I was born and raised in the "whole chicken, no lemon juice"
>school, then rashly married into a family swearing by the "chopped
>chicken, oodles of lemon juice" recipe, and in time learned to make
>and enjoy both variants.  Instead of an "unchanging recipe", an
>unbiased observer would find that the world of Hungarian chicken
>soup is a world characterized by the cardinal Hungarian virtues of
>pluralism and tolerance.  So there.
Never heard of the lemon juice varity.  I only add lemon juice when I
make kocsonya (aspic) out of it.  However, I can try - is this the only
difference?

Agnes

At 02:14 AM 7/15/97 GMT, Agnes Heringer, responding to Gabor Fencsik in
"Re: i must speak", wrote:

<snip>
>Never heard of the lemon juice varity.  I only add lemon juice when I
>make kocsonya (aspic) out of it.  However, I can try - is this the only
>difference?

Lemon juice in Hungarian chicken soup was unheard of in our family.
Perhaps it's a class issue.  When I was young, and still living in Hungary,
I don't recall ever consuming fresh lemons, and I know I never actually ate
any citrus fruits, like oranges, until we crossed the border into Austria.
In fact, my first encounter with an orange was not pleasant.  One of the
Red Cross workers in the refugee camp gave me an orange and I bit into it.
It was awful and very bitter.  When they saw what I did, they told me that
I should peel it first.  How was I to know?

No, I've never tried lemon juice in Chicken Soup.  However, for the last
five years or so, I've been adding some 100 per cent pure sesame oil to the
soup just before serving.  It gives the soup a wounderful, nutty flavour
and aroma.  And although it's no longer "Hungarian", I haven't had any
complaints.  Just the opposite, actually.  Now, everyone wants to know how
I make the soup.

I got the idea of adding sesame oil to the Chicken Soup soup from the
Chinese Hot and Sour Soup.  Now, I can't go back to just plain old
Hungarian Chicken Soup - unless someone else makes it.

Joe Szalai

aheringer wrote:
>
>   I was born and raised in the "whole chicken, no lemon juice"
> >school, then rashly married into a family swearing by the "chopped
> >chicken, oodles of lemon juice" recipe, and in time learned to make
> >and enjoy both variants.  Instead of an "unchanging recipe", an
> >unbiased observer would find that the world of Hungarian chicken
> >soup is a world characterized by the cardinal Hungarian virtues of
> >pluralism and tolerance.  So there.
> Never heard of the lemon juice varity.  I only add lemon juice when I
> make kocsonya (aspic) out of it.  However, I can try - is this the only
> difference?
>
> Agnes
PLEASE, could somebody prepare a synopsis of the different
denominations? She/he/they would earn eternal merits in a field
of indeed overwhelming practical cultural importance!
Miklos

In a message dated 97-07-15 07:25:37 EDT, you write:
<< No, I've never tried lemon juice in Chicken Soup.  However, for the last
 five years or so, I've been adding some 100 per cent pure sesame oil to the
>>

Thanks for the tip Joe... it sounds good! I have been adding a small squirt
of fresh
lime juice and a sprig of cilantro to my chicken soup just before serving.
Everybody loves it! (I adopted this method from the Vietnamese kitchen :))

Marina