Hungarian Gypsy Sauce from the Farkas Takacs Family!!!

August 15, 2013 at 7:29 pm (Herbs, Hungary, Musings, Recipes)
Tags: Csipetke, Ethics, Farkas Takacs Family Recipes, Foraging, Gardening, Herbalism, Herbs, Hungarian Ethnobotany, Hungarian Gypsy Sauce, Hungary, Nomadic Fire Food, Pastured Chicken, Shepherding, Traditional Recipes, Wild Food

Nomadic Fire Food at its Finest!

This recipe comes from my own FAMILY*, the Farkas and Takacs Tribes. It often relies on wild foraged plants, intermixed with garden plants, but can go either way. Make it on the wild side, or make it on the tended garden side. A mix of both is great.

This is a nomad’s stew. Herbs easy to carry in ones clothes while shepherding, before the times of “instant” this and that sauce and bouillons, there was our wholesome, instant whole food sauces, pastes and salts. Our home-made bouillons. Our home-made lives, which were far more delicious and nourishing and health promoting then what is available in stores these days.

Can we make our return to this easy whole food-ism?  I think the *only* thing in the way is our pervasive dependence through marketing and advertising to forget our olden ways, our healthy ways, and our connected ways.

First, we’re going to cut up a pastured chicken.

This recipe calls for a whole chicken cut up. Do not buy a cut-up chicken, you’ll pay just as much or more for it, and not have the beautiful back to make stock out of.  Cutting a whole chicken for frying takes a bit of practice, but not much. When you pull the skin back on the chicken, you’ll see a map on it of fat lines. In the above photo, my thumb is pointing to a fat line, I’ll cut there. Preheat a large cast iron skillet with a cup of fat (butter or oil of your choice works). Cut up your chicken.

Save the chicken back, skin and scraps for making a future broth (I just bagged them up and put them in the freezer) or to prepare fresh broth ahead of time for this recipe. To make a simple broth, place the back, skin and extra bone pieces into a soup pan with onions, onion skins, carrots, parsley, etc. and gently simmer for 2 hours. This is why cut-up store-bought chicken is such a waste, you miss essential food ingredients the less whole your food!

Take your cut-up chicken pieces and salt and pepper then. Dredge them through flour, we prefer oat flour for this. Place in the pan and fry until the outsides are golden brown, about 6-7 minutes on each side. Remove when they are browned, and place on a warming stone while you move on to the Farkas Takacs Hungarian Gypsy Sauce* and the veggies.

I always joke, the secret is in the sauce! No truer phrase has been spoken. We’re going to make a paste out of herbs.

In a food processor or old fashioned mortar and pestle, place peeled, chunked ginger (wild ginger* (please see note at end of blog about wild ginger) or store bought/homegrown ginger), garlic scapes (or wild ramps or onion chives), cardamon seeds, coriander seeds, toasted cumin seeds, paprika peppers, hot red cherry peppers, mint (I use homegrown orange mint, but wild mint works too), basil, wild fenugreek leaves, a quarter cup of fish meat (carp or sardines), salt and pepper. Dribble a bit of oil, I used extra virgin olive oil.

This is what the final result will be. It can be kept just like this, in the refrigerator, stored long term in the freezer in cubes (fill ice cube trays with paste for freezing, then remove them to a freezer bag) or dried to take shepherding/traveling/hiking/foraging with you.

In a HOT iron pot that you cooked the chicken in, place minimum of 4 tablespoons of paste into it, and mix with the oil from frying the chicken. Blend in a couple cups of raw milk (we use goat milk). Add more paste to taste, slowly so as not to overdo! Depending on the peppers I use, it may be very spicy indeed!

Add your vegetables into the sauce mix. Here I have a handful of chopped red potatoes and onions with paprika.

Cover your pan and allows onions and potatoes to cook until nearly done.

In the last few minutes, add your fried chicken back into the dutch over to finish cooking. You can make this Hungarian Gypsy Sauce for cooking with a vegetarian dish by simply removing the meat from the recipe. It may not be truly Hungarian any longer if you do so, but it will still be delicious!

Serve with Herbed Csipetke. Csipetke is a Hungarian pinched dough noodle. There are many different types of Csipetke that I make, and one day, will devote a posting to some varied recipes. It is simple, just some flour, egg, milk, salt and water, butter and herbs. Mix the ingredients until you have a stiff dough. Place in an oiled bowl to rest for 15 minutes. Roll out into finger sized logs, pinch small pieces and place on a baking sheet. Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil, drop noodles in the boiling water, cook for 8 minutes or until floating on top of the water. Remove with a slotted spoon, and mix with butter. In the above photo, I added chopped cilantro and chives on top!

This is a family recipe of love, and convenience, as the Hungarian Gypsy Sauce Paste can be made anytime when there is an abundance of spices, and frozen/preserved for later use. In a pinch, it is quick! Mix with milk and a bit of oil, and you’re cooking soup, main meals, stir-fried veggies, deep dishes in a moment without harmful additives. It also has many, many nutrients and anti-oxidants!

*Wild Ginger, I do not believe people should be foraging this much anymore in the Pacific Northwest unless one has a patch that they are responsible for protecting, nourishing, and renewing. It is just as easy to grow one’s own ginger these days in a greenhouse or buy some while it is still on the commercial market. Remember, the WILD is not there just to take from, it depends on a reciprocal relationship of abundance. It is NOT a “resource” of endless supply with no giving back!

**As I share family herbal recipes and my life, livelihood and heart, please be respectful with my photos and writings, and ask permission if you would like to share, and give due credit to my blog by including it as the source. I’m tickled when people share my writings and recipes, but please do so respectfully! Have fun!!!

(c) 2013, Summer L. Farkas Takacs Michaelson, CH