This book is not simply a cook book, besides the excellent recipes one can get to know the history of our gastronomic culture – how the dishes of the ancient animal herding traditions, the countless spices and new special ingredients used in the Italianate court cuisine of the Renaissance, the cabbage and rice dishes of Turkish times, Transylvanian cuisine, and peasant food rich in bacon fat and paprika, and not least French cuisine have all enriched Hungarian gastronomy and had a beneficial influence on its development.