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An Ode to the Pogacsa – A Mouthwatering Hungarian Snack

| Destinations, Europe, Food, Hungary, Sunday Traveler

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Hidden throughout Budapest in metro stations, among the stalls of markets and many storefronts, are fantastic bakeries filled with delicious baked goods. I love going to the bakery. There are so many unique baked goods that I had never seen before, and for the most part, they taste delicious with all sorts of interesting combinations of flavours mixed into the bread. My favorite, is the pogácsa.

Pogácsa - Perfect Snack from a Hungarian Bakery

So many to choose from!

I don’t remember how I discovered these. I think someone had bought some and let me try one. I was easily hooked. It was buttery with the perfect amount of salty or sweet. It is one of things I miss the most when I’m not in Hungary. Last time I visited, one of my Hungarian friends gave me a box with homemade pogácsa as soon as I arrived. Needless to say they didn’t last very long.

Pogácsa - Perfect Snack from a Hungarian Bakery

Essentially a pogácsa is like a mini scone. They’re crunchy on the outside, and soft on the inside. It is light and fluffy, with many layers, almost like a croissant.

Pogácsa - Perfect Snack from a Hungarian Bakery

Look at that height!

In fact, the process of making pogácsa mimics croissant making where you fold the dough over itself multiple times. If a scone and a croissant had a child, it would be the pogácsa.

Pogácsa - Perfect Snack from a Hungarian Bakery

Try not to look at all the oil! And pogácsa on the metro – a common sight.

There are two main bakeries that you will spot in the metro station: Fornetti and Princess. Outside of metro stations you’ll spot other bakeries, but essentially they are more or less variations on the same thing. In the city, you’re never more than a couple hundred meters from a bakery – they’re everywhere. Like the Starbucks of Budapest.

Pogácsa - Perfect Snack from a Hungarian Bakery

During the rush hour and constantly at main connection points, you’ll spot long lines of people waiting to get their baked goods.

Pogácsa - Perfect Snack from a Hungarian Bakery

These little nuggets of baked goodness are my favorite way to start my day.  They’re best when they’re warm and straight out of the oven. Otherwise a couple seconds in a microwave goes a lot way.

They come in sweet and savory fillings like cheese (sajt), ham (sonka), pizza, apple (alma), chocolate (csoki), sour cherry (meggy) and the Hungarian favourite flavour, turó, which is a kind of cheese. My favorite are the sajt kreme (literally cream cheese, but its slightly salty), and spenótos (spinach).

Pogácsa - Perfect Snack from a Hungarian Bakery

You can’t decide what you want? Mix and match. Tell them how many you want of each and they’ll pack em up for you. If you’re trying to learn Hungarian, this is the perfect way to practice numbers and foods. I always consider it a success when I managed to get what I want using only Hungarian.

Pogácsa - Perfect Snack from a Hungarian Bakery

A Hungarian will always tell you that the ones purchased in these bakeries are commercialized and are no good. They’ll assure you that homemade is best and in particular their mother’s, but for those just visiting, these little pockets of deliciousness will have you craving more and more. Perfect for breakfast or as a side with your lunch or if you need an afternoon pick me up. I really miss these and need to figure out a way of making them myself!

Have you tried these before? Did you fall in love like I did? Do you know of other baked goods that look or taste similar?

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Comments

  1. I have never tried these before! To be honest, I’ve always just stuck with pastries I know in Budapest, but looks like I have something new to try next time 🙂

  3. You had me at “baked goods” – but seriously, they all look delicious.

    And it is funny how everyone’s mom/grandma makes THE best (insert something delicious). This may be a universal phenomenon.

  5. Those look absolutely delicious. I could really do for a homemade one at some point. I really enjoy your posts on food and travel!

  6. Yum!! I would love to try one but I know I’d get addicted. I’m a sucker for all things pastry. Now where can I find a Hungarian bakery in Costa Rica is the question…

  7. I haven’t know that this is a Hungarian thing. We do have Fornetti here in Croatia. And they are pretty popular. It’s relatively cheap. It’s a heavy food that stuffs you well for the day. And they are tasty.

    • Oh! I didn’t know there were Fornetti’s outside of Hungary. I haven’t spotted them anywhere else. While I was doing some research, I think there are similar looking and sounding pastries throughout the Balkans.

  8. Ooh – you know how I feel about baked goods. I would like taking the subway in NYC way more if there were shops like these everywhere!

  9. Yummmmmm stop it, you’re making me hungry. I want all of these things for breakfast. Mind you, I just ate apple pie for breakfast so my life isn’t horrible, but still….WANT.

  10. I haven’t tried these, I saw a few in the market and possibly the metro, but there were so many and I didn’t know what they were.

    • It can be intimidating to just walk up to these if you don’t know what they are. If it weren’t for someone else showing them to me, I probably would have never caught on to how amazing they are.

  11. They look really yummy! I am sure that they all have dairy or eggs in them, so I’m wondering if there are vegan versions of them? (Both Justin and I follow a vegan diet). It might not be too popular in Budapest to have vegan baked goods…but they look really delicious!

    • Yes, they would have at the very least butter in them. Vegan food is going to be hard to find in Budapest. I know a few vegetarian restaurants and only one vegan one. A lot of their food is meat and potatoes with lots of dairy. You might be able to find some bakeries though. I can’t think of any off the top of my head, but they would probably be advertised as being “bio” (their term for everything natural, and organic). You’ll have to ask at the counter probably.

  12. Oh this looks YUMMIE!!! In Buenos Aires they have plenty of sweet pastries but after half a year I´m grown a bit tired of them, yeah seriously, they are just too sweet for me! I would love to eat a Pogacsa right now, just to break the habit =)

  14. This post just made me really hungry and it’s right before bedtime. I’ve never heard of pogácsa but it looks delicious. I like that it has a variety of fillings which make all the difference. We love sampling pastries in cities we visit.

    • I love trying out all the different flavours. There are so many and it seems like there is something new to try every time I go to buy some.

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