Two years ago, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the near-complete closure of restaurants, bars, nightclubs, entertainment venues, and gyms in the city. It was a devastating time for restaurant owners and workers. Take-out and delivery became the new norm. Entrepreneur chefs created pop-up events in order to make ends meet. One such person was Eden Batki and her pop-up is called Eden’s Hungarian.
When the pandemic began, Batki said “it just came naturally that I would cook food and serve it to people in whatever way that I wanted. I love that I’m coming up with the menu, and if you want it, you want it. If you don’t, you don’t, and that’s okay, too.” She advertised a Hungarian menu that she would personally deliver.
In her formative years, Batki spent her summers with her grandparents and her grandmother introduced her to traditional Hungarian cuisine. She recalls frequently eating her Stuffed Cabbage and Chicken Soup with Dumplings. Unfortunately, her grandmother never showed her how to make any of her dishes. Batki prepares her dishes based on her memory of how her dishes tasted.
I confess that I’m woefully ignorant about Hungarian cuisine. The only Hungarian dishes I was familiar with were Veal Paprikash and Goulash. Through Batki, I realized that Hungary is bordered by seven countries and the food reflects its neighboring countries such as Slovakia, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine. Due to the Turkish occupation during the Ottoman Empire, some dishes have a Turkish influence. After seeing the variety of food, I now realize that Hungarian cuisine is worth seeking.
Hungarian cuisine has many noodle dishes and one of them is Túrós Csusza which is usually made with bacon and cottage cheese. Named Semolina Pasta Curly Noodles ($20), Batki applied her creativity by using artisanal semolina pasta, fermented cabbage, smoked pork, and farmer’s cheese. Because the pork was chopped into small cubes, this dish did not require much meat to be flavorful. The curly shape of the noodles nicely adhered to the ingredients.
Described as Potato, Parsnip, Carrot, and Chive Pancakes ($15), I didn’t realize that this would be a variation on latkes. We reheated them in the oven and they were crispy and tasty. The apple plum sauce and dill sour cream were delicious toppings for the pancakes.
For dessert, we enjoyed Black Poppyseed Cake ($12). Batki packaged a container of farmer’s cheese and sour cherry as a topping. The cake was moist and the farmer’s cheese and cherry preserve nicely complemented this dessert.
Batki combines the skills and experience that she has acquired as a cook, a forager, a world traveler, and a photographer. It is her desire to place Hungarian cuisine on the map and her upcoming cookbook will help lead the way.
Eden’s Hungarian edenbatki.com