Lecsó is one of the classic Hungarian dishes of the 20th century, but its origins date back to the 1860s. By the early 1930s, it was already featured in cookery books. Károly Gundel’s *Little Hungarian Cookbook* was published in 1934. This cookbook features the very same lecsó that appears on Gundel’s current menu at Nemzeti 11, listed as „lecsó with Mangalica sausage and egg”. This is the original version made with Mangalica sausage. And a ‘cracked egg’ is placed on top.

Lecsó was first recorded in 1914 under the name by which it is still known today, and it was made clear that it consisted of ”green peppers with tomatoes”. During the First World War, Berthold and Manfréd founded the ‘First Hungarian Canning Factory’, and in 1924 they launched the Globus brand. This development helped lecsó to become even more widespread, as the tinned produce was accessible to everyone. In 1934, the recipe also appeared in Károly Gundel’s *Little Hungarian Cookbook*, and in 1936 Frigyes Karinthy The expression referring to the dish – ”sausage in lecsó with beaten egg” – also appeared in one of his books. It features on the ‘Top 11’ list of the Gundel restaurant under the name ‘lecsó with Mangalica sausage and egg’.

Here is the recipe for lecsó from Gundel’s *Little Hungarian Cookbook* (1934).

Ingredients

1.40 kg green peppers

600 g fresh tomatoes

150 g red onion

80 g fat

50 g smoked bacon

5 g paprika, salt

Preparation

Remove the seeds from the fleshy green peppers, cut them into long strips; if they are very hot, remove the veins as well, but as a last resort, you can also reduce their heat by blanching them. Dip the tomatoes in boiling water for a few seconds, peel off the skin, and cut them into quarters (or into pieces if they are large).

Cut the onions in half lengthways, then crosswise against the grain into semi-circular slices. Choose a large enough pan so that the ingredients can spread out properly! Fry the skinless, finely diced bacon in fat until translucent, then fry the onions until light brown. Next, quickly stir in the paprika, then immediately add the green peppers and tomatoes. Season with salt, then cook uncovered over a high heat at first, and later – once some of the liquid has evaporated – covered over a moderate heat until tender. (This quantity is equivalent to approximately 1 kg of tinned lecsó.) This is how lecsó is used as a condiment or side dish. If serving it as a main course, you can cook sausages in it, either whole or sliced into rounds, or you can pour beaten egg over it – just before serving – and some people even sprinkle rice over it right at the start to make it more substantial when cooked together.