Down in the Hortobágy - the story of the Hortobágy meat pancake

Let's admit among ourselves, dear reader, that the reputation of the Hortobágy pancake, or more commonly known as the Hortobágy meat pancake, is unfortunately not particularly good. Everyone has probably come across an unsolicited consultant who considers himself to be particularly knowledgeable in gastronomy and who has pointed out that you should never, ever order this dish from the menu in a restaurant, because it is always filled with stew left over from the day before, and can therefore never be truly fresh. This statement may have been true in Hungary in the 1980s, but believe us, this has changed since then, and this dish is now second only to goulash on the bucket list of almost every tourist visiting Hungary.

Hortobágy pancakes, or Hortobágy meat pancakes, are actually a savoury pancake batter filled with minced stew and served with a sauce made from sour cream and stewed gravy. It is usually found on menus as an appetizer, but as it is a hearty one-dish meal, it can also be served as a main course.

History of the Hortobágy meat pancake

The first authentic records of meat pancakes date back to 1909, when a recipe for pancakes stuffed with chicken stew first appeared in the cookery section of the 'Divat újság'.

The next significant date was 1920, when the Tolnai Printing and Publishing Company, based in Budapest, published a 'Ragyogó szakácskönyv' (Brilliant Cookbook), in which it referred to the dish as 'pancakes stuffed with paprika chickpeas'.

In a 1932 recipe, however, one of the main ingredients had already been changed, as the chicken stew had been replaced by veal or lean pork, for which the instructions specified that the cooked stew should be minced after removing it from the stock, mixed with the appropriate quantity of stew stock and sour cream, and then baked for 10-12 minutes in the pancake batter.

The year 1939 is clearly associated with Andrea Lemhényi Dávid Kolmann, as far as pancakes with meat are concerned, since she writes about the dish in her book 'A textbook on practical cooking for a hundred lunches' and clearly recommends preparing it with veal stew. And so we come to 1958, when perhaps the most interesting thing happens to the pancake: it is given the name "Hortobágy".

But why Hortobágy?

It so happened that in 1958 everyone was in a fever for the World Fair in Brussels. The Hungarian leadership of the time did not leave the Hungarian stand to chance, delegating the best chefs of the time and the most serious experts in Hungarian gastronomy at the time to the task. The kitchen of the Hungarian pavilion, for example, was led by the chef János Rákóczi, who had visited Paris before the war and was also the father of the still famous and popular cake, Rákóci cottage cheese.

One of the Hungarian chefs had a brainwave and on the menu for the Hungarian pavilion, which included dishes such as Balaton tartare, virgin's blood with lechós, chicken with paprika, Transylvanian woodcock, strudel, Budapest beef and Somló dumplings, he named the dish he said he had created especially for the exhibition Hortobágy pancakes. The dish was not a new invention, of course, but a recipe prepared as described above and had little to do with chikósok or goulash, and thus of course nothing to do with Hortobágy, the name was a simple marketing term of the time, but it has forever entered the lexicon of Hungarian gastronomy.

If you would like to taste how we here at KIOSK prepare Hortobágy pancakes, don't hesitate to come and see us, where we will prepare them for you with torn chicken meat, paprika sauce and pickled peppers.