I recently read on a blog (which I can not find for the life of me, but if it was you, kindly mention it with a link in the comments) a rant about restaurant service where wait staff remove empty dishes from the table before everyone has finished eating. This is a HUGE issue in Toronto, particularly with the roadhouse-style (3 star or less) establishments. It is a disgusting trait, particularly when there are ONLY TWO people dining. Because JT inhales eats much quicker than I, I am often left eating at the table while his plate is cleared away. Just because restaurants here only pay servers minimum wage, it doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be training! UGH.
I mention this trend because on a recent dinner with neighbours (progressive dinner folks) at a fairly well reviewed French restaurant in our historic Distillery District they actually went one step further. It wasn’t a busy night but service was slow and we were through a bottle of wine before our first course even arrived; eventually we casually ate our appetizers and chatted up a storm so when they removed the dishes I got up for a quick bio break. I ordered my favourite bistro dish, Table Side Wellington Country Beef Tartar which is prepared in front of the guest. Can you guess what’s coming next? The server actually PREPARED MY DISH WITHOUT ME BEING THERE! OMG, did that really happen? Oh yes, it did. I was so aghast, I was speechless! So now, several weeks later I am ranting on my blog. Shame on you, French restaurant in the Distillery District, the remainder of the experience wasn’t even worth mentioning (OK, I will say the steak frites came in pieces (what? did they gather up the leftovers from other plates?) AND it was over-cooked). Strike that place off my list.
It is no secret that Hungarians love food and we love to cook; so while my cousin and his lovely wife, Éva were visiting, I asked her to show me how to make a traditional, light Hungarian supper called Szilvásgombóc (Plum Dumplings). I’ve read many a blog that this dish is NOT a dessert and the Hungarians are quite adamant about it. When I was a child, we had this dish during plum season but I can’t recall if it was a main or a dessert. I have never made it on my own so I was happy to have Éva make it while I watched. It is delicately sweet and seasoned generously with toasted bread crumbs and cinnamon. We always had it with sour cream so my presentation included Greek Yogurt, but Éva always had it plain with extra cinnamon or with some lekvár (thick jam).
We made the dish at the cottage, so I wasn’t able to document the weights and measures and I still have some in the freezer so I won’t be making it any time soon. For an experienced cook, like most of my followers, it is a recipe made by feel (similar to making Italian Gnocchi), but I will reference Ilona Horvath’s recipe from The Traditional Hungarian Kitchen published in 1996 and 2000. It is an excellent cookbook translated and worked into North American cooking standards and according to my dear Mom, good, old fashioned Hungarian recipes.
Below, I present my dear Mother’s recipe from her Mother’s cookbook that she brought with her on her escape from Hungary in 1956, Az Ínyesmester Ezer Új Receptje published by Athenaeum, 1935. It is a well-loved, faded copy and the recipe for szilvásgombóc in the book is entirely by feel (no measurements documented!).
Magyar Szilvásgombóc (Hungarian Plum Dumplings)
Makes about 24 gombóc
Ingredients:
- 12 sweet plums (the small Italian ones are best, we were not able to find them so we cut them in half)
- Boiled potatoes (we used 5 medium-sized yukon gold potatoes)
- All purpose flour
- 1 egg
- 4 tbsp cinnamon, divided
- 3/4 cup of unseasoned bread crumbs (we made our own from whole wheat bread)
- 2-3 tbsp sugar
Directions:
- While boiling the peeled potatoes, wash, pit and cut the plums in half and season with 2 tbsp of cinnamon, set aside.
- Rice potatoes while still warm (Éva made a point of this). Beat the egg by hand and combine it with the riced potatoes.
- Slowly add flour to the potato and egg mixture to make a soft dough.
- Using about two tablespoons of dough, press out to about 1 cm thick in the palm of your hand (about the size of the palm of your hand), add a quarter of a plum to the centre and cover entirely with the dough, pinching the seams shut.
- Boil water with a pinch of salt. Boil plum dumpling until done (they should float to the top, just like gnocchi).
- Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, toast the breadcrumbs until golden and while still warm, add the sugar and mix gently until the sugar has melted and caramelized. It should not be a sopping mess. Turn off the heat. Add the remaining 2 tbsp cinnamon and mix well. Roll each cooked dumpling in the bread crumbs and plate.
- Serve warm or cold, with or without yogurt or sour cream
Notes:
- We tested one plum ball first to make sure it didn’t fall apart during boiling and decided it was a bit too soft and we added more flour.
- The old cookbook describes a good plum dumpling dough to be thinly wrapped around the plum, a fine and light texture, somewhat pillowy (not chewy). “A jó szilvásgombóc téstája vékony, finom és könnyu, sőt omlós.”
- I wish we had tasted the plums because they had very little taste and we should have seasoned them with a touch sugar to bring out their plum taste. This dish should not be sickly sweet, it is delicately sweet.
- Ilona Horváth adds lard to the dough but we did not.
- My relatives LOVE cinnamon so the proportions may be a bit much for the average person, add according to your own personal taste. Cinnamon in Europe is the real McCoy and is a lot stronger than our Cassia. Too much cinnamon may make the dish bitter!
[…] Italian plums would have been perfect for those delicious Plum Dumplings my cousin and I made in June, sadly they were not around then. When I spied them at my green grocer […]
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Hello Eva,
I don’t know how you felt about it, but plum dumpling is not a light dish, more like a stick to your rib type of meal and that is why I cannot see it being served as a desert. Traditionally it is made with blue Italian plums and the idea is to go easy with the cinnamon, not to overpower the plum flavor. To add the aroma of the cinnamon rather than its flavor. I am still waiting for my plums to ripen before I make it. My apricots were so puny I never made the annual steamed dumplings. The general health of our garden and fruit bearing trees has been awful. I made no jam or canned any fruit. We had no peaches this year, not even raspberries.
I am back for a short time and I will check out what you have been up to this past year. I am glad you are still blogging.
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Oh how I miss you, Zsuzsa- I check periodically if you’ve added any new recipes, but I guess you meant it when you said that you were ‘done with your blog’ 🙂 Now I try to copy and paste as many recipes of yours as I can- just in case one day your recipe collection ceases to exist.
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Thank you Zsuzsa, my cousin’s wife loves cinnamon so it was a bit much but in all fairness, the plums were not very flavourful. I’m sorry to hear about your garden, it’s such a shame.
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These are gorgeous dumplings, Eva! Well done! And I know what I say because we have exactly the same in Poland! Also with potato-based dough and also with plums inside! many people have them with butter-fried breadcrumbs and sugar (I loved them this way) or with cream… It brings back childhood memories…
I also have Ilona Horvàth’s book!!! (Indredible!, though mine is in Hungarian : I bought it in Hungary advised by my friend’s mother). It’s full of very well explained basic Hungarian recipes and I’ve already used it several times.
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I’ve never heard of plum dumplings. They sound interesting. They certainly seem more dessert like, but perhaps served as a side with a savory main dish? And I cannot believe they prepared your tartare while you weren’t at the table. That is crazy!
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Hi Kristy, although the Hungarians eat this as a “light” dinner, it’s actually quite filling so a side dish us definitely too much. I’d serve it as dessert (shhhhhhhhhhh)😉
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Your mother’s cookbook and the plate are such treasures!! Bill’s grandmother used to make cinnamon rolls and bread each weekend by feel—such a gift! Your dumplings look amazing–another treasure from the past. So sorry about the lousy service.Inexcusable.
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Thank you Liz, although I find the style of recipe writing in these old Hungarian cookbooks a bit difficult to follow (they are in paragraph form), I still love paging through and reading Mom’s little notes. I love a good cinnamon roll! Hopefully she told you where the original recipe came from so that you’d at least have somewhere to start.
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It seems to me that it’s becoming a trend for restaurants to want to rush you out the door in faster and faster time. Long ago it was up to the diner to decide how long they wanted to spend in the establishment. So scooping up plates before you’ve had your last mouthful and taking a partner’s plate while you’re still eating seems to be becoming standard. I dislike it as well. I think it’s really rude especially when you’re paying a fortune and leaving an over-the-top tip. I have never encountered having my meal plated/cooked while I’m in the bathroom though – that is definitely a new low xx
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This type of service certainly is becoming the norm, why on Thursday night we were out and after we finished our meal and drinks the server brought us our bill, just like that! No asking whether we’d like something else, no dessert? No coffee? Just the bill, as if to say, “you’ve had enough, now move along!” Crazy.
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What a very alternative plum dish. I never tasted plum dumplings before with potato in the dough!
I am intrigued now. So, I need to make these beauties soon! x
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Thank you Sophie,?it is a very Hungarian dish for sure.
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I love this interesting dish, I have never had it before but would very much like to try it. I think I am going to be quite shocked going back to the Western World after being in Asia for so long as this is the service place…
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Thank you Bam, for your kind words. Service is indeed at an all time low, particularly in North America where these types of positions are a job and not a profession.
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I’ve seen plum dumplings on menus in restaurants, but never ordered them. I should have — I’ve definitely missed out. Just have to make them myself, I guess! And I totally agree with the service rants — things seem to be getting worse. Although what happened to you with the table service is a new low!
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Wow, that’s interesting John, is there a large Hungarian contingent in your area? Thank you for your kind words. Yes, that service was atrocious.
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Hi Eva, your post inspired me to make this dish last night for dinner for my two guys! It turned out to be very tasty and it was a lot of fun making all the different parts (luckily although there are a few steps, they are all pretty easy). Thanks for the tip to add sugar to the plums – ours were a bit lacklustre too, and the added pinch of sweetness was nice!
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Hi Michela, thank you for your kind words. What did you use for the egg?
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i love the idea of plum dumplings- a sweet version of what I am so used to. The plums add a nice rich color to the dish. It looks amazing
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Thanks Jessica, it was a trip down memory lane for me.
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Your tale of the restaurant preparing the table side dish without you is almost unbelievable! That’s just ridiculous. What a lovely looking dish this is and how wonderful to be able to make it with your family. I also love that you have your mother’s mother’s cookbook from Hungary and the plate. What a story and a tradition. You must have felt that she was with you while you were making this!
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Hi Betsy, thank you for your kind words. I often feel my Mom is in the kitchen with me, that’s probably why I cook so much!❤️
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How strange and silly of the waiter to do that. I mean they shouldn’t even serve food to tables when there is a guest missing, let alone prepare the dish for that person at the table. Obviously people want to see it being prepared if they order a dish like that!
An Austrian friend made a version of these for us but I think she added apricots inside. A plum version sounds wonderful.
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Thank you Lorraine, it was indeed shameful! Although apricots are used extensively in Hungarian baking, they are not used in this recipe traditionally, but I’d try them anyway, they sound delicious.
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Don’t get me started on removing plates at restaurants. I’m slow and John’s fast, like you two. I sit there with half my meal to eat and he’s looking at the tablecloth. I’ve started saying, “Excuse me, but don’t you think it’s rude to clear the table while I’m still eating?”
I’ve never had these plum dumplings but I have heard of them. I’d love to eat one.
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It really is horrible, that kind of service. I wish I could courier one to you!
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Love Szilvásgombóc ! My mother-in-law taught me to split the plums, and add a small cube of sugar before wrapping the dough around the plum.She would serve a soup first, and that was followed by the dumplings with sour cream.Her sour cream was sweetened with honey, which gave a very nice taste.Sometimes she would make the dumpling dough with Farmer’s cheese and semolina( farina), and they were light as air.But I love them all!
Nagy too fled with her husband and three children to escape the Communists during the Uprising of 1956- it was a terrible time for her family.
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Thank you for your kind words Dolores. How wonderful that your MIL taught you the skill of splitting plums, adding a cube of sugar is not something’s by my dear Mom would have done, she really didn’t have a sweet tooth. Plus cubes of sugar in North America are much denser than Europe, I bet they contain twice as much sugar! Sweetening the sour cream with honey sounds lovely, I’ll have to try that! For fruit, I usually add a splash of vanilla and a pinch of powdered sugar!
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That’s a horrible thing to do. Would they make flaming crepes Suzette while you were away from the table too? You must SHUN this place in the future.
I love gombocz. My mom’s were the best but, of course, I have no recipe written down and she did it by feel too. 🙂
She and my dad ate them as a main course but my brother and I always asked for/made a sandwich first and then had them for dessert with lots of extra sugar on top. No sour cream for us.
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You can bet we’ll never go back! Eventually my brother and I ate them for dessert too.
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An absolute favourite of mine, nagyon finom!!!
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Koszonom, Lizzy.
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Ooooh, made YOUR dish while you WERE NOT THERE???
Ooooh, that’s a huge no no. uh uh!
And if you’re gonna rant about it, you may as well call the restaurant out, I mean… that’s the point right?
Anywhoo, these dumplings look delicious, good point about testing the first one for texture and sweetness.
xx
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Thank you kindly Dana. I should have said something but we were there with neighbours and it would have put a downer on the evening for sure.
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I hear you, good for you for keeping it classy then 🙂
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Fabulous dumplings! I’m with you on bad waitering, and it shouldn’t depend on their pay. It’s all about common sense and training. We live in a small town, and there are three “good” restaurants. The only reason we ever go out is because sometimes I enjoy a break from cooking. Plus, I get to put on real clothes. But it’s become a joke for my husband and I. Even he starts ranting about stupid menus before I can get to them! Once a waiter poured out my son-in-law’s martini of its olives onto his dinner plate because he said they were running low on martini glasses. And recently a waitress kept referring to the special as “groper.” I finally had to tell her that it was grouper. But it does make dining out more entertaining….
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Oh my goodness, your experience is MUCH worse — the waitress pouring a martini out on a dinner plate? I do hope you called the manager, that is just inexcusably rude! Thank you for your kind words about the dumplings.
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This sure looks very delicious. So is it a main or a dessert?
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For Hungarians Norma, it is a main. It’s slightly sweet for me, so I find it difficult to consider it as such. Feel free to eat it for whatever course you wish. We actually had it for breakfast, much to my cousin’s wife’s horror!
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There is something very similar made with apricots and Quark cheese over here that you can even enjoy as dinner. I love this with plum too. They look delicious.
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Hi Angie, someone else mentioned a similar dish with apricots, the Hungarians always do it with plums. I bet cherries would be tasty too. I’m not surprised that they eat it for dinner where you are, many of the dishes throughout Europe have so many influences.
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