Budapest - Central Market Hall - 2 of 6

Located in Pest the Central (or sometimes referred to as Great) Market Hall is the largest and oldest indoor market in Budapest.  Built around 1897, the market was damaged during the World Wars, closed for several years then fully renovated in the 1990s.  Special colorful tiles on the roof are made by the famous Hungarian manufacturer, Zsolnay in Pécs (southwest Hungary). 

Central Market Hall

colorful tiles

The ground floor of the market is filled with vendors selling produce, meats, pastries, spices, etc.  The market is a must see when visiting, the perfect place to buy souvenirs... and paprika!  We spent a couple hours here but could have easily spent a half day shopping and eating. 

10,000 square meters of market space on the ground floor

 

 

 

In my mind, nothing is more Hungarian than paprika... thanks to a favorable climate peppers are grown, picked, dried and ground to make the national spice of Hungary and fourth most consumed spice in the world. 

8 Types of Hungarian paprika (from budapestbylocals.com)

• Special quality (Különleges) – this is the mildest of all and has the most vibrant red colour

• Delicate (csípősmentes csemege)-mild with rich flavour,

• Exquisite delicate (csemege) –slightly more pungent than the Delicate,

• Pungent Exquisite delicate (csípős csemege), even more pungent

• Noble sweet (édesnemes) – the most common type, slightly pungent with bright red colour,

• Half-sweet (félédes) – a medium-pungent

• Rose (rózsa) – light red colour, mildly pungent

• Hot (erős) – the hottest of all paprikas, light brown-orange colour

paprika, paprika and more paprika

big bags of saffron!  In Sweden, saffron is a controlled substance and can only be bought at the pharmacy.

The first floor holds food vendors and souvenir vendors... beautiful embroidery, wooden handicrafts, leather handbags.  We spent quite a bit of forints in the market... paprika, honey, bee pollen, leather purses, key chains for the kids, a wooden chess set and a toy for 'feeding' chickens.

Lori trying to teach Claudette how to feed the chickens

Do not miss trying this Hungarian treat!  Lángos is a traditional food... flat bread dough, fried, brushed with garlic oil and topped with sour cream and shredded Emmental cheese, simple and so good!!  Other toppings are available but those are for the tourists!  If you don't have time to soak in a thermal bath for a couple hours to get the garlic out of your system you can always drink milk to neutralize it instead.

traditional version - fried dough topped with sour cream and shredded cheese

dessert version of lángos