Lecsó

Paprika scorches quickly in hot fat and turns distinctly bitter, which nothing later can fix. Off the heat, the residual warmth is enough to release its colour and aroma in about twenty seconds, before the peppers go in.

Choose pale yellow, thin-skinned peppers, which collapse in about fifteen minutes. Thick-fleshed red peppers are still crunchy at that point and give a sweeter, less silky stew. If you use those, cook them longer with the lid on.

Use oil rather than lard and leave out the eggs: the paprika-scented pepper stew stands on its own, served with bread or rice. Plenty of Hungarian versions are eaten eggless anyway, as a side dish.