Hungarian creamed spinach with garlic
Serves 6 as a side dish
Recipe from Agi Adler
There's a reason why this is a Hungarian classic. It's indescribably delicious. There is something both satisfying and comforting about this rich green garlicky mass. It slips down easily, and leaves you wanting more. There was a famous Hungarian cafe at Bondi in Sydney that used to make vats of this spinach, it was their most popular "side". Theirs was good, but Agi's is better.
Agi is not even sure who taught her how to make it.
Her mother didn't as she had died by the time Agi was 14. It was during World War Two, late in 1944, and Agi's mother was on the last transport of Jews the Nazis took prisoner and moved out of Budapest. A transport usually meant to a death camp, a one way ticket from which only a very very few returned. But the Nazis were losing the war by that stage and barely had the capacity to move the Jews they took captive. There were no trains available, so the last groups of Jewish civilians were marched out of Budapest on foot. That's what happened to Agi's mother. She and the people with her walked east for days, covering some 300 km. The last Agi knows is that her mother was taken on a barge on the Danube river. After that all trace of her is lost, and she never returned.
At the end of the war, Agi was an orphan. She sailed into Sydney as a refugee on a ship called the Cyrenia in 1950, aged 20. She started a new life in Australia, where she also taught herself to recreate the rich cuisine of Budapest, the city where she grew up. These are the dishes she cooks for her daughters and her grandchildren.
INGREDIENTS
- 500 g / 1 lb fresh spinach (Agi's supermarket sells bags this size with pre-washed leaves)
- 3 slices white bread, soaked in water – then squeezed
- 3 large cloves garlic, crushed
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup plain flour. Agi uses something called Continental flour, which from the ingredients appears to be plain flour mixed with semolina. She believes it makes a difference. "This flour is manufactured here by someone who was with me on the boat to Australia," she says after examining the packet.
- salt and pepper
METHOD
1. Make a roux. Fry the garlic in the oil, quickly, for 20 seconds or so. Add the flour "just before the garlic browns." Stir. Watch the consistency. You want it thick, thicker than you may need it for some other dishes. When it's ready, set aside.
2. Wilt the spinach in a pan with only a little
water on the bottom. The spinach will make its own liquid.
3. Put the spinach into the food processor with bread from which all water has been squeezed. (It is important to do this step properly, or you risk creating spinach glue!) The spinach has to be hot when you add the roux. When the bread, the roux and the spinach are well mixed, add the 3 eggs and salt and pepper. Sprinkle with nutmeg, if desired.
When life gives you lemons and cumquats, make cumquat marmalade! Add star anise, cardamom and orange flower water and the result is warm, spicy and wonderful. Or mix it up with different spices and a little alcohol - you won’t be sorry!
Fancy summer in Jerusalem? in beaugiful historic Ein Kerem. in fact? try here …
What’s FB got to do with a Mediterranean recipe for vegan stuffed veges? You’ll find the whole story here, along with a wonderful tale of love and luck in post-WW2 USA, with a chance meeting on the Brooklyn train. Happy Passover and Happy Easter!
Two fab apple cakes for a sweet New Year. Simple lockdown-friendly recipes that you’ll make again and again. Wishing you all a happy healthy new year, and certainly a better one than the last!
It’s such a simple and delicious thing, so I’m responding to requests for recipes for Latkes by providing 3 different ones for this holiday season. The Jewish festival of Hannukah is the time to fry, baby, fry and to let the light in. Potato, carrot and sweet potato. Go on - have a go! Happy Holidays.
The amazing WW2 survival story of Agi Adler, may she rest in peace, who passed away this year. Archive photos and in-depth interviews about her life in Budapest before and during the war. Along with a recipe of course - the Hungarian potato bake Rakott Krumpli, the ultimate comfort food.
Quarantine Passover means making your own matzo balls - and chicken soup. Here are failsafe recipes for what is likely to be your smallest seder night, when you will have to make most dishes by yourself… matzo balls for anyone who’s never dared to make them before!