Hungarian Paprikash Soup

Author: Renie Burghardt

Paprikash Soup was the favorite soup of my childhood in Hungary, and my grandma, who raised me, cooked it often for Grandpa and me. It was always delicious, especially on cold, blustery days, and it was always there- the perfect comfort food.

When we fled from Russian-occupied Hungary in the late 1940w, we ended up in a refugee camp in Austria. There, along with hundreds of other refugee’s, we lived in old army barracks and went to the common kitchen with our tin-can "bowls." The usual fare served to us in camp was a watery cabbage soup, a hunk of black bread and a pat of margarine. The children also were given a daily ration of milk.

Oh, how Grandpa and I missed Grandma’s soup! We reminisced about it longingly, our mouths watering. But during our four years at that camp, there was no cooking to be done for Grandma, and no good eating to he had for us. Those were hard times, of course, and we were thankful to God be alive, so it didn’t matter that I hated that watery cabbage; it nevertheless kept me nourished.

When in the early 1950s, we were fortunate enough to immigrate to America to start new lives, my grandparents found jobs while I attended school. It was then that Grandma taught me to make paprikash soup. I was 14 and the first one home every day, so she felt I was old enough to start supper. Grandma didn’t exactly have a recipe. She just chopped and onion, some carrots and potatoes, and threw in some sweet paprika, and whatever other vegetable was available. Still, the soup always turned out delicious.

After watching her, I followed suit, expecting the worst-but it turned out as good as Grandma’s! Well, at least that’s what Grandpa told me, when he came home from work to his favorite soup. And we ate paprikash soup often during those first couple of years because it was economical, and my grandparents were saving for a home of our own. They were able to realize this dream within two years, thanks partially to paprikash soup, but mainly because in our wonderful new country such things were possible.

I have personalized Grandma’s original recipe by adding other vegetables and sometimes noodles or rice, but the soup is still quick, delicious, nutritious and beautiful, as well. Jo Etvagyat! (Good Appetite!)

Paprikash Soup Recipe

Ingredients

1 large chopped onion
2 Tb vegetable oil
4 carrots, cut up
4 large potatoes, cut up
8 C water or chicken stock
10 Oz frozen corn
10 Oz frozen peas
1/4 C half-and-half
2 Tb sweet paprika
4 stalks of chopped celery
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Sauté onion in oil until translucent.
Add paprika; stir.
Add the next 4 ingredients and cook for 5 or 6 minutes to blend flavors.
Add water, salt and pepper.
Bring to a simmer and cook about 40 minutes.
Ten minutes before done, add frozen vegetables.
Stir in half and half, heat up, but don’t boil, serve, and enjoy.

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