In Hungary most people choose some kind of bakery product for breakfast, salty crescents or sós kifli are among the most popular ones. Salty crescents can bring on nostalgia, especially the members of the older generation  often think of kifli as a memory of old times. Nowadays hundreds of freshly baked products are put in order on the shelves of the stores, but bakeries of the ’50s and ’60s Hungary didn’t supply such a wide range. Beside bread, zsemle and kifli (normal and salty) were usually baked for everday consumption.

The word kifli refers to its shape. Kifli is made from yeasted dough and shaped into a thin crescent. Its dough is firm and pliable at the same time. Kifli should be crunchy when you bite into, but also soft on inside. To have the right consistency of dough (firm, but not stiff), you have to measure out all the ingredients exactly. The aim of adding vinegar is to make the dough more pliable.

Salty crescent is often eaten with butter, or filled with ham or slices of smoked sausages, but it’s also perfect in itself served with a hot cup of cocoa. To me, kifli spread with sheep milk cheese and hot green pepper slices layed on it is the earthly incarnation of heavenly joys.