HungaryZIN

Esterházy Palace - Fertőd

As a part of our excursion to Sopron we visited the Esterházy Palace in Fertőd. Its really pretty close, just like 20 km to the north-east, by car it didnt take more then half an hour.

(photos: Zsolt)

One of Hungary's wealthiest aristocratic families, the Esterházys had their splendid palace, the 'Hungarian Versailles' built between 1720 and 1766. Today the centre for Hungarian Haydn research is a museum and an important cultural venue.

Apart from the Baroque theatre, the building complex of this resplendent palace has remained intact. Much of the exhibitions in the museum housed here conjure up the building's heyday under Miklós Esterházy Fényes (1762-1790). Rich gold-plated halls, period wall paintings, lacquer plates brought from China, 18th-century furniture with embroidered upholstery and porcelain display the fashion of the period, befitting of a Baroque-Rococo princely court.

The great Austrian composer Joseph Haydn lived and worked here for nearly half of his active period, namely from 1766 until 1790. An exhibition and a room in the palace commemorates him, while concerts held in the summer and the plan for a Haydn Centre are to evoke the spirit of the era.

Palace Museum

Visitors may become familiar with the architectural and interior design characteristic of the 18th-century palaces of the aristocracy. An exhibition introduces the history of the lavish palace and its park, as well as the work of Joseph Haydn (1732-1809).

Among the luxurious furnishings brought from throughout the world, the then fashionable Chinese porcelain is worthy of special mention, along with the French and Flemish gobelin upholstered seating and various items of furniture decorated with marquetry.

The architectural history of the palace and its park is displayed in two rooms along with a collection of original faience ceramic stoves of the palace.

Three rooms house the exhibition introducing the works of Joseph Haydn. In addition to enjoying an opulent lifestyle and entertainment the Esterházy court also played a significant role in the contemporaneous musical life. Thanks to the efforts of Joseph Haydn - who spent the most productive of his creative years in the service of Duke Nicholas - operas, operettas and symphonies were born during this period in Esterháza, now called Fertőd. Thus the Haydn exhibit is a natural part of the palace's history.

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foodchef.net

Hen Soup

Couple of weeks ago I've shared with you the Hungarian palóc soup together with the related legend. Today, I would like to share with you another typical Hungarian soup with the related legend of course :)

originally uploaded by Nóra

The meat soup is well-known in all over the world, but you can see this view only in Hungary. When the vermicelli are "swimming" in the soup, beside slices of meat and carrot :), I really love this view! It's not only beautiful, but it's also very delicious.

The meat soup is a very important dish in Hungary, you can always find a wide choice of the meat soups in most of the Hungarian restaurants' menus. Commonly, this is the first dish in Hungarian wedding receptions, but certainly just after the aperitif :)

The meat soup in a Hungarian wedding reception :)

originally uploaded by zsoltika

Among the meat soups, I like the hen soup the most. We have a popular hen soup with a special name, called Újházy Hen Soup, you can find it in the menu of most of the Hungarian restaurants too. Újházy hen soup got the name from Ede Újházy, who was a well known actor in the beginning of the 20th century. The legend says that Ede Újházy used to make this soup by himself and one day he revealed his special recipe to the chef in a restaurant, which was one of the most famous in Budapest at that time. At the next occasion, the chef waited for Ede Újházy with the delicious hen soup which he cooked exactly as the recipe given by Újházy. "This soup can restore to health the sick and the healthy can be in bloom from this soup"is what the legend used to say about this soup.

The legend was noted by Gyula Krúdy.

(source)

My Hen soup is a little bit different from the authentic Hungarian Újházy hen soup, because Újházy hen soup consists of more ingredients, for example tomato, mushrooms and green peas.

Ingredients for my hen soup:

• 3 pound hen (or chicken) (parts disjointed, sometimes I like to remove the skin)

• 4 or 5 carrots, whole

• 1 whole parsley root with greens on top

• 1 or 2 onions

• 1 kohlrabi (when in season)

• 2 or 3 ribs of celery

• 2 cloves garlic

• 4 qts. of water

• 1 1/2 Tbls. salt

• 1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

• slice of savoy cabbage