Eating and Drinking
Even under Communism, Hungary was renowned for its abundance of food: material proof of the "goulash socialism" that amazed visitors from Romania and the Soviet Union. Nowadays, there is more choice than ever, particularly in Budapest, where almost every cuisine in the world is available. For foreigners the archetypal Magyar dish is "goulash" - historically the basis of much Hungarian cooking . The ancient Magyars relished cauldrons of gulyas (pronounced "gou-yash"), a soup made of potatoes and whatever meat was available, which was later flavoured with paprika and beefed up into a variety of stews, modified over the centuries by various foreign influences. Hungary's Slav neighbours probably introduced native cooks to yogurt and sour cream - vital ingredients in many dishes - while the influence of the Turks, Austrians and Germans is apparent in a variety of sticky pastries and strudels, as well as recipes featuring sauerkraut or dumplings. Another influence was that of France, which revolutionized Hungarian cooking in the Middle Ages and again in the nineteenth century. Today, the influences are "international", with fast food such as pizzas, hamburgers and kebabs spreading from the capital to provincial towns, and even signs of vegetarian food and nouvelle cuisine .
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