Badacsonyi KÖR, the wine association behind the idea, was founded with the intention of putting Badacsony on the map of domestic and international wine regions. Since this requires both excellent wines and the promotion of the region’s gastronomy and wine tourism, the association decided to invite some renowned chefs to create a new Badacsony-style dish from high quality local ingredients.

“We are proud that the chefs managed to create a genuine Badacsony-style dish that may easily become popular both in restaurants and in the home kitchen. So, the fish-filled pasta Badacsony style might join the Badacsony wines as the ambassadors of the region’s gastronomy” – pointed out Péter Váli, a winemaker from the Badacsonyi KÖR at the presentation of the dish in the New York Palace in Budapest.

“The fish-filled pasta Badacsony style is characterized by clean flavours, and we may expect it to appear both in home kitchens and on restaurant menus”- says András Wolf, New York Café and Salon Restaurant’s chef. The dish was served with a Kéknyelű wine produced jointly by the members of the Badacsonyi KÖR.

“Hungarian cuisine still means the cuisine of Gundel’s and Krúdy’s times, both in Hungary and abroad. Our initiative is novel also because it invites chefs to create something new and lasting in the Hungarian cuisine through cooperation instead of individual work. We have the opportunity to reinvent the Hungarian cuisine, a very vague and misleading concept that represents an outdated way of thinking, as the cuisine of regions” – says Gábor Kardos, a member of the Badacsonyi KÖR and the person behind the idea of the new dish.

Healthy, tasty and modern

The inspiration for the new dish came from the region’s high quality ingredients, but the dish may be prepared anywhere as the Kéknyelű leaves may be substituted with some other vine variety’s leaves. In modern viticulture, leaves are thinned out several times during the year, which makes the leaves rich in vitamins and nutrients, and creates a new food ingredient that has previously been wasted.

The organisers will send the full recipe, complete with description and photos to as many restaurants as possible, and they hope that the College of Catering and Tourism and vocational schools will integrate it into next year’s curriculum.

Visitors to the Badacsony Wine Festival will have a chance to taste the new dish prepared by the chefs of Hotel Bonvino, one of the sponsors of the event.

Badacsonyi KÖR  - The wine association’s main purpose is putting Badacsony on the map of domestic and international wine regions. Their concept of value creation can be summarised as promoting gastronomy and wine tourism while setting geographical origin and quality standards. The members are: Gergely Istvándy, Gábor Kardos, Bence Laposa, László Szeremley and Péter Váli.


Fish-filled pasta Badacsony style recipe:

Components:
- Pasta filled with catfish and goat cheese
- Fish soup
- Vegetables

Preparation (5 servings):

Green pasta filled with catfish and goat cheese

Ingredients for the pasta:

- 0.5 kg of flour type '00'
- 2 eggs
- 6 egg yolks
- 50 grams of tender leaves from Kéknyelű vines (leaves removed from stems, blanched, cooled in ice-cold water and squeezed to remove the excess water)
- 1 bunch of parsley (leaves removed from stems, blanched, cooled in ice-cold water and squeezed to remove the excess water)
- 1 pinch of salt
- 0.5 dl of water
- 0.5 dl of olive oil
- 2 eggs for glazing
- Extra flour (for sprinkling)

Ingredients for the filling:

- 300 grams of catfish
- 100 grams of goat cheese
- 50 grams of smoked bacon
- Salt and pepper

Puree the eggs, yolks, salt, parsley and vine leaves using an immersion blender, then mix and knead with the rest of the ingredients (flour, water and olive oil) until you have a soft, green dough.

Cover the dough with a sheet of plastic wrap and keep it in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. Place the dough onto a surface sprinkled with flour, flatten it into a thin sheet and cut it into two even pieces.

Remove the skin and tendons from the catfish fillet and cut it into small cubes. Cut the smoked bacon into cubes and fry them until crisp. Crumble the goat cheese into a bowl and mix it with the catfish and bacon cubes, add salt and pepper.

Roll the filling into small balls and place them onto one of the doughs, approximately 5-6 cm from each other. Brush egg yolk onto the top and cover it with the other piece of dough. Use your thumb to gently press the two sheets of dough together along the fish filling, making sure not to crack the dough around the edges.

Cut the two sheets into circles with a scone cutter or a wavy pastry cutter. Cook the fish-filled pasta in a pot of salted water and serve it with the other ingredients.

Press release of the Badacsonyi KÖR.

Further information from András Nádasi by clicking here