August 16, 2010: Budapest Central Market

August 16, 2010: Guess what? There's more to Budapest than the Vaci utca (Vaci Street) area! Today after I arose from eight hours (give or take) of sleep and went for breakfast at the restaurant around the corner, I asked the waiter for directions to the market, which according to my recollection from Ruth and my trip to Budapest in 2006 is two bridges west from where I am. The waiter confirmed my memory, and I ventured towards the market. Before going to the market I prepared a list of things I would purchase, translating each into Hungarian using my dictionary. I decided to make an easy recipe (spaghetti) requiring minimal ingredients. Then off to the market I went (see pictures).
You can see that the street leading to the market is wider than the streets around Vaci utca. Then the market suddenly appears - a beautiful stone faced building with all sorts of bustling activity. Walking into the market is to be immersed into a beehive of activity. Stalls line every alleyway on the main floor and the second floor is devoted to Hungarian fast food, embroidered tablecloths, Hungarian souvenirs, and other crafts. My first purchases were ground beef, onions, garlic, tomatoes, garlic, mushrooms (The old lady who tended the mushroom stall scolded me with "No! No!" when I attempted to select my own mushrooms -- apparently only vendors are allowed to touch mushrooms). Unfortunately I couldn't buy black pepper in the small quantity I needed (ditto for bay leaves), so my first batch of spaghetti may be a bit flavorless. (see photos)

You can see that each stall has a sloping board on which are placed all the produce so that a shopper can view everything easily. In searching for the above ingredients I fortuitously came upon some great looking plums and my beloved grapefruit! I had thought I'd have to go grapefruitless while in Hungary, but I was incorrect in that assumption! After purchasing these things I bought six eggs (only one cracked on the way home), some wonderful bread (Hungarian bread makes Panera and La Brea breads look like biscuits), some tomato sauce, butter, and noodles (not spaghetti noodles but close enough)! Then I went upstairs to see what was sold there (see pictures)!





































A few random comments about life in Hungary:

• Restaurant service tends to be slow -- deliberately slow. It seems you have to beg them to bring you your bill. This morning the waiter put my check on my table telling me "You asked for this?" to which I said "no". He was very apologetic. Later when he returned to collect the money he apologized again for bringing my check so early in the meal.
• There are signs of construction everywhere you look (see picture). As I explained in an earlier posting, WW2 affected Hungary significantly and they still haven't yet restored all the buildings to the beauty they possess. Fortunately they are not being torn down in favor of new construction but they are slowly being rebuilt.
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• Weather has been extremely humid. However, in the early evening after the sun has set, it's wonderful to take a leisurely walk in the cool evening air.
• On the way home, a group of young (German?) teens approached me showing me a picture of a building asking if I knew where it is (I didn't). Apparently they were on a scavenger hunt and had to identify the building. Another group came to me later and showed me a grouping of eight 8X11" pieces of paper with a bunch of dots (obviously an image that had been magnified thousands of times to create the dots). They asked me if it was the central train station but of course I didn't know. What a great way to introduce kids to a city!

After the Central Market: After unpacking my groceries at home, I ventured to look in the small market just next to the apartment. Fortunately I was able to find sugar and black pepper so it looks like my spaghetti won't be as bland as feared. The market also sells spaghetti noodles, but the noodles I purchased at the market will be just fine.

Although I plan on cooking spaghetti for dinner, I thought I'd try out the goulash soup I saw for sale in a bistro near the apartment. Goulash soup (at least what I tasted at this bistro) is very similar to vegetable beef soup but the beef chunks are a bit bigger (and very tender). It came with a half loaf of French bread. I must say that the breads in Hungary are a real treat.

While at the bistro (I ate outside under an umbrella along with all the other customers), the sky became a dark black and eventually the waiters urgently ushered us inside and moved all the tables, chairs, and served food there to protect the customers from what looked like a bad storm. Since I had finished eating, I patiently waited for them to move everyone in and then paid and left to go home before I got stuck. On the way home I saw bright streaks of lightning come down. I made it into the apartment just in time. It is now pouring rain. Glad I didn't choose to go somewhere far away today.

Later in the evening: Well, the spaghetti came out just fine -- except

• I couldn't find a can opener. Fortunately the little supermarket next to the apartment sold them.
• the can of tomato sauce I thought I had purchased turned out to be canned tomatoes instead so my spaghetti was sauceless and tomato pasteless in addition to oreganoless and bay leafless. (It still tasted okay)
• only one burner on the stove seems to work so I had to make the spaghetti sauce and then boil water for the noodles
• I couldn't find a pan large enough for the sauce so I made only half a batch. I probably shouldn't have purchased so much ground beef anyway (purchased 1 kg since I don't know how to say "half" in Hungarian yet). Looks like I'll be eating spaghetti for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!