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July 3, 2008

Kürtös Kalács

Kürtös Kalács or Kürtőskalács originates from Transylvania, which was part of Hungary for several periods in history, and the name originates from the Hungarian word kürtő, that means stovepipe. It is a yeast-raised pastry that is sold at street corners in Hungary.

It is flavored with sweet spices and nuts. The most common being cinnamon, almonds, walnuts and sugar, they are cooked using skewers and they sprinkle sugar on the pastry and let it caramelize over open fire.


On my short trip to Budapest I also had one of these delicious kürtös kalács while we had a walk on the Chain Bridge that is closed for cars
on weekends. Therefore there are many vendors on the bridge selling Hungarian handmade specialties and you can listen to street musicians.


Among the anecdotes relating to the bridge,
the most popular is that the lions were sculpted without tongues and the sculptor was mocked so much that he jumped into the Danube in shame.

10 comments:

  1. Not to be a pain... chriesi... but Transilvania was never a part of Hungary. It was a part of the Austrian - Hungarian Empire which is a pretty big difference. Transilvania has always been Romanian no matter what other people like to say... Like the pictures though :)

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  2. Love the blogg with all good food... and pictures :)

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  3. Hey D,
    Between 1003 and 1526, Transylvania was a voivodeship of the Kingdom of Hungary, led by a voivod appointed by the Hungarian King. After the Battle of Mohács in 1526 Transylvania became effectively an independent principality ruled primarily by Calvinist Hungarian princes. Afterward, in 1566, Hungary was divided between the Habsburgs and the Turks, with the Transylvanian principality maintaining autonomy as an Ottoman subject.

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  4. 1. The name of kürtős kalács DOES NOT originates from the hungarian word kürt (that in contrast of your statement is just horn and not animal horn). The name originates from the hungarian kürtő, that means stovepipe. Another name with the hungarian kürtő is kürtőkalap (cilinder) that means stovepipe hat.

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  5. @Katzir1955: Ah, thank you for the information! I am going to correct this!

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  6. I am British and fell in love with the Kurtos Kalacs so much that I now sell the specialist ovens which you cook the pastrys in!
    I ship them all over the world along with Kurtos-kalacs accessories, recipes and instructions of how to make them.
    Check out www.kurtos-kalacs.com We sell a gas or an electric version.
    These machines are ideal for coffee shops, catering trailers, shopping centres, cafes, kiosks ....

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  7. Your Kurtos kalacs has a slovak origin, look at this: http://www.skalica.sk/cest_ruch/trdelnik/index.en.php?lang=en

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  8. Slovakia it was hungarian too and the eastern part was part of transilvanian vivodship too so there are any contradiction that this cake is originated from there.

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  9. Ivan: Did you read at all what is on the page you linked?
    Probably not, or you would not talk rubbish:

    "Later he (Earl József Gvadányi) employed a cook from Transylvania and he brought a recipe for “trdelník“."(to Skalica)

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  10. How to make bomlins suffered with pulms

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