Hungarian food flavors her life and work

After Alina Bosze emigrated to Chicago, she fell in love with a brand-new culture and cuisine.

Not the ethos of her newly adopted nation -- but that of a country much closer to her native Poland -- Hungary.

While working at a Polish bakery on Chicago's Northwest Side, she met the owner of the Hungarian restaurant next door when he came in to buy bread.

It wasn't only Hungarian food she fell in love with. Within a few years, she was not only the pastry chef at Paprikash, but also the wife of its owner.

Tamas Bosze opened Paprikash restaurant in 1995, and for many years it was Chicago's only Hungarian restaurant. He sold the Chicago eatery in 2004 (the new owners relocated to Arlington Heights) and the next year the Boszes opened The Epicurean, a Hungarian restaurant in Hillside, where Alina Bosze, 30, is head chef.

How did you become a chef? My grandmother was a chef in white-tablecloth restaurants. During the war, she was cooking for German officers. Since I was 14, I was doing the cooking with her. I come from a very small town, that's where I grew up with my grandma. We had our own chickens. We made our own sausage.

I didn't start out to be a chef. I went to engineering school. Seven years ago, I came to the U.S. I was visiting my friends from college. My friend invited me and I was traveling here for six months. Six months is a long time for just traveling, so I found the job in the bakery.

What made you stay in Chicago? Tom, he introduced me to Paprikash. And I really fell in love with everything Hungarian. I was spending all my time there. I was learning to speak Hungarian.

When we opened this restaurant, my mother asked, "Why don't you have Polish food, too," but I said, "No, I want to have only Hungarian." No one else is promoting the beauty of Hungarian cuisine and culture. We are promoting not only food.

What are the differences between Polish and Hungarian cooking? It's not too different. The taste of Polish cuisine is more mild. The Hungarian cuisine is spicier. In Hungarian food, there are more vegetables. Hungarian cuisine is the art of the vegetables with the meat. I've learned a lot about paprika. I was surprised that people were saying Hungarian food was heavy food. I know that the grandma-style was using lard, but we don't cook that way.

What's your style in the kitchen? I'm very easy to work with. I have four cooks under me. I'm trying to build a team in the family style. They know when I'm happy, when I'm sad. I try to tell them, "This is what I know, but if you know something better, I'm happy to learn."

What do you like to cook most? I real like to do goulash. It's really very important to me. It has to taste perfect. I also like to do the pastries. We have a huge oven, a five-level pizza oven, so I bake my own bread. I make the Dobosh torte.

I like to do new things, too.

What do you enjoy in your spare time? I don't have much time. This is our baby. We think about this place like our own home. Most of our time, we're spending together.

I really like to watch old movies. And I definitely like classical music. And country music. One of the things I like about coming to the United States, they have really nice country music. I really like gypsy music, too. We have gypsy music at the restaurant on Friday nights and Sunday brunch.

Were there things you found hard to get used to in the U.S.? No, not much. I was a young person, so it was something new. I really like to learn new things. I was surprised that everyone in the United States is always working, working, working. In the old movies, it seems like you spend all your time drinking margaritas. But everybody's working hard. Life in America is about work.

Tell us about this dish. Csirkepaprikas or Chicken Paprikash. Chicken paprikash enjoys fame in both average homes and top Hungarian restaurants. At The Epicurean, it is served over steaming nokedli (small dumplings).

Enjoy this at home or at The Epicurean, 4431 W. Roosevelt Road, Hillside, (708) 449-1000, www.thehungarianrestaurant.com.

Csirkepaprikas -- Chicken Paprikash

5 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 small onions, peeled and finely chopped

2 pounds chicken breast, cut into serving pieces

2 pounds chicken thighs, cut into serving pieces

2 small tomatoes, finely chopped

3 red peppers, cored, seeded, and finely chopped

3 Hungarian white peppers, cored, seeded, and finely chopped

2 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika

½ tablespoon hot Hungarian paprika

Salt and black pepper to taste

½ cup sour cream

½ cup whipping cream (preferably heavy whipping cream, 40 percent butterfat)

2 tablespoons flour

Heat the oil in skillet over moderate heat, add the onions, and cook and stir for 10 minutes, until they turn a golden color. Add the tomatoes, and cook and stir for 5 minutes more. Add the red and white peppers; cook and stir for another 20 minutes.

Reduce the heat to low, and add the chicken. Season with the salt, black pepper and hot and sweet paprikas. Cover and cook 35-40 minutes, or until the chicken is tender.

Mix the sour cream, heavy cream and flour together in the small bowl and pour into the chicken. Heat until steaming.

Serve the chicken paprikas with egg noodles and steamed vegetables.

Serves six.

Chef Alina Bosze, The Epicurean, Hillside