Why should I start another gastroblog?

When I started thinking about writing a new gastroblog about half a year ago, everybody asked me the same question: But why is it gonna be different from the other ones that already exist? I said coz it is me writing it. Yeah, I know it sounds cocky but people who know me probably would describe me as a person who is not really willing to conform to anything. I kinda like to do everything my own way. However, I was not always like this. I grew up in an ordinary family in the suburbs of Budapest but when I turned 14 I suddenly started rebelling against the limitations of ordinariness, regarding every aspect of life. High school was not easy for me, dealing with feelings of my own discontent, with the constant inner urge to change the world around me. During these years I became an advocate of revolutionary ideas, concepts that hadn’t yet gained ground in our society and now 7 years after that, having experienced many things that most of the young adults do not or do not have to, here I am, ready to change the world  or at least a little segment of it.

And why food? Once a close friend of mine told me that I think of food as I think of love. He was never extremely choosy but he rarely ate vegetables or rarely chose new dishes if the question was about what to eat. At the beginning, when we got to know each other it was hard because I always wanted to make him try new stuff while he felt that I wanted to change him. But after a while he enjoyed joining my journey of getting to know culinary delights of the world, he got used to me cooking for him many times when we met and he finally understood that for me food means love. I love cooking for my family, my friends, I love tasting everything, but literally everything. I love talking about food, writing about food, there is nothing that I don’t like about it. But not every city, country is adequate for having such an enthusiastic mind-set.

When I think of the case of Hungary, the first thing that comes into my mind is that what this country needs is refreshment. Though there is a thin layer of people who already realised that we are extremely backward in Europe when it comes to gastronomy, it is mostly about fine-dining and not really about educating people and leading the society towards a gastronomic revolution. If we go to a market in Budapest and in Vienna, only 243 kms away, the difference is enormous. Fresh seafood, fruits and vegetables from all around the world. It does not mean that Austrians do not keep their traditions, not at all, but it means that they are open to new ideas and I think that the food that a person eats can truly show whether that person is open to new ideas generelly or not. If you do not believe me, just think of your own example.

To sum up, to open a new chapter in Eastern European cuisine, I gladly take this uneasy role of trying to share a piece of my world with the readers in order to gradually add little bits to Hungarian culinary “palette”. In my blog, I would like to share culinary experiences that everybody can repeat at home and furthermore change them according to their own taste. While doing this my unconcealed intention is to sensitize people with respect to cultures, religions, minorities etc. I hope that everybody can find something according to their interest and share it with others to create a culinary chain reaction in our secluded culture.

Ready, steady, go!

Help yourselves! Bon appétit !