Bourgeois Hungarian cuisine at the Golden Bastion

The bourgeois kitchen

The bourgeois cuisine is one of the traditions of 19th and 20th century Central Europe, mainly of Royal Hungary, which was characterised by the eating habits of the bourgeois families. It is an important part of the cultural heritage, reflecting sophistication, wealth, social status and building on elegant dining. In addition to the quality of the food, it also emphasises the ceremonial form of the meal, so the cultural content of the elegant setting is important. The menus consist of several courses, often including starters, main courses, side dishes and desserts.

Variety is the hallmark of bourgeois cuisine, which has its roots in a number of elements that are sometimes distant from each other. This diversity is reflected in the use of ingredients - different meats, fish, vegetables, pasta, exciting spices - in a variety of cooking techniques and cultural traditions, creating colourful dishes with a rich flavour. Classic recipes (e.g. goulash soup, stews, broths, roasts) are a dominant part of bourgeois feasts, based on traditional family recipes, handed down from generation to generation. The serving was usually elaborate and the presentation formal.

Among the bourgeoisie and the rising middle classes, long-term study abroad, longer study trips and working abroad were typical, thus becoming more familiar with European and overseas cuisines. The emergence of a new form of leisure in the mid-19th century, tourism, which now reached a wider public, further intensified the cross-cultural flow of gastronomy. The bourgeoisie, and later the middle classes, travelled more and more, encountering other gastronomic cultures and bringing home more and more consciously the dishes they had enjoyed abroad.

The culture of Hungarian cuisine and the development of bourgeois cuisine

The culture of Hungarian cuisine is the result of a long, historical development, influenced by Hungary's natural endowment, the Turkish conquest (when pork and fat consumption became central), the Austrian rulers on the Hungarian throne, dualism, and centuries of social, ethnic and political change.

The bourgeois cuisine developed between the reform era and the beginning of the 20th century. The emergence of the bourgeoisie in Hungary started from two directions. On the one hand, there was a demand for bourgeoisie among the Hungarian landed gentry and noble intelligentsia, and on the other hand, there was a growing number of immigrants and assimilated citizens, mainly Germans and Jews, who were increasingly settling in the 18th and 19th centuries. The immigrants brought with them, among many other things, their food culture. The domestic peasantry also contributed to the gastronomic culture of the emerging bourgeoisie. Although the rise of the agrarian society was slow and sluggish even in the 20th century, the servants and cookesses who worked for bourgeois, noble families introduced many rural elements into the bourgeois cuisine.

This period created the basis of Hungarian cuisine: fat and paprika were introduced from the peasant kitchen and became the basis of many dishes. It was also the time when stews with stir-fried vegetables came into fashion. In addition to cream, sour cream also played an important role in the dishes, which was really unique in Hungarian gastronomy. It was also at this time that the fat and breadcrumbs became known (a French way - the 'roux'), which came to us through Viennese mediation. András Tusor: Gastronomy - The development of Hungarian cuisine and gastronomy In his book "Tusorus, Tusor of Hungary", he mentions that "From the 19th century, we already know Hungarian cuisine from the descriptions of many travellers. The people of Pest love fried chicken just as much as the Viennese. Several travellers recommend goulash and chicken with paprika. In restaurants, almost all dishes are paprika-coated, there is fish with paprika, meat with paprika, bacon with paprika. The French influence can be felt on menus, with words such as galantin, omlette, mayonnaise, cotelette, escalop, saufé, etc. Rhineland salmon, Westphalian ham and Pomeranian goose breast are also on the menu, alongside a relatively small proportion of Hungarian dishes."

Bourgeois cuisine & restaurants

By the end of the 18th century, the triple diet (breakfast, lunch, dinner), which had become established in the upper classes, was extended to most social classes by the end of the 19th century. It was also during this period that the domestic catering industry grew in strength, as the Hungarian food choice expanded.

Austrian and French cuisine had a clear influence on Hungarian cuisine, so to emphasise its uniqueness, paprika was added to almost every Hungarian dish.

This period also saw the appearance of one-dish, substantial soups, such as the Jókai bean soup. Habsburg rule further enhanced the Austrian influence, with the spread of fried meat (Wiener schnitzel) being a Viennese influence.

Domestic restaurants, by the first half of the 19th century, often offered a 5-course menu: first a broth with boiled beef (Tafelspitz-'plate meat'), followed by pasta dishes, meat dishes, side dishes, and then desserts.

The most typical Hungarian dishes:

• Starters: usually cold: pâtés, stuffed eggs, pickled fish
• Soups: goulash soup, meat soup, Jókai bean soup, egg soup, vegetable soups.
• Meat dishes: stews, casseroles, roasts, venison, stuffed meats, fried meat.
• Fish dishes: fish soup, fried fish.
• Pasta: cottage cheese choux, cabbage cvekedli.
• Side dishes: buttered rice, casserole potatoes.
• Desserts: pancakes (Gundel pancakes), bread rolls, drumsticks, custard-cream desserts.

Bourgeois Hungarian cuisine at the Golden Bastion

With the introduction of a new menu in 2025, the backbone of the menu at the Golden Bastion will be the dishes of bourgeois Hungarian cuisine, which hark back to tradition but also respond to the contemporary spirit's demands for freshness and lightness. The aim is to give guests a taste of the classic Budapest bourgeoisie atmosphere - a bourgeois villa building, a contemporary art gallery in the restaurant, live music - and the elegance and diversity of gastronomy, made even more memorable with live classical and café music on Saturdays.

Just as many members of the 19th century bourgeoisie were keen to develop and showcase the values of our country, the Golden Bastion is an excellent place to learn about the cultural values of our country - gastronomy, music, fine arts. The Hungarikum menu, created in the spirit of the gastronomic culture of the bourgeois cuisine, presenting the best of Hungarian gastronomy and food preparation in a changing range of offerings, the works of contemporary Hungarian artists exhibited periodically in the restaurant, the live classical and café music, made incomparable by the Hungarian cimbalom, also Hungarikum, all guarantee a comprehensive cultural experience.

Sources:

https://hu.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magyar_konyham%C5%B1v%C3%A9szet

András Tusor: Gasztronomia - The development of Hungarian cuisine and gastronomy. Hungarian Electronic Library.

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