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

> Hungarian supermarkets sell paprika, Pick salami and Tokaji far cheaper than abroad. Which paprika to buy, and what the seasonal shelves hold.

- Source: https://clevertourists.com/resources/what-to-buy-at-a-grocery-store-in-hungary
- Authors: Evan & Clara, Clever Tourists (first-hand, from years of travel across 20 countries)
- Published: 2025-12-18

Hungary is a country where the supermarket shelf and the market stall sell genuinely different quality. **Tesco**, **Auchan**, **Spar** and **CBA** are the big chains; the **Great Market Hall** in Budapest and the local *piac* are where the paprika, salami and produce are actually good. Buy paprika by smell, not by brand.

## 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](https://clevertourists.com/guides/food-central-europe) covers the dishes themselves rather than the shopping list.

## Frequently asked questions

### Which Hungarian paprika should you buy?

Sweet (édes) or semi-sweet (félédes) from Szeged or Kalocsa. Check that it is bright red and fragrant rather than dull brown and odourless.

### What is Tokaji Aszú?

A sweet white wine from botrytised grapes, graded by puttonyos, where higher numbers mean sweeter and more expensive.

### What food souvenirs travel well from Hungary?

Paprika, Pick salami, tinned goose liver and Tokaji. Curd cheese and fresh pastries do not travel.

### Is the Great Market Hall cheaper than a supermarket?

Not always for packaged goods, but it is far better for paprika, produce and cured meat, and the quality is higher.