Dödölle (“DUH-DUH-LE”) is a dumpling made by boiling cleaned and peeled potatoes, crushing them and mixing them with flour, then frying them in hot fat to which some onion is added. It is usually served with sour cream. It is a traditional dish in the Örség region located in Western Hungary in Zala County. Nagykanizsa is sometimes called the “capital of dödölle,” and an annual wine and dödölle festival is held in the town every September. In the past, dödölle was mainly eaten by the poor, as it was cheap to make.

The name of the dish can’t easily be translated into English, and resembles no modern Hungarian word. Meanwhile, depending on where you are in Hungary, it can also mean galushka made with sour cream and túró, or any other kind of dumpling.

The above picture of a plate of mangalicaszűzérme dödöllével füstölt marhanyelves laskaraguval (tenderloin of mangalica pork with dödölle, served in an oyster mushroom sauce with smoked beef tongue) was featured in this review of Budapest’s Rézkakas Étterem in March, 2008.