If you’re like me, and have ever sworn off Hungarian halászlé, the traditional carp-laden spicy fish soup that is the mainstay of many a csárda, consider reconsidering it. After quitting halászlé for seven full years, I recently dove into a big bowl of the stuff and just about licked the thing clean. Aside from its name – which unappetizingly translates as “fish juice” – the main drawback of halászlé has always been the fish it’s made from, which is usually ponty: carp. While decent people can and do love carp, I am not one of them, and if you hate halászlé, you’re probably not one of them either. It is a big and, well, yucky sort of fish that always make one want to look away as it suffocates in its overcrowded fish prison in the market. And it tastes terrible no matter how much pepper you put on it.
Here’s where the reconsideration comes: harcsa halászlé, or spicy catfish soup. When prepared well it is not only edible but delectable. At the Határcsárda in Szentendre – where I broke my halászlé boycott – the slightly sweet flesh of the nicely filleted catfish perfectly showcased the fiery soup. And with no icky carp bones to pull out of your teeth, you can eat it that much faster.
