Where to stay

Káli Art Inn Fourteen beautiful rooms and suites in a setting that could almost be Provence or Tuscany. Artists are welcome to use the sunny studio or to borrow portable easels for outdoor painting. Fabulous food using produce from the organic garden and a lovely pool with spectacular views. Worth a detour for lunch or dinner even if you aren’t staying here. Doubles from £75. Köveskál, 00 36 30 92 28 715, http://kaliartinn.hu

Bonvino A quirky new wine-focused hotel and spa in the lakeside town of Badacsony. Rooms are sleek and comfortable; those on the ground floor have sunny terraces while the upper floors benefit from great views of the lake. Doubles from £82, including breakfast. 00 36 87 532 210, http://hotelbonvino.hu

Sárffy House A beautifully restored farmhouse in peaceful countryside three and a half miles inland from the north shore. Simple but stylish rooms, and a two-bedroomed apartment, are decorated with a fine eye to detail. The food is some of the best in the area. Doubles from £65 including breakfast. Dörgicse, 00 36 70 770 6945, http://sarffyhaz.hu

Chateau Visz Located in quiet woodlands, this elegant hotel is set well away from the bustle of the lakeside. Fine empire antiques and paintings throughout the hotel make for a grand atmosphere. There’s a pool and small spa. Doubles from £90 include breakfast and use of the spa. 00 36 85 710 003, http://chateau-visz.com

Hubertus-Hof Hunting is at the heart of this modern complex, 500m from the south shore of the lake. A team of professional hunters is on hand to take guests on expeditions in search of deer, boar and other local game. Rooms and suites and bright and well-appointed, and there’s a pool, spa and restaurant serving hearty food for hearty appetites. Doubles from £45 including breakfast. Balatonfenyves, 00 36 85 560 930, http://hubertushotel.hu

Travel Information

The currency in Hungary is the Forint (£1=395 HUF). Hungary is one hour ahead of GMT. The summers are long and hot around Lake Balaton; the season extends from May to September inclusive, with temperatures peaking around 25°C during July and August.

GETTING THERE
Wizz Air (http://wizzair.com) flies regularly to Budapest from London Luton.
EasyJet (http://easyjet.com) operates flights from London Gatwick to Budapest.

RESOURCES
Go To Hungary (http://gotohungary.co.uk) has regularly updated news, maps and itineraries suggesting what to do and see in the country.

FURTHER READING
Life is a Dream by Gyula Krúdy (Penguin Modern Classics, £9.99). A collection of stories set in 1920s Budapest in which food plays a central role. Krúdy writes with wit and passion.

Where to eat

Kistücsök Stunningly good food cooked with intelligence and imagination. Dishes reflect the owners’ passion for travel. From £25. Balatonszemes, 00 36 84 360 133, http://kistucsok.hu

Római Pince Set on a south-facing slope among the vineyards near Hévíz, Hungarian fare is served in the cosy cellar area or on the sunny terrace. From £30. Dombföldi, 00 36 30 916 9916, http://romaipince-heviz.hu

Ferenc Pince A traditional restaurant on the Tihany peninsula with spectacular views from the terrace over the lake. From £22. 00 36 87 448 575, http://ferencpince.hu

Chateau Visz Austrian chef Klaus Deutschmann has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants all over the world and his talent is evident. A delightfully romantic setting. Worth a detour even if you’re not staying at the hotel. From £75. 00 36 85 710 003, http://chateau-visz.com

Szent Orbán Pince Szeremley’s wine cellar has a shady terrace overlooking the lake where you can dine very well and sample their splendid wines. From £30. 00 36 87 431 382, http://szeremley.com

Rádpuszta A thatched-roof restaurant, wood-fired ovens on the terrace and occasional performances of gypsy music. A tad touristy, but very friendly. From £25. Balantonlelle, 00 36 20 942 6700, http://radpuszta.hu

Food Glossary

Pogácsa

Light pastry cheese buns scattered with sesame seeds.

Lecsó

Paprika preserved by cooking with garlic, onions and tomatoes.

Màkos palacsinta

Poppy seed pancakes served with preserved fruits

Pálinka

The famous Hungarian spirit, distilled most commonly from apricots and varying in quality from eye-wateringly harsh to smooth and delicious. Keep an eye out for the Csalló brand, which is distilled twice, using traditional methods and comes in a wide range of flavours

Káposztás pogácsa

Salty bread made with chopped cabbage.

Krumplilángos

Flatbreads made with flour and mashed potato, usually served with either garlic and oil or sugar and jam.

Tócsni

Grated potato mixed with onion, egg and flour and fried like a rosti.

Làngos

Deep-fried doughnuts dusted with sugar.

Túrógombóc

Dumplings made with fresh cheese and semolina served with sweetened sour cream.

Füstölt sajt

Smoked cow’s milk cheese.

Rakott krumpli

Potatoes layered with bacon, sausage, sour cream and paprika baked in the oven.

Mákos guba

Poppy seed sponge cake.

Tejes Pite

A baked milk pudding often served with seasonal fruits and dusted with icing sugar

Somlói galuska

Layered chocolate sponge pudding laced with rum or pálinka and smothered with a chocolate sauce.

Food and Travel Review

Lake Balaton, the largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, cuts a dash through western Hungary and for generations has been that land-locked country’s summer playground. Almost 50 miles long and ten miles across at its widest, Lake Balaton has a jaunty seaside feel; sun worshippers lounge on its grassy banks, children play safely in the warm and shallow waters and sailing boats bob cheerfully in the distance. Fishermen sit on rickety pontoons jutting out into the water and cyclists pedal along the wide path circling the lake. Everybody seems to be on holiday, which makes for a relaxing and happy vibe. Low-key, low-rise resorts are scattered around its 120-mile perimeter. It is easy to see why so many city-dwelling Hungarians decamp here for the summer. The southern shore is a flat and sandy plain stretching back for miles, markedly different from the landscape north of the lake. Here, a range of extinct volcanoes rises in mysterious shapes, its peaks shrouded in woodlands of oak, ash and beech, while the lower slopes are dotted with pretty villages, medieval churches and, most dominantly, vineyards.

Balatonfüred and Hévíz, to the north and west of the lake respectively, flourished as spa resorts for the aristocracy in the early 19th century, the latter having a huge thermal lake and the former numerous carbonated mineral water springs. Both towns still have a genteel air, with handsome buildings, immaculate public gardens and lively programmes of cultural events. The arrival of the railway in 1861 saw a burgeoning of tourists from the middle classes, and it became more popular still when Hungary lost its only coastline – in what is now Croatia – after the First World War, but the real boom in tourism began in the early 1960s, when ordinary workers were offered subsidised holidays in purpose-built complexes. People from East Germany and other Eastern Bloc countries also came to holiday here, as did West Germans, so Lake Balaton became a meeting place for friends and families separated by the Berlin Wall.

These days the few remaining rather grim Soviet-style holiday camps lie derelict and deserted; most have been demolished to make way for an altogether more modern tourist offering. While the brash amusement arcades, pizza shacks, doughnut stalls and nightclubs that dominate some of the resorts might not appeal to all, there are plenty of other pleasures to be found in the lake’s environs.

‘Lake Balaton has the best food and wine in Hungary,’ proclaims Balázs Csapody as we sit under leafy shade on the terrace of his acclaimed restaurant, Kistücsök in Balatonszemes, on the lake’s southern shore. ‘We are lucky; we have so much fantastic produce here. But it’s only fairly recently that we’ve really begun to take our food culture seriously and to have the luxury to distinguish between quality and quantity. We work closely here with some great artisan producers who are reviving traditional varieties and techniques; they understand that there is now a market for high quality produce and are working hard to meet the demand. It means everything is getting better – from the potatoes dug out of the ground to the food that ends up on plates, in people’s homes as well as in restaurants.’

The land surrounding the lake is rich and fertile, and market gardens flourish. Local people shop at markets that offer feasts for the eye as well as for the stomach. Seasonal vegetables from local growers are piled high; Hungarians love their potatoes and are now rediscovering traditional varieties, so there are several types to choose from. Cabbages and other brassicas sit alongside mounds of carrots, turnips, tomatoes and huge bunches of herbs; vibrant bell peppers and chillies are sold fresh or dried, tied into strings or pickled in jars. Local cheeses from artisan producers using goat’s, ewe’s and cow’s milk range from sweet and fresh slabs made that morning, perhaps flavoured with walnuts, paprika or herbs, to pungent, golden orbs tied with string, smoked over cherry wood and aged for many months. Nuts and dried fruit – most commonly walnuts, almonds, apples, pears and plums – are bought by the kilo, for baking or to be eaten on the hoof. Hungarians are brilliant bakers – wheat is grown on the vast plains in the east of the country – and produce a vast array of sweet and savoury breads, cakes, biscuits and strudels. Breads are baked in rustic loaves or yeasty buns, sweet with walnuts, honey or poppy seeds, or salty with caraway, cabbage or cheese. Cakes and biscuits may be quite plain, or could be fancy confections involving ginger, almonds, custard or jams made from apricots, cherries, strawberries or quince. Strudels, flavoured with fresh cheese, pumpkin, cabbage, sour cherries, plums or poppy seeds, are baked on-site and sold by the slice as a pit-stop snack. Out of all of Hungary’s cuisine, this bakery tradition most keenly reflects the diverse cultures that have shaped it: the country has been invaded and ruled by empires both east and west during its turbulent history, and the culinary influences show.

The land also provides rich pickings for foraging; mushrooms are abundant in the woodlands and forests around the lake, and at any of the regular markets there will be a funghi expert, paid by the local council, on hand to identify mushrooms picked by people who may be unsure of their toxicity. Hedgerows offer up nuts, berries and other fruit such as quinces, and walnuts are something of a national obsession. ‘They are on our menu all year round,’ says Balázs. ‘We pickle them when they’re green in the summer and make oil from the mature nuts in the winter.’ Hungarians are keen hunters and game, particularly rabbit, deer and wild boar, is eaten often. Fish, of course, features on most menus. Zander – more commonly known as pikeperch – and carp are the fish most often caught on the lake, as well as catfish, pike and eel. They are usually simply floured or coated in a light batter and fried, served with baked or fried potatoes and perhaps a punchy paprika-kicked mayonnaise.

And then we have goulash. Unavoidable, it is perhaps Hungary’s most famous dish, and has been made here for more than 1,000 years. It is a soup that was traditionally made with meat (usually pork in the Lake Balaton area), onions, potatoes and ground paprika, and cooked with water in a large pot set over a fire, ready to be eaten when hungry workers returned home. In most countries the word paprika refers to a spice made from ground dried bell peppers or chilli pepper, however in Hungary, as in several other European countries, it simply means ‘capsicum’, so can refer to any of the varieties grown in the region, as well as to the powdered spice. Paprika varies from sweet and gentle to fearsomely hot and will usually appear at least once in any meal. Fresh chopped paprikas are also often offered as a seasoning alongside salt; check their ferocity before use.

In the Communist era, when most agricultural land was taken over by the state, households were allowed small plots of land attached to their dwellings where they grew fruit and vegetables. ‘We never went hungry, but there wasn’t much variety as very little food was imported,’ says Balázs. ‘Now we are able to use other ingredients like olive oil, sea salt, citrus fruits and spices alongside our own produce, which makes cooking so much more exciting.’ Balázs and László Jahni, his head chef and childhood friend, travel often for inspiration and are grateful for this freedom that their parents didn’t have.

Balázs and László are part of a new generation of enterprising people who have embraced the relatively recent free market opportunities and they are hungry to succeed. Támas Giebiszer and his wife Kati are also part of this generation.

‘We started making T-shirts and jewellery in 1991 when we were students,’ Támas tells me as he rolls krumplilángos – potato flatbreads – with an old wine bottle. Trained as architects in Budapest, Támas and Kati’s student venture blossomed into a phenomenally successful business. Ten years ago, with a young family to bring up, they bought Sárffy House, a derelict farmhouse in the pretty village of Dörgicse, three and a half miles north of the lake, and have painstakingly restored it using traditional materials such as oak, beech and cherry woods and local honey-coloured stone. It is one of the first agro-tourism projects in Hungary, with the emphasis on providing guests with the very best produce, much of it grown in its own organic garden: bulbous courgettes, carrots and aubergines, sweet onions and heady herbs are cooked with local pork or chicken and served with the freshest salad leaves simply dressed with walnut oil and lemon juice. Támas cooks food in the wood-fired oven under the shade of a massive walnut tree as his guests gather for dinner. It is a beautiful place; peaceful, rustic, yet very comfortable. We dine handsomely on pork marinated in blackberry wine, grilled chicken with apricot sauce, fresh local cheese and walnut bread made by Kati, and we drink local wine – a fruity but crisp olaszrizling that sits deliciously with the chicken, and a crunchy pinot noir to set off the rich, sweet pork.

Wine has been made in this area since Roman times. Magyar tribes arriving here in the ninth century brought with them sophisticated winemaking techniques and they established successful vineyards around Badacsony, at the south western end of Lake Balaton’s north shore, which is still one of the most important wine regions in Hungary. The Communist era saw many vineyards taken into state control for the production of low quality wines, mainly for the USSR market. These days there are plenty of flourishing estates making wines of real quality and distinction, but these wines are generally made in relatively small quantities, with few exports to the UK.

In the Badacsony region, the rich volcanic soils, together with light and heat reflected from the lake, provide ideal conditions for indigenous grapes such as kadarka and kéknyelü, as well as more familiar varieties including olaszrizling (welschriesling), kékfrankos (blaufränkisch) and szürkebarát (pinot gris). Zeus is another local grape, used for sumptuous late-harvest sweet white wines.

The Szeremley winery is one of the largest and best known in Badacsony. Huba Szeremley replanted his family’s land 20 years ago and makes wines that have received international recognition. ‘Making and drinking wine links us to our land, our history and to each other,’ he says. ‘The first sip should be taken as a blessing and to thank God; the second, to recognise and respect our parents and ancestors; the third sip is for our lover and our family; the fourth is to celebrate Hungary and all her wonderful grapes.’

His 2009 white pinot noir, a wine made by his grandparents using the same methods, is kept on the skins for six hours, giving the wine a faint pink hue like the sunset across the lake. The 2005 kéknyelü, a peach-tinged white wine with a big citrus hit and mineral twang is fantastic with a tangy local goat’s cheese. A 2006 kékfrankos, full of berries and spice, neatly cuts through some deliciously fatty cured meats proffered by Huba. Our tasting ends with màkos guba – a light sponge cake studded with poppy seeds – and a glass of 2002 Zeus. The sweet wine dazzles with apricot and almond flavours; it is rich but not sticky, with a clean, orange zest finish.

In the Balatonfüred-Csopak area north east of Badacsony, you’ll find the Tamás Pince winery. Owner Tamás Ervin’s grandparents had a small vineyard where he worked in the school holidays when he was a child. ‘So winemaking is in my blood,’ he says. Their wines are entirely natural – the grapes are pressed in a small press in the corner of the garden and the juice is fed into barrels in the cellar only yards away. The wines made by Tamás smack of their terroir; they are totally unique. Made in small batches and fermented with naturally occurring yeasts, the wines are bright, fresh and distinctive, with an underlying mineral leanness picked up from the slate soils.

The sandy soils of the Balatonboglár area, to the south of the lake, are suited to red grapes. At Konyári Pince, Dániel Konyári heads up a small family business making dazzlingly good wines. ‘We started with less than two hectares,’ Dániel tells me. ‘Now we have more than 30. We have no plans to expand further; it is very important for us to keep a close control on our quality.’ His 2009 Janoshegyi, a 100 per cent kékfrankos, was the highlight of our tasting: decanted to bring out soft, cherry fruit and gentle spice.

Back at Kistücsök, we drink it again. ‘It is one of my favourites,’ says Balázs. It’s the perfect foil for a rabbit and pistachio pâté served with wild garlic sauce. We go on to have the most delicious lunch: a delicate, pickled cucumber soup, knuckle of pork with paprika sauce, fresh goat’s milk cheese with green walnut compôte and home-made yoghurt with Tamás Ervin’s lavender jelly. As with the wine, this is food rooted in the area, cooked with a modern touch. ‘There is a growing number of people here doing really interesting things with food, producers as well as chefs,’ says Balázs. ‘We’re discovering that traditional dishes made with the best ingredients can be among the best food in the world. I’m very confident about the future of Hungarian gastronomy; we have a lot more to offer than just goulash and stuffed cabbage.’