Zsófia Mautner

FOOD WRITER AND AUTHOR

Zsófia Mautner is a leading Hungarian food writer and author of Budapest Bites - Spicy and Sweet Hungarian Home Cooking where she introduces Hungarian contemporary home cooking in a slightly different way. She not only spent many years in various countries of the world - where she fell in love with the foods and spices of many nations - but she is also passionately devoted to the amazingly rich culinary heritage of Hungary. Transylvanian and Jewish cuisine; Turkish influence; the folk recipes of the Great Plain; the traditions that came down from the Austro-Hungarian monarchy; the fin de siècle middle class; and French cooking are all part of this inheritance. According to Zsófia, Hungarian cuisine is a real multi-cultural food cavalcade that will offer many surprises far and beyond a dish of goulash.

Zsófia is one of the most popular food presenters in Hungary today. She also hosted a daily TV cooking show on the most watched commercial television channel. Besides her professional qualities, she is also famous for her spectacular career change: she became a full-time culinary expert after a successful career in diplomacy in Brussels. She started her food blog Chili & Vanília documenting her passion for cooking and all things gastronomical while living in Brussels and working as a diplomat. To date she has written 11 cookbooks. She lives in Budapest.