What should you buy at a Hungarian supermarket or the Great Market Hall, and which paprika is the one to get?

Paprika, which is the whole point

Hungarian paprika is sold in tins and bags, graded by heat and origin. Szegedi and Kalocsai are the two protected regions.

Édes means sweet, félédes is semi-sweet, and csípős is hot. Most Hungarian cooking uses the sweet or semi-sweet, with heat coming from elsewhere.

Good paprika is bright red and smells sweet and peppery. If it is dull brown and smells of nothing, it has been on the shelf too long — this is common in export markets and rare in Hungary.

Gulyáskrém is paprika paste in a tube, and it is the practical version for anyone who does not want to carry a tin.

The preserved and cured shelf

Pick salami (Pick szalámi) is the national salami, sold in every supermarket, and it travels well. Téliszalámi is the winter salami and the best of them.

Libamáj is goose liver, sold fresh, tinned or as pâté. The tinned version is a legitimate souvenir and travels far better than fresh.

Túró is curd cheese, used in both sweet and savoury dishes, and it does not travel — eat it there.

Unicum is a herbal liqueur, bitter and strong, and pálinka is fruit brandy, often homemade.

Wine, and the one that matters

Tokaji Aszú is the sweet white wine, made from botrytised grapes, and it is the single most important Hungarian product. It is sold by puttonyos — a measure of sweetness — and the higher numbers are sweeter and more expensive.

The dry whites — Furmint and Hárslevelű — are the same grapes made dry, and they are excellent value and much less known.

Egri Bikavér (Bull's Blood) is the red, and it is better than its tourist-shop reputation suggests.

Seasonal shelves worth timing a trip for

Paprika harvest is late summer into early autumn, which is when fresh peppers fill the markets.

Márton's Day in November is the traditional goose day, and restaurants and shops lean into goose dishes.

Christmas brings bejgli, the rolled poppy-seed or walnut cake, and fish soup on Christmas Eve.

Easter brings kalács and smoked ham, and the markets fill with painted eggs.

Our Central Europe food guide covers the dishes themselves rather than the shopping list.

Frequently asked questions