Magyar Hírek, 1985 (38. évfolyam, 2-26. szám)

1985-06-08 / 12. szám

Kugler, Gerbeaud, Vörösmarty

There are certain names that bring to mind gracious living steeped in tradition. Such are, chosen at random, Crillon, Fauchon, Grand Vefour, Ritz, Tour d'Argent in Paris, Brown’s Claridge’s, Fortnum and Mason, Harrods, Simpson's in London; Demel, Sacher in Vienna. Occasionally the names change, the quality of what is provided varies. One is reminded by a recent ceremony in Budapest of just such changes in a famous establishment known at various times as Kugler, Gerbeaud and Vörösmarty.

It was in 1858 that Henrik Kugler, coming from a long line of Hungarian confectioners,, took over and enlarged the “Konditorei” established by his father 10 years earlier in the centre of Budapest. After the move in 1870 to palatial premises in Gizella Square (renamed later Vörösmarty Square after the 19th century poet) the Kugler Konditorei went from strength to strength and became the meeting place of artists, musicians, writers, politicians and poets—Franz Liszt was among the clientele.

In 1884 Kugler invited the 30 year old but already well known Swiss confectioner Emile Gerbeaud to take over the rapidly growing business, and it was Gerbeaud who, helped by his wife, née Esther Ramseyer, daughter of a confectioner, established the world reputation of the “Salon de Thé” and “Konditorei’’ known as “Kugler Henrik, successor Gerbeaud”, or simply “Gerbeaud’.

Three ingredients contributed to Gerbeaud’s success. First the Hungarians' proverbial love of good living. As the old saying put it: “We are poor but we live well”. Next the superlative professionalism, never satisfied until perfection is reached, fired by imagination and steeped in the tradition of three generations of Kuglers and Gerbeauds and two generations of Ramseyers. It was Kugler who popularized in Hungary the small, cream-filled iced pastries, so much so that these “mignons” (named after the Parisian pastry chef Mignot) were known in Hungary for many decades as “kuglers”. Gerbeaud is reputed to have invented the brandy-filled, chocolate covered morello cherries, and Gerbeaud’s bonbons were famous the whole world over.

And last, but most importantly, the whole ambiance, the furnishing, the decor, the table-ware and the impeccable service combined to provide “gracious living”. Gerbeaud became a symbol and its name entered the Hungarian vocabulary, spelled phonetically “zserbó”. At the banquet held on 19 November 1909 to celebrate the silver Jubilee of Gerbeaud there was one remark which, according to a contemporary report, was greeted with “great hilarity”. A speaker, pretending to give the “authentic” version of the Fall said that, when Adam hesitated to taste the forbidden fruit, Eve told him “Eat it, it’s from Gerbeaud”.

In 1948 Gerbeaud, in common with other similar establishments,

was nationalized and in 1950 its name was changed to Vörösmarty, the name of the square in which it stood. It was assumed by many people that this was a political decision. After all Gerbeaud’s clientele consisted mainly of the aristocracy, the landed gentry, the prosperous middle classes—none of whom were popular with the government. A well-documented article by I. Reményi-Gyenes published 30 years later in 1982, in the weekly Magyarország told the true story. The Government wanted to retain the name, as they did with the Gundel restaurant, another gastronomic landmark in Budapest. But two of the Gerbeaud heirs, who were Sw iss citizens living in Switzerland, obtained an injunction under international law making the use of the name Gerbeaud conditional on the payment of a tidy sum of money, in convertible currency. So the reason for the change from Gerbeaud to Vörösmarty was financial rather than political. As a result of the article negotiations were started with the Gerbeaud heirs living in Brazil, in the USA and in Hungary and finally, on 16 March 1984, Gerbeaud’s centenary, the name once again appeared on the facade in Vörösmarty Square.

I received an invitation to attend the celebrations but it did not reach

me in Oxford until one hour before the function began and all I could do was to telegraph my good wishes. It was, according to the reports, an intimate, but memorable and, to some, even a nostalgic occasion. The young ladies who served the refreshments wore the traditional long black dresses with white lace aprons and the displays included choice tea sets, a variety of old chocolate boxes and one 1/4 kg bar of “Chocolat fin Santé, No. 502” of about 1910 vintage. It was on loan from the Hungarian Museum for the Catering Industry!

I understand that in the recent negotiations the one thing the Gerbeaud heirs insisted on was that the quality of Gerbeaud in all its aspects should approach the old standards. Clearly it is not possible, nor is it desirable, to reconstruct the past: customs change, tastes change, even ingredients change. But in my conversations with Mrs. Mária Ágoston-Reich, the Director of Gerbeaud, I formed the impression that both she and her staff will do everything in their power to satisfy the hopes of the Gerbeaud heirs, and of all those to whom the name Gerbeaud epitomizes perfection. Perhaps before long visitors to Gerbeaud will say, using the Guide Michelin’s timehonoured expression, vaut le voyage.

NICHOLAS KÜRTI

Nicholas (Miklós) Kürti, the noted physicist, professor at Oxford University, born in 1908, was a pupil at the Budapest Mintagimnázium and later studied at Paris and Berlin universities. He started his career at Breslau Technical University (now: Wroclaw), later was attached to the Clarendon Laboratory in Oxford (1933—40) and worked at the U.K. Atomic Energy Project between 1940—45. He has been working and teaching in Oxford since then. During one of his visits to his native country, he held a most successful lecture at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest.

RECIPES

Kohlrabi soup. Ingredients: 4 large summer kohlrabis, 3 tablespoonfulls of ail or 30 g lard, 30 g flour, P.l 1 sour cream a bouquet of parsley, salt, pinch of red paprika, seasoning powder (rice or noodles).

Cut out woody portions of the kohlrabi, cut the fine part in to thin shreds, and stew it in hot shortening, salted and under a lid until tender. Then sprinkle the flour brown it for a few minutes and add the red paprika and cold water. Also add a coffe-spoon of seasoning powder, and cook the soup for about 10-15 minutes. Then add the finely chopped parsley, and, just before serving, the sour cream. One may also add rice or noodles.

Kohlrabi layered with meat. Ingredients: 4 large summer kohlrabis (winter vegetables can also be used), 50 g butter, or 5 spoons of oil, 300 g lean minced pork (or leftover roast), 100 g rice, 3 tablespoonfulls of breadcrumbs, 0.3 1 sour cream, salt, pepper, one small onion.

Clean the kohlrabi, cut them to strips of about finger-thickness and set under a lid with half of the butter or oil, salt, and a little water. In the meantime slightly brown the finely chopped onion in the rest of the shortening, add the minced meat, the washed rice, salt and pepper, and stew under a lid with a bit of water until tender, and then reduce it to its gravy. Take a heatproof dish, butter it, and sprinkle it with a good layer of breadcrumbs. Put in the kohlrabi, then the meat in layers, douse with sour cream, pour all of the sour cream left on the top, and put the dish into a preheated oven to cook for 15-20 minutes. Thin slices of bacon may also be placed on top.

Tomato stuffed with kohlrabi puree. Ingredients: 6 tomatoes, 3 kohlrabis, 1 coffe-spoon of salt, pepper, 0.1 1 tartare sauce.

Peal the kohlrabis, dice and cook in salted water. Pour off the water, let it cool, then mash through a fine sieve. Season with salt and pepper. Stuff the purée into hollowed-out tomatoes, and pour thick tartare sauce over them.

M. K.

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