Real Hungarian Delicacies

Just before I left Budapest for Florence, I asked Eva, my Hungarian friend there, if she wanted anything from home. She did not hesitate and asked for one Turo Rudi.

I brought two Turo Rudis when I arrived in Florence. Eva couldn’t help herself. She ate one right away with the same feeding-frenzy-ferociousness that Canadians in my office have displayed over maple syrup. 

She hoped aloud she could save the second for later but with four Hungarian roommates, that lone Turo Rudi would not likely make it through the night.

The Turo Rudi is a distinctively Hungarian treat. It's a small bar of cottage cheese covered in chocolate. I can already sense some of my fellow North Americans wincing or making a gross face. But these things are freakin’ delicious. It's the heavenly mixture of sweetness and tartness and probably angel sweat.

On the other end of the taste spectrum is Unicum. How do I describe Unicum? It’s a bitter liquor, like Yagermeister, but tastes worse. It's like if Yagermeister got drunk and took advantage of itself and had an incestuous troll baby in a grease bog -- that would be close to how Unicum tasted to me.

When I learned of Unicum, I knew it wasn't my thing. I successfully stayed away from it until my friend Sarah visited Budapest. She insisted we try all the Hungarian drinks, so after the beers and the palinka, we bought a small bottle and took a shot in my kitchen.

But of course, that's my ignorant, unrefined North American palette speaking. Most Hungarian friends, including the two strongest supporters above, have professed their love for this troll poison. On the other hand, I have never met a foreigner who has admitted to liking it. Like so many things here, it's a strangely cool, yet uniquely Hungarian thing.