Interview with Author & Tour Company Owner Carolyn Bánfalvi
Carolyn Bánfalvi, author of Food Wine Budapest (Little Bookroom).
The Hungarian Girl will now be featuring various chefs, foodies, writers, bloggers, artists and people who are connected to Central and Eastern Europe. This means I get to interview lots of exciting and interesting people from around the world!
Today’s featured interview is with author & tour company owner of Taste Hungary, Carolyn Bánfalvi.
Enjoy!
Who are you?
Carolyn Bánfalvi, originally from Washington DC and now based in Budapest.
What do you do?
Many things! I am a writer and the owner of a culinary tour company in Budapest. My culinary guidebooks to Budapest were released in 2008—Food Wine Budapest (Little Bookroom) and The Food and Wine Lover’s Guide to Hungary (Park kiadó). I also continue to write articles for a variety of international magazines, newspapers, and web sites. My husband and I run Taste Hungary, a culinary tour company. And we have a small publishing company through which we aim to publish Hungarian translations of classics in the areas of children’s literature and cookbooks. Our first book was recently published—the Hungarian translation of Curious George—and we have several more in the works. I also have two daughters, ages two and four, who are full of energy.
What inspires you to write?
I love doing research, and then sharing my experience and knowledge with readers so they can go out and eat and drink all of the good things that I come across.
Tell us a bit about Taste Hungary?
Fény Utcai Piac in Budapest.
Taste Hungary grew out of my book, and the abundant amount of research that went into it. I run the company with my husband, who is Hungarian. We specialize in organizing and leading personalized food, wine and market tours. We like to keep our tour small, and we aim to show our clients the best that there is in Hungary….no over-rated tourist spots, buses, or mediocre wineries or restaurants. We personalize the itineraries for the wine trips for each tour (and we always like to add time for cultural, outdoor, or spa activities), and we will plan trips or itineraries based on any special interests. We have never done the same trip twice, and we are always learning and discovering new things.
What’s your favorite dish?
That’s tough. In terms of Hungarian cuisine, it really depends on my mood (or time of year). During the winter I like things like Jokai bean soup and stuffed cabbage (I prefer the Transylvanian style, however, which has less paprika and sauerkraut). I also love buying ingredients from the markets like homemade gomolya cheese and lardo made from Mangalica.
What’s your favorite drink?
I love wine, and living in Hungary, I drink mostly Hungarian wine. Lately my favorites are furmint (white) and kadarka (red).
Any additional comments you want to share?
There are so many delicious and various things to taste in Hungary—the food, the wines, the pálinka, the fancy desserts—but the cuisine remains relatively unknown outside of the region. My clients and personal visitors always count the eating and drinking experiences as the highlight of their trips to Hungary…so come for a visit!
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- Interview with Csárdás Dance Company
- Blue Danube Wine Company hosts Slovenian wine tastings in the U.S.
- Celebrating 20 years of The Royal Tokaji Wine Company
- Author & awarding winning journalist Kati Marton comes to Toronto
Category: Travel Services
About the Author (Author Profile)
Suzanne Urpecz, creator and editor of The Hungarian Girl. Click on my About page for more info.
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My husband and I made our first trip to Hungary last year. We were fortunate to have connected with Carolyn as we were planning our itinerary. Carolyn and her husband arranged two mini-trips into Hungarian wine-country for us. They were unforgettable. We highly recommend the customized tours Carolyn and Gabor Banflavi plan. And, we carried Carolyn’s book (Food Wine Budapest) in our backpack as we explored Budapest. It’s a great resource. It’s so nice to see Carolyn featured here.
Thanks for sharing your experience about Taste Hungary and Carolyn. It sounds like you and your husband had a great time. Yes, “Food Wine Budapest” is really a great book. I also highly recommend it for anyone travelling to Hungary.
Cheers!