It is safe to say that chowder is a national treasure! There are no number of recipes that are made from it. Whether it's from the countryside, a home recipe or even a well-known chef's recipe, we can be sure that each one is a little different. Different, but the same!
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The chowder itself
According to many researches and the information found in the folklore, it can be stated that the fish juice is actually a fish paprika dish that has been left on for a long time. The cookbook of Aunt Rézi Szegedi, published in 1871, contains one of the original recipes. As it was called then, „Fish paprikás with fish”. This meant at that time that every single raw material were thrown into the pot at the same time and left to cook while they did their work. The main ingredient was really whatever they were catching, but mostly carp was available at the time. The seasoning was not complicated. Onions, red pepper and time to cook, maybe that's all it takes the secret. There were/are several ways of making it, some who swear by passing and some who are against it. But one thing is for sure, until your fingers are sticky from the money, don't take it off the fire. Like goulash, this dishalso our speciality in one, so it's best cooked in the pot.
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An old chowder recipe from Lake Balaton:
„He rose in the morning at sunrise, and behold the waves of Lake Balaton. He counted what the waters in it were full of food. He took what he could find. A tiny cup, and meat was always eating. He went to the mountain where the grapes ripen and the wine is made, and then he made the pot, and the water of the lake was in it. The fish is placed in it, and with it what nature has given, and on the wood we play with crackling fire is the divine suggestion of the science of cooking. The salt of the good Creator, the chopped onion, and the fish in the boiling mixture. The blessing of the garden is parsley, and the grass of the cuckoo, and in the bubbling of all these he makes the parika. To see it boil, in a wine-boiler, with a privilege, and the passing of the time, the dish-cloth is made.”
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Inexhaustible sources of chowder
Theoretically, the real Hungarian fish soup can only be made from carp, but this is a matter of debate among experts. Obviously, it depends on the type of fish, since some fish whose flesh is so becomes soft, that it simply falls apart. This is the case for fish with softer flesh, such as pike or perch. These are used as a supplementary ingredient to the chowder, but they help to make it denser, the brew will taste better. If you really want to make a Hungarian fish soup, don't even think about sea fish! Onions and real paprika, which are the most important ingredients of fish soup besides fish, are extremely important!
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Classification of fish soups
If you want to categorise chowders, there are three groups. These are Danube chowder, Tisza chowder and Balaton chowder. However, there are many other options available to fish soup producers outside the main groups.
Danube, Tolna, Baja, Paks, Komárom, Mohács, Szigetközi, Tisza, Szeged, Szolnok, Tisza wine, Balaton, Füredi, Lelle fish soup. We could go on and on!
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The favourite of foreign tourists
A restaurant with something to offer, especially in season, you should put the chowder on the menu. There are many dishes that tourists visiting our country are curious about, but fish soup always takes the cake. Like goulash, it's what our gastronomy is identified with. What they expect from us is that it should be made from river fish, from local fish, that it should be paprika-flavoured and that it should be deep red in colour. It's really just a question of serving it in small vinaigrettes, not to mention the crusty fresh bread that goes with it.#
