Báránypörkölt

The story

Lamb has a fixed place in Hungarian Easter food. Pénzcentrum's account of Easter customs explains that the lamb stands for the sacrifice of Christ and was the first freshly slaughtered animal eaten after the Lenten fast, and lamb goes into the blessing basket with ham, eggs and sárgatúró. The largest meal came on Easter Sunday, March 28 in 2027, with at least three or four courses: a meat soup, then a hot or cold meat dish such as a roast, kocsonya or pörkölt, then rétes, béles or kalács. Pörkölt means roasted, from the verb pörkölni, to roast; the meat is first turned in paprika and onions softened in fat. It is a thick stew with little liquid and no flour, which separates it from gulyás, a soupier dish, and from paprikás, which is finished with sour cream. Beef, lamb, chicken and pork are the most common meats, and game, tripe and liver versions are also made. Lamb itself is scarce in Hungary: in a 2023 survey of Budapest shops, the news site 444 found lamb leg hard to find and expensive. In the US, boneless lamb shoulder is the cut to buy; serve the stew with nokedli or boiled potatoes and a sour pickle.