Recipe Part IV / Fisherman's Soup For Christmas

There is always something fishy about Christmas. I mean on the table…
Long tradition that we use to eat fish at Christmas. As I am a half-mermaid [beside I am a fox… merfox? too much anime… nevermind] I die for everything what fish, crayfish and shrimps… the only things I cannot bare to eat is the mussel, scallop, sea cucumber and whatever else and octopuses are sacred for me! I cannot help it I'm Eastern European, beside we have no sea, only a – beautiful – lake and two – also beautiful – rivers. So I mostly eat "our" fishes what more familiar to my taste.
Anyway.
Most of the now living traditions in my country based on Christianity and because of it many ancient folklore traditions of ours fusioned with Christian elements along the centuries [as at many other European countries' as well].

Before Christianity people celebrated the midwinter anyhow as the rebirth of the invincible sun gods. Then in 350 A.D. pope Saint Julius I commanded that the nativity would fell on the day of 25 December and from then on we celebrate the baby Jesus birth on this day [as for me back to sun-gods… ~Ok I like those nativity porcelain scenes before the churches...].
So why we eat fish at Christmas for Christ's sake?! … For Christ's sake.
To the Christians fish symbolizes Christ himself although it's a much ancient symbol [nearly thousands of years old] and not just the fish but the fish eating as well. Fish was known by as the symbol of the "Great Mother". Fish symbolized fertility, birth and the force of women and it always was a major symbol at Midwinter. The word also meant "womb" in some tongues. Egyptians ate fish for the sake of the fertility goddess, I... [You know who]. She wore a fish on her head as well. Scandinavian people ate fish for the sake of their fertility and love goddess, Freya. Romans ate fish on Fridays to celebrate the love Goddess Venus… etc. So the fish-eating ceremony firstly have pagan history.
In Christianity the fish and fishery symbolize Jesus and when Christians were threatened by Romans in the first centuries after Christ, they use it as an own mark. "They used the fish symbol to mark meeting places and tombs, or to distinguish friends from foes…" [1] This was the sign of the 'ichthys' or the sign of Christ himself [ΙΧΘΥΣ/Ichthus greek word means 'fish' but it's an acrostic: Iēsous Christos, Theou Yios, Sōtēr/"Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour" [1]].

As for me I eat fish at Christmas because I want to and our fish soup recipe takes time so I cannot have the patience to do this anytime in the year. But the main reason is that this was my father biggest present for us at every holiday a big bowl of warm Fishermen's soup…

We have different kind of fish dishes, but I think the most common and preferred one at Christmas is this paprikan Fish-soup. It hasn't got a long history at all. This dish became from the fish-paprikash and only about 150 years old.
It has many variations across the country but the main ingredients are the same everywhere: carp, onion, paprika and salt. The method of the making of this soup is also variant by regions: Balaton area, Tisza area, Danube area.
The original idea has been found in an old cook book from 1871. An old cook lady 'Aunt Rézi' noted this soup as 'Fish-paprikash a la fisherman' which was fish paprikash/paprikás in loose sauce. The main point at this soup that you add the ingredients to the pot all at once. They say that the Fisherman's soup is ready when your thumb and first finger stick together in the steam of the soup…

Although we live next to Balaton, my dad used to cook the Szeged/Tisza style Fisherman's soup. When once he had been Szeged for awile, his friend taught him to the Szeged/Tisza way, that is they add different kind of fishes' parts [heads, tails] to the soup and they put through the whole on a sieve before they add the fresh carp fillets ["the noble fish"] at the end.

Slow-cooking Fisherman's Soup a la Szeged/Szegedi Halászlé

Cook it the day before you want to serve it. Need one night for the richer flavour. Oh and the cooking time is almost 4 hours so calculate in it this too if you are planning to try this. Just saying. :)

You'll need to the stock
1 big and 1 medium onion [peeled and diced, can be red onion too]
1 1/3 tablespoons sunflower oil
65 g ground Hungarian paprika [Hot or not it's up to your taste. We have many variations from hot to sweet paprika and we usually mark them by strongness: strong/hottest=csípős or erős, mild hot and sweet=csípős csemege, semi sweet=csemege, Noble sweet="Édesnemes" labels on the packages. Best is the Kalocsai and Szegedi brands.]
4 Fisherman's Soup stock-cubes [there is under Knorr or Maggi brands in Hungary and Knorr is the better]
2 fish heads of smaller Ponty/Common carp [or Harcsa/Catfish or Süllő/Pike-perch] 
3 fish-tails or fins - also of smaller Ponty/Common carp [or Harcsa/Catfish or Süllő/Pike-perch] 
3 whole Jász keszeg/Ide [or Vörösszárnyú keszeg/Common rudd or Dévér keszeg/Common bream, need about max. 25 cm long specimens, offal removed] 
1 tomato [cut into four pieces]
1 yellow bell pepper [cut into four pieces]
about 2 1/2 liter cold water 
1/2 tablespoon salt

You'll need on the following day
2-3 finger-thick Ponty/Common carp fillets [5-6 dkg per piece]
roe of Carp [optional and no need to salt it]

Method to make it

Wash the fish parts, whole ides and carp fillets under cold water until the water is clean. Heads may contain minimal blood so wash them very thoroughly!

Dry the carp fillets with a paper towel. Salt them and put aside them into the fridge along with the roe till next day. Cover them with a kitchen foil.

In a medium-sized pot warm the oil on low heat. Add the onion and the stock-cubes and saute them until the onion is soft and translucent. Stir it constantly!

 
Add the cleaned fish parts, fish tails, the whole ides, tomato, bell pepper, salt and finally the water. Stir it a little as you can. Bring the soup to boil on high heat. After it boils turn the heat to the lowest. Put the lid on but leave a little space for gases. Cook it for 3 hours long. 
If too much water boiled away after 3 hours, add some more. Cook the soup for another 10 minutes.

Then add the paprika and cook the soup for another 30 minutes. 
If the soup is ready [every fish parts are overcooked] take another pot and with a sieve put through the whole soup. Only the pure stock what we need at the end, everything else can go to the dumpster.

So we have a pure deep-red spicy liquid now. Taste the stock whether it's salty enough to your taste. If not, add some more, but it's good if it's not too salty. 
Cool out the soup completely then leave it for one night somewhere in the coldest place in the house without a lid on.

The following day bring the soup to boil again and after it bubbles turn the heat to low and add the pre-salted carp fillets and roe and boil the whole about 10 minutes on low heat. Ready to serve it with fresh bread!

Enjoy it!/Jó étvágyat!

What for sure you can always find on a typical Hungarian Christmas table: cabbage and fish, poppy seed or walnut rolls [bejgli] aaand pálinka in/and for every case… Hahaha

Ancient Hungarian agricultural people as well used to do magic rituals at this time of the year to predict the next year crops and they hoped it will bring good fortune and good health for the whole family too. The symbols of these magic rituals are still on our tables at Christmas although many people just forgot it what those dishes, fruits, seeds, vegetables symbolized many centuries before. So there are some rules around the dinner table what we "need" to eat if we want some good but don't want any trouble for the next year:

1. Eat - something from - beans, peas, lentil, poppy seed, walnut and fish and your following year will be rich in every way [it meant to be good crops]. Especially beans and lentils bring to the eater much money. If it would be such easy… I cannot work only eat. Dream job. Haha  
   
   
2. Our famous poppy seed rolls were used for love magic [to predict one's future husband, thank God I hate poppy seed…] and they gave some to the domestic animals too to guarantee their health to the following year. They leaved a poppy seed roll cake on the table for those whom passed away but want to visit their loved ones once more. They used the walnuts for death magic, for healing and for to keep off bad forces. The apple represented the beauty and health and they used it for love magic and death magic as well. From the Christmas loaf and apples the whole family ate so knew they will stay together in the next year as well. This ritual was important because they believed if someone from the family get into bad ways will remember whom he ate the apples with and go home for good. 
   
   
3. Cabbage also brings richness for the next year. The best is the 'White Beans and Cabbage a la Vecsés'. It brings richness and happyness but only in the toilet, don't daydream... 
   
   
4. They believed that roasted squash and the honey good for throat problems in the winter times and garlic garantees the familys' future. The garlic symbolizes the healthy life and the honey [along with the Hungarian decorated honey gingerbread] symbolizes the sweetness of the life. 
   
   
5. What is important that do not eat winged animal for Christmas because those means bad omen for the next year, they scratching the soil backward instead of the pigs what scratching it forward, so it means the pigs scratching the good fortunes and good forces in front of you while the winged animals do quite the opposite… [2] Damn it's a misfortune I don't like to eat porky things except bacon sometimes. And my traditional dish is after Fish soup is turkey meat … ~Hmm so that is why I'm always run out of luck [and money…] Ancient people were more wise… At least they survived it anyhow.
   

[1] Wikipedia, [2] "Hungarian Etymological Dictionary"

These ancient agricolous traditions still live on in our life, these are ineradicable magic "rituals" of ours, although today youth generation does not care for these things at all [as everything else neither…].

So in Hungary we call the evening of 24 or Christmas Eve as 'Holy Night'/Szenteste when the whole family dinner together and after that they give the presents to each other as well. On 25 and 26 the close relatives visit each other for a holiday lunch or just have a good time together. 

Now as always I celebrate with my lovely mom, my deceased dad's picture and the youngest but naughtiest one in our family…

 ~Oh.. I just imagined how she is hopping happily on my parted bodies and organs… I bet she would do it…  

Relax my tree is the only abnormal here, the family tree is perfectly normal... 

Happy Christmas rein-Dear Reader! [lame joke sorry…]/Boldog Karácsonyt Kedves Olvasó! ✌ See you next year!

finally for "Something Completely Different", a beautiful Hungarian folk song from Márta Sebestyén

 

A Yule Wizarding And Cooking Weekend

Before the Holydays I always hold a Harry Potter movie marathon on the last weekend before Christmas… ~Yeah it needs a whole weekend now, not like 10 years ago when it were only one or two movies… ~Ah memories. I love these books since High School, which was very long time ago now… Haha
I remember I read the first book in the school too and once the history teacher scolded me to read it in the middle of the class. Fortunately he didn't take it from me so I carried on reading when he turned away again… I was a naughty bookworm in those times.
What was funny that around that we learned about dictators and totalitarian dictatorships of the XX. century. So Rowling's book helped me much to understand more this terrible happenings and what can comes into families' and friends' life under a terror. [My father told me so much about dictatorship eras as well, he survived one... not like my grandfather] School history books focus on facts of a regime and year numbers, but not about personal strugglings of the common people. Many kid bored with only written facts [I was too] what were in the past or they can't understand many things because they not lived in those times at all. Where the hell they would know what those fears really about. Potter books help the kids understand easily these terrible eras from the real history only that these stories take place in some kind of imaginary parallel world. And these happenings are not died out from this world at all… [and never will while human lives in this poor planet] As we see dictators come and go freely in the world still today and many teenagers doesn't aware/care about these things at all… Sadly the truth is that not only the society is the main misdoer if an egoist insane man rises up from the mass to dominate, torture and homicide the people, tear apart families or a whole nation. I found a clever saying in a Japanese dorama: "World peace starts with peace at home" … No more comment.
But beside this, Potter books are fun too of course, at length it is written firstly to kids about kids, everyday school problems and everything else what related to childhood and teenhood all packaged in a fantasy "garnish".
I like watching the movies too, but honestly, the books are highly much more than another Hollywood-like fantasy project.

Sorry for the long intro again, but wherever I am and I dare to say I like those Potter books I got it: "Jesus, you like that stupid kids stuff? How old are you silly?" …................... For this nothing to do with the age and these books are definitely not only for children... and I'm really sorry but I have nothing to say to those who only read Danielle Steel-style books and trashy magazines, watch the stupid reality shows and Desperate Housewives-kind series, know nothing about their own country history and their children only cares about their f♥♥♥ing iPhones… ~Oh how I hate these typical people around me… Someone save me from them pleeeease!!! *choking and faint*

So I do this marathon every December but this year I thought I cook "some things" too for this occasion [or the sake of my blog… Haha]

So the menu is…

Cockatrice-a-leekie Soup [Recipes - without the odd fantasy prename of course - from here and here. I mixed the two.]

This wasn't in the book at all, I just wanted to cook something Scottish. The first book completed in Scotland and the most scenes took place there too.
In case if someone not into these books at all: Cockatrice is a magical creature, it’s a rooster with a lizard's tail...

Black Lake Fish & Chips [recipe from Jamie Oliver] 

This also wasn't in the book but I wanted to cook some British food too.
I made it with 'Alaskan pollock' [the only marine fish I could buy here in frozen pack...] and for the batter I used Hungarian Soproni beer. I never drink beer but whom I asked they said that Soproni is one of the most preferred Hungarian beer beside Borsodi. I used a light aled one or what. Me and the beers… Oh and the cashier lady asked me to show my ID card!!!! Am I look under 18 or what? Just one beer I bought for wizard sakes… [in Hungary you will be rated as adult at the age of 18 not 21 like in America for example, so you can’t buy alcohol or cigarette under this age] Maybe she needs glasses…
Black Lake is next to the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and in the deep there lives the huge – but friendly - octopus and the mermaids. 

Rosmerta's Rosmary-Pumpkin Pasties Pies 

According the book the pumpkin pasty is sort of like a Cornish Pasty filled with sweet and spiced pumpkin puree, but I just made an own version pasty and I made it in pie version because I never have the patience rolling out the dough, maybe because our kitchen is extremely small... I just put everything in a muffin sheet... So the non-sweet dough is filled with pumpkin puree, diced smoked bacon [Kolozsváry], caramelized red onion, salt, pepper and much rosmary.
I always liked that Rosmerta character in the story, although she is only in a few scenes. She was the landlady of the Three Broomsticks pub in the fictional village of Hogsmeade. 

Polyspice Potion

It looks more like Butterbeer but without foam…

It's actually my homemade brew without a name [yet] from Earl Grey tea, cinammon, clove, allspice berry, green cardamom, star anise, black peppercorn, ginger, crushed red pepper flake, vanilla, vanilla sugar and at the end I added a little rice milk. But I let the proportions a secret if you don't mind. I am a Winter born girl so I like very much the typical spices of the season - which are common spices in India but nevermind… Haha So it's amost the same as the Massala Chai.
The 'Polyjuice potion' is a magical potion "that allows the drinker to assume the form of someone else".
After a cup of my very strong spice tea I feel I look like a 'fremen' now… Haha
Maybe I should call this brew 'a Bene Gesserit schnaps' or something… Ahaha

Chocolate-bisquit Frogs

 

Coconut-cocoa bisquit with orange-dark chocolate on top. This bisquit was my childhood favourite. An old friend of my mom used to make this for my birthdays. Now I found her own handwritten recipe at last.
In the wizard world the frog-shaped chololate candy can jump, so you need to hurry eat it before it jumps out of your hands [or mouth]. Mine are keep still… ~Boooring

and finally Sweet And Corny Owl Crunchy 

Owls are the main animals in this story. They are not only friends but they deliver the everyday posts too.

This is from unsalted popcorn, Bohóc [orange-rum], Lottó [walnut-rum] and Sport szelet [rum-cocoa] chocolate bar pieces, Francia drazsé candies and tea bisquit… *drooling* Calories go to hell tonight!!! and in whole December…

~Oh It's time… 

 
Now there is nothing left but push the PLAY botton, watch and eat… ~Yippy!

Good Day!/Szép Napot! ✌

Holiday Movie Time

It's Christmas time again. I mean I like Christmas – although nowadays my mood is rather like "Halloween" – but this time of the year is not the same at all without dad. With him the Christmas was always a magical time - and definitely not only from the presents. On our last Christmas with him we just laughed hard on something for hours my Mom and I can't remember at all… Maybe it was something magic in the air to remember…

But life goes on… I try to enjoy Christmas as he always did.

At our home we never hold big parties at Christmas. We liked to celebrate on a cozy and silent way. Personally I prefer watching or reading my childhood favourites with the company of a huge bowl of cookies, popcorn and a big cup of tea and muffle myself up in a warm blanket and try to enjoy the peace for 3 days.

So I prefer more the classic tales and stories, such as Nutcracker, Christmas Carol, Ice Queen, Twelve Months, Blue Bird but there are some modern classics I like as well:

01. The Nightmare Before Christmas – It's on every list of mine, even Easter bunny has a short role in it… Haha

02. A Christmas Carol [1982] - Australian animation. You cannot find this anywhere sadly... I have this on VHS only... It's a pity because it's a very adorable adaptation of the book and the background music is beautiful.

03. A Charlie Brown Christmas - All I need is an abstract dog and 'Frieda-dance'!

04. Twelve Months [1980] - Japanese-Russian animation based on a classic Russian play by Samuil Marshak. Absolute childhood favourite of mine. The play has an earlier Russian adaptation as well, a cartoon from 1956. Also beautiful.

05. Snow Queen [2002] - Athough it's a Hallmark production it's very good. I love the queen's hair...

06. Barbie in the Nutcracker - Laugh if you want I enjoy the Barbie-films, there are much about mermaids and ballet...

07. The Christmas Bunny [2010] - Now this IS a CUTE thing!

08. The Nativity Story [2006] - Probably the only 'Jesus'-film I bear to watch. This is about the nativity but more or less from a historical point of view. 

09. The World Of Peter Rabbit: The Tailor Of Gloucester - Mice of the Day...

10. Illatszertár - a vintage Hungarian TV drama-play. Only in Hungarian.

11. Kwaidan [1964] - It's a Japanese anthology of ghost stories. The second tale is the main point which is about the tale of the Yuki-onna/Snow woman who comes for those travelers whom trapped in snowstorms...

12. The Snow Maiden [1952] - A classical Russian cartoon. It based on the Slavic play by Aleksandr Ostrovsky and the music is from Korsakov's opera "The Snow Maiden". I think those vintage Russian cartoons are more lively than any other Disney films. So fascinating!

13. Twelve Months [1972] - Another version of that play but it's the live-action Russian adaptation. Vintage fantasy movies were much more artistic and inspiring than todays' ones with the piteously much special effects, lame rewrote plot and actors' poor performances... actors? The most is only a good-for-nothing celeb...

14. Tyltyl and Mytyl's Adventurous Journey [1980] - Japanese anime version of Maeterlinck's Blue Bird.

15. Barbie: A Perfect Christmas - I like it and that is that...

16. Tokyo Godfathers - Must see if you missed it! Adorable Japanese anime film about three homeless people and their Christmas adventure on the streets of Tokyo...

17. 8 Women - Now a classic French musical based on the drama play by Robert Thomas, about 8 naughty women and one death [of a man]... Have fun! *wink*

18. A Cosmic Christmas [1977] - short French animation about three aliens who want to know what the Christmas is about. So what it is about then? Ask the French E.T.-s.

19. Yogi's First Christmas - that cute Snagglepuss...

20. Hercule Poirot's Christmas - crime crime crime... What else?

I hope you will find something on my list. They can seem to be boring movies, but not for me and I really can't stand the common 'uproarious-Santa-in-Coca-Cola-red-suit-HohoHo-Joy-to-everyone-and-I-don't-care-if-you-don't-want-it-at-all' and 'giggling and "pranky" Elfs' movies… but what make me to crawl on the wall for sure are the Holiday romantic films... ~Sorry I really can't stand those too. Certainly I'm an alien among my friends and family with my strange movie taste and they always tell me that probably I am the only one on this planet who does not like the "Love, actually"... Am I? I doubt it. The only thing I liked in that film is the housekeeper's tattoo... My friends said then maybe I like that grumpy cat Christmas movie... I don't know... I'm afraid I would feel like I am looking into the mirror... Hahahha

~Oh the "Krampus" movie is totally worth to wach it! I think I haven't laughed this much for a long time…

Happy Watching and Good Day!/Szép Napot! ✌

Popcorn Review

This year's family present…

We eat popcorn on non-human level and microwave popcorn is very salty/unhealthy to eat it almost every evening… and I found on the ebay this nice looking gizmo from Global Gizmos.

It looks like this year's Christmas will be around this white fluffy joy… Among the presents from my friend there was this!

 

It's actually Genmaicha, but the Japanese youth often call it "popcorn tea" because it contains whole roasted grains of brown rice, some of which have popped. ~Yummy

The earliest memory:

In my childhood I loved everything what related to the Disney company. Not like today when Disney society turned into something very weird… and almost every kid celebs whom worked in a Disney show - for too long - will be drug addicts, goners or adult entertainers when they grow up… Interesting…!?! Something is definitely not right at that company beside the amount money they bag… whole Africa would eat normally from that money…

The only thing cartoon companies do well, that the most of the latest animal characters are endangered species, so maybe the next generation will grow up on these serious issues and do something for good... or not.

Anyway.

So I like – the old - Disney things for the same reason as many other people do: cute animals everywhere [although they represent human behaviors but never mind... Haha].

So who remembers this one?

I think this was the first animation I got to like these two clever little chipmunks, but that frog-voiced bastard never leaves them alone… Damn you Duck!

Good Day!/Szép Napot! ✌

Bad Children Beware!

I'm curious about this new "Krampus" movie. I hope it will be what I expect.

At least something fresh for Christmas not again a sirupy red-green-white story about the nothing… ~Hohohowihatethose

And krampuses are living creatures in many European folklore, at first in Styria [Austria]. In the Hungarian folklore they showed up in the end of the XIXth century. We also call them krampusz but here they are mostly two female horned devils [typical line up…] whom help the Hungarian Santa, the Mikulás [came from the Slovakian version Mikuláš, we mean onto Saint Nicholas] or Télapó [the Hungarian kind 'Ded Moroz', Slavic fictional character similar to Father Christmas]. While the Mikulás brings presents for good children, the krapuses bring virgács/silver branches with unopened walnuts to beat and take away the bad ones… ~Hmmm it could be a perfect part-time job for me…

This is my favourite, like a twisted Cupid Haha

[Photos from mtv.co.hu, io9.com, escapistmagazine.com]

Hungarian postcards from the WWI era

[Photos from nagyhaboru.blog.hu]

 

Before 1900, instead of the good old fat Mikulás we had a children terrifying Santa-mixed-with-the-pagan-horned-one or Odin-like dark creature, Miklós/Nicholas with a long chain in his hands… [another kind of educational goal] But this folk tradition lived only in the countryside villages as usually most of the weird traditions...

So when the krampuses appeared in our folklore, the village tradition also changed and that drastic horned Santa with the chain dissapeared…

 

December 6 is the day when Mikulás comes with those devilish girls, not 24 or 25. In the Hungarian folk tradition the little Jesus brings the decorated tree and the presents not Santa. However this whole 'Mikulás tradition' had been changed many times and many ways because of the various political eras along the XXth century… Sounds stupid, huh? But since my childhood the tradition is more or less still the same. Children put their shiny boots in the window at the evening of 6 and the next day they will find small presents and chocolates if they were good along the year… if they were not, they could start praying… Haha

Now, it's not the case with animals of course… My messy bunny, who likes to get into mischief from time to time, always have something tasty anyway… Am I pampering her? Haha

There was a cute book I loved very much in my childhood about two elderly childless couple whom are living in a small house in a garden suburb of Buda [Budapest] with two naughty cats [a grumpy and refined black and a stupid white] and a fumbling dog [Hungarian vizsla]. The cats and the dog are always fighting and pestering each other on very funny ways. At 6th December the cats tell to the dog to put a boot in the window, because Mikulás will bring something tasty for him. That poor dog happily put the owner’s boot in the window and go to sleep to dream about the various presents he will get… meanwhile the two naughty cats catch the Mikulás at that night to tell him, that chocolates are bad for the childrens' teeth, why doesn't he bring some sausages and bacons instead. The Mikulás likes the idea and quickly buys cold cuts in the nearby butcher's. So he put in the dog's boot bacon and others. The cats waits for the Mikulás to pass to take out the cold cuts from the boot to hold a big cat party at the attic… 

Sometimes the original J.Pukki comes to Hungary as well, in Veszprém too, although I never saw him. I met with the Mikulás [who was an annoying old man from this town…] only once. I was about 5 or 6 years old when my father brought me to the local kid center to meet the Mikulás. When it was my turn the Old Fat Man asked me to sing something for everyone. Problem. I loved to sing but not in public. So I was just honest to say him "I don't want to". Then he said loudly: "Disobedient children can't have chocolate." [???] So I said: "Ok, I have got at home anyway, bye." [I meant "F♥♥♥ you" in child language…] Then my father silently brought me home… So this was the first and last occasion I met with "him"… and enough for a lifetime for me… After this I think krampuses are more fun to meet. Haha

Good Day!/Szép Napot! ✌