Jeremy Salamon Updates Paprikash And Other Hungarian Dishes In A Colorful Cookbook

Grandparents are often nan gatekeepers of our earliest culinary memories. Jeremy Salamon, a 2nd procreation Hungarian Jew successful New York, carries nan torch of his grandma, Agi, astatine his Crown Heights restaurant, Agi’s Counter. He shares his cooking and his grandmother's contented successful recipes that spell measurement beyond borscht successful his cookbook Second Generation: Hungarian and Jewish Classics Reimagined for nan Modern Table.

Evan Kleiman: Hi, Jeremy. Your book is conscionable truthful beautiful. Often erstwhile we deliberation of Eastern European foods of immoderate kind, we thin to deliberation of them successful a darker palette, but nan nutrient is conscionable truthful vibrant and filled pinch color.

Jeremy Salamon: Yeah, that was done connected purpose. We wanted it to beryllium different amongst nan different Hungarian and Eastern European cookbooks. We wanted to guidelines retired and beryllium a younger type of each of it.

Could you stock a mates specifications astir nan early lives of your grandparents, Agi and Steve? What memories do you person of visiting them arsenic a child, possibly thing she prepared for you and your relative successful nan kitchen?

I person a batch of very fond puerility memories visiting Grandma Agi. My parents would driblet america disconnected astatine their small flat connected nan 3rd level successful Boca Raton rather frequently, because my mom was a coach and my dada owned a drugstore pinch my different grandfather, my paternal grandfather. We would spell walk weekends astatine Grandma Agi’s house. 

The location ever smelled of frying chickenhearted cutlets and grease, and she would shake hands america astatine nan beforehand doorway pinch these large glasses, and she would deterioration this leopard aliases a cheetah printed gown, and she would person cocoa milkshakes successful her hand. It was conscionable this fantastical, whimsical puerility of cocoa fizz and palascinta rolled crepes and fried pork and chickenhearted cutlets and fairy tales were publication to america rather regularly. Yeah, it was a very charming puerility memory,

I person to say, erstwhile I deliberation of Hungarian food, 1 of nan superior foods I deliberation astir are palascinta. Can you picture what they are and really you ate them?

Palascinta is fundamentally a stuffed crepe. It's made pinch egg, flour, milk, and soda water. So they're a spot springier than nan mean crepe, and traditionally, they would beryllium stuffed pinch a farmer's food aliases quark, immoderate benignant of caller cheese, and apricot jam. They're rolled past vanished pinch a cocoa condiment and possibly a seed aliases a cinnamon herb substance would spell connected top. 

Grandma Agi would service them to america open, and she would person a large stack of them pinch a screen complete it truthful they could enactment warm. And she would put retired each these mini accoutrement bowls that had cinnamon sweetener aliases maraschino cherries aliases whipped pick and 4 different kinds of jam. She utilized to telephone it "Palascinta Americana." It was this type that was a DIY, create-your-own palascinta. So a small different than nan accepted Hungarian-style.

Jeremy Salamon named his Crown Heights restaurant, Agi's Counter, aft his grandmother, who would shake hands him astatine nan doorway of her Boca Raton flat successful large glasses and a cheetah people gown pinch milkshakes successful hand. Photo by Ed Anderson.

I emotion that. What a loving point to do for your grandchildren.

Yeah, it was. It was surely thing that's stuck successful my encephalon and successful my palate for a very agelong time, and it's thing that I emotion to break retired astatine parties. Even arsenic an adult, it's conscionable thing that is nosy and nostalgic, and you get to usage your hands. It's a beautiful dish.

Was location a infinitesimal that propelled you into reconnecting pinch your Hungarian heritage?

My narration pinch Hungarian nutrient erstwhile I was younger, it existed. My grandma made paprikash and goulash and nokedli, these dumplings, and Hungarian was spoken successful nan location betwixt her and my begetter and my uncle. But I thought that was normal. I would person this benignant of Hungarian life connected a Sunday aliases Saturday night, past spell to schoolhouse nan adjacent day, and would show group that I had goulash and I'd opportunity words successful Hungarian, and group would beryllium like, "What?" But it conscionable was very overmuch 2nd quality to me. 

As I sewage older, Grandma Agi, she didn't really want maine cooking. She felt for illustration a man needed to beryllium cooked for. I was very willing successful French cuisine and Italian and past I realized that I wanted to create thing that was typical and unsocial to maine and my food. In bid to do that, I had to spell backmost and research my past and my roots. That's erstwhile I revisited Hungarian cuisine. And I've really recovered a cookbook called The Cuisine of Hungary by George Lang, and it was an aged copy.

Such a awesome book.

It's truthful detailed, and he has nan astir magical measurement of describing nutrient and describing history, which I did not for illustration successful school, and could not publication a textbook for my life. It's a hefty history conception connected Hungary, nan opening of nan book. I was conscionable truthful fascinated and enlightened by it, and to observe that Hungarian cuisine, aliases this Eastern European cuisine, had these beautiful roots of being influenced by. Of course, location was a batch of warfare to get there, but nan nutrient itself is really influenced by a batch of different different cuisines and spirit profiles and trades and etc, etc. It's benignant of for illustration an onion, and I peeled it backmost and was capable to find different spirit profiles that were caller and breathtaking to me. That's really really I started pinch nan conception of, "Well, what if Hungarian cuisine could look for illustration this today?"

What is nan first point we should cognize astir Hungarian cuisine? Paint a image of nan palate, your Hungarian nutrient palate for us.

So my Hungarian nutrient palate is decidedly unsocial to me. For one, I deliberation of chromatic fruits. I don't deliberation nan mean personification thinks of consequence erstwhile they perceive "Hungarian cuisine." You mightiness deliberation of paprika, if you cognize thing but chromatic fruits turn chaotic each complete Hungary — cherries, apricots, plums. I ever grew up loving each of them. I would turn up pinch chilled cherry crockery and plum dumplings and apricots connected apical of my pork chops. I really wanted to return that conception and grow it. We sphere a batch of our ain chromatic fruits astatine Agi’s Counter, and we pickle a batch of chromatic fruits and they're truthful awesome because they're precocious successful acidity and they're very floral. 

Also successful Hungarian cuisine, there's soup. I deliberation of soup, which is specified a communal food, and it's thing that my grandma ever had astatine nan table. There were astatine slightest 2 soups, and 1 mightiness person been chilled, nan different 1 was much of a hot, stewy soup. At my restaurant, I do aggregate different soups passim nan year, and we benignant of play pinch nan different profiles.

I want to talk astir a mates of your takes connected accepted Hungarian nutrient dishes that instantly travel to mind. One is schnitzel. You person a vegetarian return connected schnitzel that I deliberation is truthful smart. What rootlike do you use?

I usage turnips, which person this really awesome texture erstwhile they're steamed. They're somewhat watery but they're besides meaty astatine nan aforesaid time, and underneath this coating of breadcrumbs and seasoning is simply a really invited astonishment because it's not excessively heavy. It's not for illustration you're biting into a pork cutlet, which is delicious, but I deliberation it's a really awesome replacement to nan dish, conscionable a reimagining of it. It's a awesome measurement to get your children to eat their vegetables successful disguise. So yeah, it's a nosy dish. 

Jeremy Salamon updates accepted dishes successful "Second Generation," an ode to his Hungarian Jewish roots. Photo courtesy of Harvest.

I person to inquire you astir chickenhearted paprikash. You person really 2 versions of it, a accepted type and past a 2nd procreation version. First, could you talk astir nan kinds of paprika that you for illustration to use?

I emotion to usage saccharine paprika but besides basking paprika, and I americium not constricted to smoked paprika arsenic well, which is little commonly utilized successful Hungarian cooking. I deliberation astir folks probably, if they usage paprika, it's going connected nan apical of your Thanksgiving mashed potatoes, to springiness it immoderate color. But there's this misunderstanding of paprika, and location really is simply a spirit to it.

One point that I deliberation group should cognize if they're going to make paprikash is that they shouldn't usage a tin of paprika that's been connected their support for 20 years. They should bargain a marque new, beautiful crushed herb that is ace reddish pinch summertime peppers.

Absolutely. Paprika should beryllium this ruby reddish color, if it's anything, but you're not getting nan existent deal. I will opportunity that it is simply a struggle to find existent paprika successful Hungary. Right now, I'm utilizing Burlap & Barrel, which I mentioned successful nan book. They're a awesome herb company. They've really done their homework, and they person a saccharine paprika called noble saccharine paprika and erstwhile toasted, because you're expected to toast nan paprika very quickly, for for illustration 5 to 10 seconds, it releases this beautiful spirit floor plan that is existent to nan paprika flavor, which is chopped and of its own. I don't deliberation astir Americans cognize what that really tastes like.

Could you concisely show america nan quality betwixt nan 2 chickenhearted paprikash dishes you make — nan accepted one, and this 2nd gen one?

The accepted paprikash is very simple. It's going to beryllium chickenhearted thighs, high-quality paprika, onions, nan broth, nan sour cream, and it is beautiful religious to nan original chickenhearted paprikash, particularly nan 1 that my grandma would make. 

The unfaithful type pairs my emotion of roast chickens pinch a reimagining of paprikash. In my humble opinion, I deliberation roast chickenhearted should ever beryllium vanished pinch a dressing aliases immoderate benignant of acidity. So I made a paprikash dressing, if you will, and it smothers nan chickenhearted afterwards, while it's still basking and roasted and juicy and sticky, and it conscionable settles into nan chicken. The chickenhearted absorbs each of it, and I propulsion a bunch of caller dill connected apical of it. That's my reimagining of nan dish.