A little less Hungarian...

So I’m the first to admit that cooking is not my forté.  I can do a mean spaghetti dish and some other select recipes that my mom has passed down.  However, since I’ve been here in a foreign country on my own, I’ve been forced to become more resourceful and creative.  I am trying to learn some Hungarian dishes, so I can replicate them when I get home – don’t hold your breath, it’s been a slow process.  BUT, when I was in Budapest a couple weeks ago, I found my first step in the right culinary direction.  It was a kit, put together with all of the “Hungarian” things you’d need to make gulyás.  Now – of course, no Hungarian would actually use this kit, but for those of us who need a little help in the kitchen, it seemed to be the answer to my prayers.  There was a recipe in English, paprika spice, a small pepper, gulyás paste and another spice pack.  As the Hungarian clerk was convincing me that I needed this kit, she also pointed out the special gift in the center of the pack.  There was, sure enough, a small bottle of palinka – paprika palinka to be exact.  She pointed at it and said, “this is a special Hungarian drink” I rolled my eyes, chortled and said “I’m very familiar with palinka.”  She then advised me that you are to drink the shot of palinka prior to beginning the recipe.  Interesting – shouldn’t I be serving it to the guests who will be eating the gulyás, just incase I screwed up the recipe?  At any rate, the question you are all waiting for an answer to, no I have not made the gulyás because the original reason I bought it was as a gift for a friend back home (Colleen) who loves to cook.  I thought she’d like to try some good ‘ole Hungarian dishes.  I told my students that I purchased this kit and they of course told me that I had just become a little less Hungarian.  Dang.