More and more people are trying and loving plant-based diets. The flavours, colours and ideas are amazing, but beware, the following lines may disturb your taste buds!
György Horváth-Szováti vegan chef, who has been a creative chef and recipe developer for several restaurants. He used to be a carnivore, but switched to a plant-based diet for health reasons a decade and a half ago. Since then, he's asked everyone to do just one thing: try it!
Who is who? György Horváth-Szováti originally trained as an engineering teacher, then changed professions, trained as a chef and trained and worked as a lifestyle counselling therapist. He is a lover and defender of the environment, not only in word but also in practice.
Why more and more people are trying it or switching straight away vegan, to a vegetarian lifestyle?
For me, climate protection is the most important thing, followed by animal rights, but I turned to plant-based eating for my health first. Variations on this are what trigger the change in others, and the test is their curiosity. I don't feel any lack of interest, I just had to get used to it and find the foods and techniques to make delicious meals. The tasters also realise that they can eat a lot of good, tasty, fresh food in a vegan bistro, so they come back to the fact that it may not make them vegetarian, but they love these dishes too. In many cases, I see people who swear by fried meat on Sundays also like to go to vegan places for lunch 1-2 times a week because they like it, but that doesn't make them vegetarians, they just like the taste and variety.
How and on what basis do you put together a weekly menu?
I always try to have a variety, but my main focus is on seasonal, local and nutritious dishes. It's very important for me to source ingredients from local growers and producers when possible, so I rarely have avocados, cashews or quinoa, but of course I do cook for others because a lot of people like it. I'm much more in search of good-tasting broccoli, delicious nuts, which are also used to make colourful, creamy dishes. The variety also lies in the fact that we divide the menu into seasons, i.e. in winter we have nuts, carrots, beetroot, iceberg sprouts, kale, and in summer we have tomatoes, peppers, courgettes, aubergines and whatever else we have in the garden. It's really only limited by your creativity, so you just need to learn the tricks and techniques and you can quickly eat delicious, nutritious food at any time of the day.
„After a while, a plant-based diet is not a hassle, but becomes just as natural.”
Tricks, practices, ideas
The most important thing is to think ahead when cooking. An veganIt's always good to have some cooked or even tinned pulses in the fridge, such as chickpeas, lentils and beans. From there you can whip up a lunch and dinner in no time. It's good to have a food processor (chopper, puree, cream, mince) at home with the perfect consistency and consistency for your meal. meat loafYou can make pasta, pestos and also slice large quantities of vegetables. This is the machine that makes it easier to eat even more plant-based meals, for example. It's exciting to try all kinds of grains, stronger seasonings, and make lots of sauces, dips and creams to go with your meals.
What is the taste of the Hungarian people?
We all know how much we love stews, so I often have some kind of tasty vegetable or legume stew in my kitchen, with a variety of vegetable stews. We love casseroles with lots of sauces, filling and of course hearty soups. We use brewer's yeast, which gives a cheesy flavour, smoked paprika, which gives a dish a “Hungarian” feel. Most of the dishes I make are of my own creation, Thai, Indian or Mexican, and of course Hungarian inspired, and there is the inevitable line of vegan dishes that imitate the well-known dishes: hortobágyi, goulash, etc.
What is your favourite menu item?
It's a very difficult question, but let's go in order! For breakfast you can have a green smoothie with any green leaves, fruits, seeds. I like poppy seed buckwheat porridge with lots of raisins, grated apple and red fruit, for salad this time of year a beetroot and sauerkraut base with a little Dijon mustard-olive oil dressing on top with a big portion of fresh walnuts. I should note here that if you soak the walnuts in a little water, they taste like fresh walnuts and are delicious. For soup, tomato red lentil soup with carrots and garlic is my favourite, and for main course, a good portion of chickpea stew with brown rice and lots of salad. Wow, I was starving.
What do you recommend for beginners, for the more intrepid?
The first thing is to try it, at least for a month and see how it works. Health-wise it makes a lot of positive changes, but I think it also brings a lot of new experiences. You get used to where and what to buy, what to have in your fridge, in the same way. Many people still say that it is more expensive, but I, who eats large portions, although less frequently, can say that it is just a matter of thinking seasonally and creatively, which is economical and does not exclude variety.
