Hungarian Gypsy Style Roast Pork recipe
Everybody loves gypsy style roast pork. Well, let’s say most people.
This dish is delicious, juicy, greasy, smoky and incredibly filling. With every bite, you savor the smoky, fatty flavor that comes from the mixture of the suddenly roasted meat and the roasted bacon, which complements the potato wreath and all the pickles nicely. But many people can’t make it, or rather, they make it so that it’s anything but a gypsy style roast pork…If you follow our recipe, you will succeed! Consume with a nice cold glass of beer!
Try it in an authentic restaurant if you visit Hungary, and if you have the chance, cook it with a local friend.
The history of gypsy style roast pork
Some claim that the name refers to the smoky, brown hue produced over an open flame. Others claim that it refers to its origin because it is likely more closely related to gypsy cuisine, which uses a lot of meat, than to traditional Hungarian cuisine, which boiled rather than baked food. Some people believe that the name comes from the food’s historical preparation as gypsy fare. They were roasted and baked over coals by skewering a mixture of meat and bacon slices.
The name of the dish
The name of the gypsy style roast pork may have originated from the addition of gypsy bacon to steaks in the past, according to another theory. After maturing, this particular variety of smoked bacon is dipped in blood and smoked in pieces that are at least 3 cm thick, 8–10 cm wide, and 30–40 cm long. This is how it acquired its distinctive black bark. After being covered in paprika, the tops of the bacon strips were adhered to the meat with a knife.
But who are the gypsies?
A people group from India called the gypsies migrated to Europe between the 13th and the 15th centuries. David Comas, a colleague at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, claims that genetic testing supported linguistic findings and that DNA samples collected from thirteen countries demonstrated the ethnic group’s Indian ancestry.
Gypsies in Europe
Gypsies can now be found all over the world, but the majority of them reside in Central and Eastern Europe. There are 7–8.5 million gypsies in Europe, according to estimates. Around 2001, there were 2.5 million people in the Carpathian Basin who could be considered Gypsies, of whom 750,000 resided in Transylvania, 800,000 in Hungary, and 900,000 in Slovakia. According to the aforementioned estimate, Gypsies represent close to 9% of the Carpathian Basin’s population, making them the fifth most numerous ethnic group (behind Hungarians, Romanians, Slovaks, and Croats). In some areas of the Carpathian Basin, they have already attained a relative majority, while in others, they have attained an absolute majority.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of cooking oil
- 1 tsp of salt
- 1 tsp of ground black pepper
- 2 tsp of crushed garlic
- 4 slices of pork shoulder blade (~400 g)
- 1 tsp of paprika powder
- 4 slices of smoked fatty bacon
Steps:
- Prepare the marinade: Mix the oil with salt, pepper and crushed garlic.
- Sprinkle the slices of meat with the paprika powder and then coat both sides with the marinade. Place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- Hack the tops of the bacon slices and fry them in a little oil. Finally, dip the crispy ends in paprika. Set aside.
- Fry the marinated pork slices in the remaining fat on both sides (5-5 minutes).
- Serve with fried bacon, steak potatoes and pickles. Enjoy your meal!!!
Watch our video about this recipe: