BUDA BITES

It’s starting to feel less and less like summer here it Budapest, and a few days have even been downright cold. This weather may manage to bring an end to one of my guiltiest recent habits–my daily fixes of túró rudi ice cream bars (or, more accurately, “Pöttyös Jégkrém”). The túró rudi, in case you’re unlucky enough to not be familiar with it, is probably the best mass produced Hungarian sweet that exists. It’s a bar made of sweetened curd cheese with a hint of lemon and coated in chocolate. When I discovered them on my first trip ever to Hungary I ate so many that I couldn’t touch another one for years.

I’m not sure exactly when the ice cream bars first went on sale, but I noticed them at the beginning of the summer and couldn’t resist buying one (at least) every time I saw them in the ice cream case near thegrocery store checkout line. My neighborhood grocery store, which happens to be the worst in the city, keeps my túró rudi ice cream habit in check by frequently running out of these luscious ice cream bars in the familiar red dotted wrappers. In fact, they’ve been out for weeks now, meaning that I have to look for them elsewhere. They’re never out of the imitation túró rudi ice cream bars, which I resorted to trying just once. It wasn’t the same. Even if you’re normally not a fan of packaged ice cream bars, these are different. I promise. Although they may soon conquer China, túró rudis are hardly available anywhere besides Hungary*, which is one more reason to come visit Budapest. I have a feeling the ice cream bars will still taste good when the weather gets colder.

* If you’re in Budapest and want to try a slightly different (and equally good) version of the túró rudi (although not the ice cream version), try the Russian “túró rudi” here:

Arbat Orosz Specialitások
II. Fény utca 1.4
Tel: 06-30/416-4893
www.arbat.hu