Xpat Interview: Carolyn Bánfalvi

Carolyn Bánfalvi is an American author and journalist living in Budapest. She grew up in Washington DC, graduated from New York University, and later went back to chef?s school for a culinary degree. She has written for a variety of publications including the Globe and Mail, Four Seasons, Gastronomica, the Wall Street Journal, and Chow. In Budapest, she writes for a food blog. 

Carolyn is the author of Food Wine Budapest (Little Bookroom, 2008) and The Food and Wine Lover's Guide to Hungary: with Budapest Restaurants and Trips to the Wine Country (Park kiadó, 2008).

She has two daughters (ages one and three), who are learning Hungarian much more easily than she is.

 
1. When did you arrive in Hungary and what brought you here?
I first came to Hungry in 1997 to visit my Hungarian boyfriend (now, my husband). I moved here in 1999.
 
2. Have you ever been an expatriate elsewhere?
No, although I would like to.
 
3. What surprised you most about Hungary?
I was surprised by how good the food and wine are, and by the huge variety that there is in the food and wine here. I was also pleasantly surprised by how beautiful and livable Budapest is, and by how many books most Hungarians have on their shelves.
 
4. Friends are in Budapest for a weekend - what must they absolutely see and do?
Go to the baths, go to a market, walk along the Danube, have a few good meals, and drink lots of good wine.
 
5. What is your favourite Hungarian food?
That's tough: there are so many! I love stuffed peppers, chicken paprikás, fisherman's soup, székelykáposzta, duck with red cabbage, and aranygaluska
 
6. What is never missing from your refrigerator?
Wine, bacon, cheese
 
7. What is your favourite Hungarian word?
Csütörtökön
 
8. What do you miss the most from home?
Good Mexican and Thai food, Ethiopian food, burgers, crabs and other seafood, good cocktails, oh, and my family.
 
9. What career other than yours would you love to pursue?
Pastry chef
 
10. What's a job you would definitely never want?
Anything that would require me going to an office every day.
 
11. Where did you spend your last vacation?
Transylvania
 
12. Where do you hope to spend your next one?
Croatia
 
13 What was your favourite band, film, or hobby as a teen?
Hobbies: photography, biking. Bands: The Cure, Nick Cave, Sonic Youth, Pixies
 
14. What can't you resist?
Coffee
 
15. Red wine or white?
Both
 
16. Book or movie?
Book
 
17. Morning person or night person?
Night
 
18. Dog person or cat person?
Neither really, although I do love Hungarian pulis.
 
19. Buda side or Pest side?
Buda, for living. Pest, for hanging out.
 
20. What would you say is your personal motto?
A dream without a plan is only a wish