Its colour is red, its taste is hot and it is made in a cauldron full of with paprika and fish. Its recipe differs from house to house but everybody says, his/her one is the most delicious soup. It is a typical dish of Christmas but you can eat it anytime. It is made mostly in wayside inns and restaurants. It is the main attraction of festivals and feasts, you can eat it anywhere in Hungary but keep in mind: The most delicious fish soup is the Szeged fish soup. Keep reading and you can know why it is the most delicious.

Did you know?

1. In the surroundings of Szeged, fishing was prospering in the 11^th century.
2. The phrase “River Tisza consists of two-thirds water and one third fish” comes from Galeotto Marzio, the chronicle of Matthias Corvinus (1458-1490).
3. Fish soup is one of the most important food of the Hungarian gastronomy, however it is a quite new food because paprika has been used generally since the 18^th century.
4. If we ask foreigners about the Hungarian gastronomy, probably, fish soup will be in the 3 most frequent answers.
5. The two most popular fish soups are the Szeged and the Baja fish soup.
6. Fish soup is ready when your thumb and forefinger stich together in the steam of the soup.
7. The International Tisza Fish Festival was organized 19 times in Szeged until 2015.

International Tisza Fish Festival

This is one of the biggest and the most prestigious gastronomic and cultural festival in Hungary. Cooks fight in a competition for the award: “Halfőző Érdemrend” (Fish soup Honour) which was established by Sándor Frank, Venesz Award winner masterchef. The competition takes place under the Szeged bridge and – in the last years - in Partfürdő in Újszeged (thanks to the increasing numbers of competitors) every year in the morning of the first Saturday of September.

8. Who wants to make an original fish soup, he/she makes it with onion from the last year because chives and boiling onion aren’t suitable for this purpose.
9. Fish soups can be classified in the following way:

Danube fish soups:

·      Baja fish soup

·      Paks fish soup

·      Komárom fish soup

·      Danube fish soup

·      Mohács fish soup

·      Debrecen (paprika) fish soup

Tisza fish soups:

·      Szeged fish soup

·      Szolnok fish soup

·      Tisza (winy) fish soup

Fish soups of Lake Balaton

·      Fish soup of Lake Balaton

·      Füred fish soup

·      Lelle fish soup

10. Beside the Szeged fish soup, fish crackling is another popular local fish food.
11. Ottó Herman, scientist described 34 fish species of River Tisza based partly on other scientists’ notes and his own research.
12. As a result of the cyanide spill in 2000, the fauna of the river died out totally.

The fish soup is the most famous soup near River Tisza. It is made from several fish species. The smaller fish, heads and tails are rubbed through a sieve. In this way, the soup becomes thick but there won’t be any bigger pieces in it. Then, fish meat (fish fillet) is cooked into the soup base.

Fish soup is an important food in the Hungarian cuisine and it is a traditional dish of Christmas. Its recipe is a protected secret in each family. There are special ingredients but the basic ingredients and the method of cooking is traditional.

According to the Hungarian ethnographic literature, fish soup is the same as fish stew with more liquid. (“Fish stew a la fishermen” – written in receipt books 100 years ago)

Preparing fish soup in Hungary

In Hungary, different regions compete who makes the authentic, real fish soup. Ottó Herman, the internationally well-known ethnographer said that lots of sterlet, enough carps and a few catfish are needed for the real fish soup.

• Near River Tisza, fish soup is made from carps, pikes, eels and sterlets and it is flavoured with paprika, onion and bay leaf.
• The Szeged fish soup is as red as the blood of the “most savage bull”.
• Komárom fish soup is made from a few types of fish but a large amount (carp, catfish and sterlet) – one-third, one-third paprika and one-third onion.
• According to the folk recipes, the fish soup near the Lake Balaton is made from a lot of onions, a little paprika and many small fish, especially common bream.