Jó barátok és a magyar vendéglátás

I owe a lot to my friend Rutai Géza. I stayed at his house and he fed me every day, despite the fact I told him I planned on feeding myself. Hungarian hospitality is syonomous with food. Even the word for invite also means to treat someone to food, and the word for resuraunt comes from the word guest. Géza was divorced not to long ago and gets a disability pension for a soccer-related heart condition, so he's recently delved intot he world of cooking. He is an amazing chef and makes good tradional magyar kaja. His chicken soups are full of things Americans don't even feed to their cats anymore and he cuts up all his vegetables from scratch. Starting a dish without a chunk of lard would be unthinkable. He loves distinctly Hungarian ingredients: mák, túró, and paprika. Unlike most Hungarian food, however, he makes everything spicy. From chicken noodle soup, to cucumber salad, everythng tastes better with a little spicy green pepper in it. He is an incredibly patient and humble man, a die-hard soccer fan, and one of the kindest people I've ever met. I consider it a privledge to be his friend.