A stereotype of Hungarians is the use of pig - hog - pork fat - LARD in every recipe. In fat, a prize pig is mostly LARD.
This item can barely be found on supermarket shelves in California. I swear this is true. Maybe twenty years ago you could find some in blocks. Even the tubs of Crisco, a pure white sanitized shortening, that were available when I was first learning to cook seem to have gone missing... You can find lard on the bottom shelf of some Mexican grocers, which there are very many of.
Onions, paprika, lard... It turns out that while the die-hard traditional Hungarian cooks are using their recipes that call for pork lard, the reformkonyha Hungarians are moving towards vegetable oil and poultry. However it is very difficult to impossible to cook authentic Hungarian meals and go vegetarian or - goddess help us - vegan. (That said, I've tried to work it - all the spices and vegetables - in olive oil or butter. It's tasty but I can't compare with authentic Hungarian.)
Sour cream is also an essential for traditional Hungarian cooking. That said, a significant percentage of Europeans become or are lactose intolerant. (It's true that most lactose intolerant people can eat or imbibe a small amount of cow milk product and that switching to goat milk can often work and that some people only develop this inability to digest as they age.)
If you are adverse to animal fats of any sort, perhaps watching your waistline expand, you might be able to up your Hungarian authenticity by where you serve your meal. An outdoor garden, a checkered tablecloth, real, not plastic, utensils, and the right attitude may make all the difference.
So the jury is out. Is this STILL a Hungarian / Hungarian-American stereotype of not?
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