Hungarian Cookbook

Károly Gundel was a simple, honest innkeeper who loved his profession, liked people in general, and adored his family. The Gundel name is as renowned in Budapest as Sacher is in Vienna, Horcher in Madrid, and Kempinski in Berlin. The American gastronome Joseph Wechsberg in Blue Trout and Black Truffle compared him with Escoffier and Fernand Point. His father, János Gundel, was the president of the Hotel, Restaurant and Innkeepers' Association for 35 years. For a time he ran the Crown Prince István Hotel. This is where Károly, still a schoolboy, started lo learn the trade which made the Gundel name world famous. At 23, after completing his foreign education, Károly began to work as an assistant in Tátralomnic at the Wagon Lits Hotel. Within 2 years he became the manager of the hotel. After his marriage he leased the restaurant at the City Park (Zoo) in Budapest. He had this lease from 1910 until the nationalization of the restaurant in 1949. He also ran the restaurants of the Royal Hotel from 1920 to 1925, and the restaurants of the St. Gellért Hotel from 1927 to 1948. On the Gundel menus, besides the Hungarian and French specialities, one could regularly find the culinary creations of Károly Gundel. He used Hungarian and imported ingredients. Seasonal specialities were always first available in the Gundel restaurants. In the 1930s his wine list contained 300 items, including 1811 vintage Tokay wine and foreign specialities. His days were similar to that of other restaurateurs. In the morning he marketed at the large city market and did some office work, then checked on personnel at the Hotel Gellért. During the noon and evening hours he greeted the customers, first at the Hotel Gellért restaurant, than at the City Park (Zoo) restaurant. In his "free" time he read the professional literature to which he also generously contributed. For decades he rarely took a day off. The customers, whom he greeted in his amiable polite manner in both restaurants, came from all walks of life. /Részlet a könyvből/