreading over the whole pizza. Finally, you could smell and taste this grilled, aromatic sausage in every part of the pizza. To add some more flavor, bacon slices were laid on top. A good proportion of meat and fat in the bacon, made the pizza exact according to the fatness. While cutting it, there was no excessive fat, that could appear on the plate. On top of it were red onion rings and sliced hot, green peppers. These two, so aromatic ingredients were giving an extra aroma while being baked. And of course, grilled from top onions and peppers, taste completely differently than fresh ones or these soaked in the sauce. Finally, what I guess, just before removing the pizza from the oven, an egg was split over it. Only seconds would be needed to be over-easy.
Apart from the richness of flavors, this pizza was also a pleasure to all other senses. Beautiful, colorful and aromatic. Also, while biting it, it was a huge pleasure to taste every little bite. Crunchy, slightly spicy (due to these green, thin peppers) and with a plentiful of unique notes.
Magyar pizza from Pecs
As this Hungarian style pizza was so good, we wanted to check whether that was the case of the restaurant, or whether all Magyar pizzas were so good. That is why we decided to get one in Pecs.
This time, we got it from a restaurant serving both European and Hungarian cuisine. The restaurant was also located in the city center, in the older part of the town. A lot of people sitting inside and outside it, convinced us, to have a meal there too. The Magyar pizza from Pecs was also good, however different from what we ate in Debrecen. Although some ingredients were the same, the way of serving it and mixing was different. There was no such popular sour cream in it, what made a big change in the taste.
The pizza dough was a little bit ticker comparing to the one we had in Debrecen, less baked and hadn’t such a regular round shape as the previous one. Nonetheless, it was equally good. Looking at that pizza, you might have an impression that was really homemade. Saying that, I mean being done by your mum or grandmother. Irregular shapes, not ideal forms, some curves, some visual defects, all that makes it look like done especially for your arrival, by someone who loves you. Of course, I am not saying, that almost perfect forms mean it is a pizza from a supermarket defrosted in a microwave. Nothing like that. But, please admit, that the more standard product you get, the more you think it is done on a big scale.
Coming back to the Magyar style pizza in Pecs. On the irregular, in the shape, dough was a mild tomato sauce with cheese. A regular base for almost all pizzas. Not too spicy, not too aromatic, a classic version that creates a good base or other ingredients. Then, on the cheese were cooked Italian ham slices and thin sausage slices. The sausage was as the one in Debrecen – more like a younger sister of salami, than what we know from hot-dogs. This was a good composition of smoked and grilled salami like sausage with a plain ham. Both flavors were mixing while eating and creating an interesting note. On top of it were red onion rings cut into smaller parts. Sprinkled all over the pizza, were not only looking nicely, but also, were aromatizing the whole pizza almost equally. To finish it in the Hungarian style, big, green and hot peppers were laid on it. Their excessive spiciness could be partially eliminated by easy removing them from the pizza. However, still the dough and the lower ingredients were soaked with their aromas, what was giving this regional flavor. Actually, I liked these peppers a lot, while my husband preferred to leave them apart, or better say, give them to me.
If I had to compare both pizzas, it would be hard for me to say which was better. They were so different, although their name was the same. Maybe, because of the element of a surprise, the Hungarian pizza in Debrecen was a little bit better. By being surprised I mean the way the egg was served. It was interesting to see it served like that.
Let’s have a look at another one pizza. This time, it was not a classic Hungarian style pizza, but still included a lot of local favorite ingredients. We tried it the second day of our stay in Debrecen.
Pork with mustard pizza from Debrecen
This one we had in a restaurant that specialized in Italian dishes. Spaghetti, pastas, focaccias, salads and pizza created the most part of the menu. Apart from that you could find some, so loved by Hungarian people, soups and a gyros plate.
Pork with mustard pizza was completely different from what we expected. The biggest surprise for us was, that there was no tomato sauce! Strange, don’t you think so? Of course, it was also not listed on the ingredients’ list in the menu, however we did not expect it to be missing. Nonetheless, the pizza was good, worth trying and surely worth mentioning. The dough was homemade, of quite a regular, round shape, well baked and thin. After reading the menu, that stated that this pizza should have a pork meat and a sour cream with mustard sauce, we imagined it to be completely different from what we got. We thought, as I wrote before, that on the tomato sauce with cheese would lay small pork chops or minced pork meat. All that would be covered by this cream and mustard sauce, and finally sprinkled with red onion rings. Actually, it definitively, was not like that. It was different from what we expected but good and aromatic. So, how was it?
Instead of a classic tomato sauce was this cream and mustard one. Then, as it should be, mozzarella slices were laid. As neither the cheese nor the sauce was dominating, it was a well-balanced base for next layers. It was mild, but still you could distinguish aromas of the basic layer. Then, on the mozzarella cheese were thinly cut smoked pork slices. They were so good. For me, they tasted more like a Parma ham or a Schwarzwald one. Actually, in both these cases we have pork too, so there was nothing wrong in the description or in the translation. Smoked pork appeared to be a smoked ham in fact. And finally, were chopped red onion rings sprinkled all over the pizza.
This pizza, as I said was so different from all others, that it is impossible to compare it with anything. Different in every aspect. Different from what we expected, different in taste and different in the combination of ingredients. Still worth trying. And it is also a good option for all those, who do not like spicy food. This creamy sauce gives the milder flavor and lets you enjoy the smoked pork.
Unfortunately, Hungarian cuisine or Hungarian style dishes are not something vegetarians or vegans would look for. That is also visible in pizzas. Pizzas with no meat or with no animal products are very rare. Also, gluten free and lactose free options are hardly available. It is still needed to carefully read the menu and be cautious on what you choose. What is good, is the fact, that a lot of restaurants include an information about used allergens and ingredients in their dishes.
But, if you don’t care or don’t have to care about above issues – why not try a Magyar-style pizza and enjoy something, you might not get in any other country?
If you are curious how does Italian cuisine look like in Hungary's neighbour country - Croatia, read these posts: Best Croatian style pizza and Italian top dishes for all pizza lovers in Croatia.
