Fermented vegetables, reinterpreted Hungarian classics, and a conscious, locavore approach – in Marumba’s kitchen, winter is not a compromise but a source of inspiration. Chef Pilter Tamás talks about how seasonal ingredients can be turned into exciting, festive, and genuinely lovable vegan dishes at Christmas as well—meals that evoke childhood memories while pointing in entirely new directions.
What preservation, fermentation, or preparation techniques do you use to keep the winter offering diverse?
Most of the time we work with lactic acid fermentation, but we also pickle a lot of vegetables using different vinegars. Our Kamránk kincse (“Treasures of the Pantry”) dish is a great way to showcase these techniques. The composition includes fresh and fermented vegetables as well as pickles. We also preserve spices in oil; right now, for example, we’ve preserved Meyer lemons from Lajosmizse in salt, as this is their season. Our drinks menu includes house-made kombucha and water kefir, both prepared by one of our restaurant managers, Bogi, who always tailors the flavor combinations to the current fruit and spice season. The diversity of our vegetable selection also owes a lot to Farm to Fork and Boldizsár Horváth. Boldi and his team connect small-scale producers with restaurants and invest a great deal of energy in sharing knowledge and introducing as many types of seasonal fruits and vegetables as possible to people working in gastronomy. They regularly organize thematic workshops focusing on a single ingredient—there have already been sessions on apples and cabbages, for example. For us, it’s exciting to discover new ingredients and to meet the producers in person.
How can you avoid the trap of monotony in winter, when the selection of fruits and vegetables is more limited?
You have to preserve spring and summer for winter. Our menu is relatively small, which allows us to vary ingredients in creative ways. If we take cabbage as an example, it’s clear that we use several different varieties at the same time, and on top of that we play with different kitchen techniques. We use fermented flat cabbage in several dishes: it appears both in the cvekedli and in stuffed cabbage. In the latter, it serves as a base, and we also wrap the filling in blanched and roasted cabbage leaves. We make the base for the cvekedlifrom white cabbage, cooking it down until it’s almost jam-like. The play of different textures adds a lot to the experience of this dish. Pointed cabbage is the base of our kimchi, which we’ll be introducing to the wider public soon. We also use black kale in what many people consider a dreaded dish: kale stew. It’s worth trying even for those who usually shy away from it—ours comes with sun-dried tomato freshness, plenty of green herbs, and falafel. I confidently recommend it because the same thing happens with pumpkin stew: people tend to either love it or hate it. Those who have tried our version have been converted; we’ve managed to reframe a lot of bad childhood memories with new flavor pairings, which makes me very happy.
How does sustainability or a locavore mindset shape the menu outside the main season?
Sustainability and the locavore approach are the core elements of our concept. The entire idea behind Marumba started from these principles. Conscious eating and putting vegetables at the center of the plate are becoming increasingly important for many people. We experience this every day as an opportunity to show our guests the very best side of vegetables.
Which autumn–winter dishes have been such a success that guests particularly love them?
The harissa-spiced bean goulash has been on our menu since day one, and both Hungarian and international guests love it. For Hungarians it’s familiar yet still offers something new, while tourists enjoy it because it’s rich in flavors—just as a goulash should be. Many people also choose the Hortobágy-style crêpe. The soul of the filling is a sauté and vegan stew sauce made from three kinds of mushrooms: oyster mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms, and baby button mushrooms. The crêpe itself is made with buckwheat flour, so it’s also gluten-free. Our Christmas menu is also very popular, and it’s entirely vegan: fish soup, stuffed cabbage, and a zserbó glass dessert—well-known classics with more vegetables and in a healthier form.
What advice would you give to those who want to cook a vegetarian or vegan menu during the holidays but don’t want to work with overly complicated ingredients?
It’s worth starting with simple things, such as whole roasted vegetables. You can easily find beautiful squash, cauliflower, and broccoli these days, so sourcing ingredients isn’t a problem. Vegetables should be seasoned generously, but you don’t need a huge range of flavors or an enormous spice rack. The secret lies in low-temperature roasting and patience.
Do you have a personal favorite from Marumba’s kitchen that you would happily recommend as a Christmas dish?
We spend a lot of time experimenting to make sure that the dishes on the menu offer the best possible experience to our guests. In recent months, baked cauliflower, cottage cheese dumplings, cheesecake, and the Hortobágy-style crêpe have become my personal favorites. Each of them is a classic dish in its own way, yet they all contain plenty of novelty or even a pleasant surprise. I can easily imagine any of these on a festive holiday table.
Do you think it’s worth veganizing Hungarian Christmas classics, or does the result more often lead to disappointment, making it better to cook something entirely new?
I think it’s worth it—especially if someone really loves a festive dish but, for whatever reason—whether health-related or ethical—can no longer consume it in its traditional form. Marumba’s first vegan Christmas menu can serve as a good example of experimentation.
What would your ideal vegetarian or vegan Christmas menu be?
Our own vegan holiday menu includes fish soup, stuffed cabbage, and a zserbó glass dessert. I might also add a pumpkin-based aspic to round it out.
Photos: Szécsi Noémi | Marumba