How to make Authentic Sokovian Paprikash

A key moment in the relationship of the Scarlet Witch and Vision was when he attempted to make Wanda Paprikash, an authentic dish from her made up homeland Sokovia.

Turns out Paprikash is an actual Hungarian dish (Paprikás), served with little flour & egg dumplings (Nokedli).

Scouring the internet for how to make it, I complied this tasty looking recipe. I ran it past a Hungarian colleague who said it looked great – but suggested the addition of the cucumber salad (Uborkasaláta), and noted her grandmother used pork fat (lard) instead of oil & butter.

FYI: Vision’s key mistake appears to be using just “a pinch of Paprika” – this dish requires a lot of Paprika – about 40g, so 100 times ‘a pinch’. The clue is in the name – Paprikás is the Hungarian word for Paprika.

To make this dish I strongly recommend using authentic Hungarian Paprika, as well as a Spaetzle maker for the dumplings (Nokedli).

Serves 4. Allow 30 mins prep, 60 mins cooking time.

How it should look: Chicken Paprikash, with dumplings and cucumber salad

Chicken Paprikash (Paprikás) recipe

  • 1 tbsp oil (or lard)
  • 2 tbsp butter (or lard)
  • 8 chicken thighs, skin on and bone in
  • 2 onions, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, v.finely chopped
  • 2 green peppers, deseeded and finely chopped
  • 4 tbsp sweet smoked paprika
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 400ml/14fl oz hot chicken stock
  • 150ml/5fl oz sour cream

Preheat the oven to 180C (160C Fan)

Heat the butter & oil (or lard) in a heavy pan placed over stove.

Season the chicken with salt & pepper, brown in pan then set aside.

Add the onions, garlic and peppers to the pan and gently fry for 10 minutes – until onions are translucent.

REMOVE PAN FROM HEAT: 

Stir in the paprika & flour. Once combined, stir in the tomatoes and stock.

TURN ON HEAT, then return the chicken thighs to the pan. Simmer gently in oven for 30–40 minutes.

Reserve the sour cream until ready to serve.

Now make the optional cucumber salad (Uborkasaláta), and then the essential dumplings (Nokedli).

Dumplings (Nokedli)

  • 140g flour 
  • 1/4 teaspoon Salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons sour cream (or yogurt)
  • 2 tablespoons milk (you may need more or less)
  • Butter or olive oil (for serving)

Mix flour and salt together in a bowl.

Add the eggs and sour cream and whisk the mixture to combine.

Stir in 1 tablespoon of milk at a time until your dough is soft, but not runny. 

(If you are using the board and knife method, the dough should be a little firmer).

When you’re ready to make the Nokedli, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Method 1: Put your Spaetzle maker over the pan of water, and run the dough in small batches into the boiling water using the dough scraper.

Method 2: Put the dough on a wet wooden board and then use the back of a knife to cut small dumplings into a pot of boiling water. I usually use the back of a large spatula for this as the dough won’t stick to it as much as it will stick to a piece of wood. 

Give the dumplings about 30 seconds in the water after they float to the surface, to ensure they are fully cooked.

When cooked, use a slotted spoon to transfer them to a bowl, and cover to keep them warm, tossed with a little butter or olive oil to keep them from sticking together.

Hungarian Cucumber Salad (Uborkasaláta)

  • 2 large English cucumbers
  • 250 ml (1 cup) of water
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 3 tablespoons of sugar
  • 2 tablespoons of 10% white vinegar
  • Sweet paprika powder (to sprinkle)
  • Ground black pepper (to sprinkle)
  • Salt

Peel the cucumbers and (preferably using a mandolin slicer) cut both cucumbers as thinly as possible into a bowl. 

Add the salt and mix the cucumbers slices to lightly and evenly coat them. Let sit for 30 minutes to draw out the water from the cucumbers.

The cucumbers will release about ½+ cup of liquid. Then, take large handfuls of cucumbers and, with your hands clenched, squeeze out as much liquid as you can and place the balls of squeezed cucumbers in a bowl. Discard the liquid.

In a cup, combine the sugar, the vinegar, and the water and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add this mixture to the squeezed cucumbers and mix thoroughly. Add the chopped garlic, sprinkle with paprika powder and ground black pepper.

Serving the Chicken Paprikash

When ready to serve, stir the soured cream into the chicken mixture, and dish up over the dumplings with the cucumber salad on the side.

Chicken Paprikás, with Nokedli and Uborkasaláta

Leftovers are great the next day with pasta, either short pasta or flat noodles. Or you could make some more Nokedli 😉


For more movie inspired food, why not try my Big Night Timpano?

Toy Review: Marvel Super Hero Micro Mashers

These Marvel Super Hero Micro Mashers are pint-sized versions (2.5″) of the standard sized Mashers line (6″). Hasbro’s Mashers line, which are where Marvel, Star Wars, and Transformers action figures that are designed to come apart anb be combined to create cross character and property mash-ups.

The Marvel Super Hero Micro Mashers come in 2-packs, and we received two sets – Hulk vs Loki, and Captain America vs Iron Skull (Red Skull with armour).

As you can see, there are only male characters in these sets. In fact there are only male characters in the entire Hasbro Mashers line.

The lack of female Hero Mashers could be because it was deemed troubling to mix male and female characters in mash-ups; Perhaps excluding female characters was seen as making it easier to market the line to boys; Maybe the female characters were deemed to not be popular enough? Whatever the reasoning, the lack of female figures in all of Hasbro’s Hero Mashers line is obvious and unfortunate, as they are missing out some great characters.

Marvel Super Hero Micro Mashers
The Marvel Super Hero Mashers Micro series – like their larger counterparts – only feature male characters. This could be because it was deemed troubling to mix male and female characters in mash-ups, or another reason. This doesn’t preclude little girls from playing with them.

The look of the Marvel Super Hero Mashers Micro figures is very cartoony, but overtly inspired by their big screen MCU counterparts. My daughter hasn’t seen The Avengers movies yet, but has seen the first Thor and Captain America ones. She also has a few clothing items with the characters on.

While she also hasn’t seen the Hulk in any of his live action or cartoon versions – he is still probably one of her favourite characters. She plays with a few of my old Hulk collectables, and she has had a large posable Hulk on her wall since she was a baby. Green is also her favourite colour.

So he was the most important character draw to her. While she had some fun pulling the apart and recombining, she mostly enjoyed putting them back together the way they should be.

The figures lack most points of articulation, and the playability comes from being able to swap parts – which are basically the hands and heads, as well as some accessories. The only parts that move are at the joins with the removable parts.

Some of the Marvel Super Hero Mashers Micro figures come with specific accessories, such as Captain America’s shield, or Loki’s staff. The packs also include what I can only describe as additional action limbs, such as Cap’s shield with some energy around it, Red Skull with a Hydra weapon, and Hulk has a large translucent green fist. While these add a little interest, they are so oversized that most of the figures can’t stand up properly with them, because they are so imbalanced. It’s likely that these are intended for use more with the standard Mashers line (as these Micro Mashers are compatible).

Who are Marvel Super Hero Micro Mashers for?

If you or your kid like pulling your dolls and figures apart, and creating mash-up characters, these could be the toys for you. However, my daughter’s biggest criticism was that the legs don’t come apart like the arms – and in fact don’t even move at all.

That’s one of the drawbacks of this budget Micro line – they might be ok as mash-up fodder, but offer limited playability as action figures. And no matter how creative your mash-ups are, you still won’t be able to come up with a female character.

Marvel Super Hero Micro Mashers in pieces, Marvel Super Hero Mashers Micro Figure 2 Pack, Captain America and Red Skull, Hulk and Loki
If you or your kid like pulling your toys apart then these Marvel Super Hero Mashers Micro could be the toys for you

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Disclosure: We were given these toys free of charge for the purposes of this review.

Family Fever

 

Is Black Widow’s Hairstyle Sexist?

Captain America: Civil War features the first appearance of a much-anticipated icon of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). No not Black Panther, but Black Widow’s new hairstyle.

Black Widow made her first MCU appearance in Iron Man 2 (2010), and that was followed by The Avengers (2012), Captain America: Winter Soldier (2014), The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), and now the Captain America: Civil War (2016). She has sported a different hairstyle in each movie.

Black Widow's hairstyle, black widow hairstyle, scarlett johansson black widow hairstyle, scarlett johansson black widow haircut, black widow avengers short hair, scarlett johansson avengers haircut, scarlett johansson avengers short hair, black widow hair winter soldier,
From L to R: Black Widow’s hairstyles in Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Captain America: Winter Soldier, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War. All images © Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

I don’t recall any such attention to detail being paid to the locks of Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, or even Thor.

This scenario of constantly updating the hairstyle of Scarlett Johansson’s female hero, reminds me of Star Trek: Voyager. The show aired between 1995-2001, and starred Kate Mulgrew (now more famed  for playing Red in Orange is the New Black) as Katherine Janeway – the first ever female captain lead in a Star Trek show.

Kate has frequently lamented that ‘the suits’ spent more time worrying about her hair than they did about her character development. She grew increasingly frustrated at the constant messing with it. For those not familiar with the show, this video sums up pretty well how it was.

Is messing with Black Widow’s hairstyle sexist?

Kate Mulgrew reflects that this is a scenario that a male actor is unlikely to face, but female actors constantly do – especially in films and tv shows that have a large male fanbase.

The tinkering of Black Widow’s hairstyle – compared with her fellow Avengers – appears to be further evidence of this. It implies that – as far as the creatives and ‘suits’ are concerned – appearance is more important factor for a female character than a male one. And by extension, a female actor has to be more concerned about her appearance than a male one does.

I also wonder, like Captain Janeway before her, if Marvel Studio execs spend as much time talking about Natasha’s character development as they do about her hair?

F. Scott Fitzgerald famously wrote that “Action is character.” Perhaps, for female characters, we need to amend that to “Hair is character.”

What do you think Black Widow’s changing hairstyles tell us about her?

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Marvel UK’s 1978 Star Wars Weekly Comic

While recently rifling through the boxes of stuff I still have cluttering up my parents house, I found one containing copies of my old Star Wars Weekly comic from the seventies.

For many a young Star Wars fan in 1970’s Britain this was their first exposure to the galaxy far, far away.

Continue reading Marvel UK’s 1978 Star Wars Weekly Comic

A Dispatch From The Gender Frontline (I Went to Some Toy Shops)

Needing to kill an hour or so, I took a stroll around the Westfield London shopping centre this week. I naturally gravitated towards the toy shops, and I decided to amuse myself by indulging in a spot of gendered toys mystery shopping.

The first shop I went into was The Entertainer. They are a large independent toy retailer, and I have a particular soft spot for them as they began with one shop in my home town neighbour of Amersham, Bucks. But sentimentality aside, I had no idea what they were like as a toy shop these days.

I was pleasantly surprised and really impressed with the way they categorise their toys – eg. ‘Action & Adventure’, ‘Arts & Creative’, ‘Cars, trains, and planes’ etc – not by gender. This seemed like such progressive (and logical) way to sort toys, that doesn’t exclude on the basis of gender – at least in how product is grouped. Bravo Entertainer!

The Entertainer toy shop
The Entertainer toy shop

What I didn’t realise (until I tweeted about it) was that this came about because of a campaign by Let Toys Be Toys (we were living outside of UK when this happened). So bravo to them too. 🙂

I didn’t buy anything, but I will definitely be back to shop here, another branch, or online.

I was expecting the worst with the next shop I visited. I have written about the divisive way LEGO creates and markets its product before. The beloved Universal toy of my youth is no more. I have resigned myself to not buying any new LEGO, that in all likelihood my daughter will be playing with our ample hand-me-down supply throughout her childhood. So I went to the LEGO shop all prepared for their gendered marketing tricks.

But then I spotted this.

Lego Female Scientists set, Lego Female Scientists kit, Lego Female Scientists sold out, female scientist lego
Lego Female Scientists

Yes!

The female scientists minifigure set, that I had in my own little way campaigned so furiously for, that had finally been released only to be sold out everywhere… It was back! I stopped looking around the store, grabbed the set, and headed straight for the counter.

As I paid, I asked the staff about it. They told me they had only been delivered a small number of sets in the original release, and everyone in the company was surprised how popular it had been. The staff were keen to point out that they now have a much healthier stock of it. So if you’re thinking of buying some LEGO for your child (or you!), then I would strongly suggest that you get this one. I’m intending on saving it until Christmas day. Hopefully I can resist the urge to put it together it until then.

LEGO Research Institute 21110
My daughter’s LEGO Research Institute 21110

That’s all I can say about the LEGO shop. They could have had an entire wall of pink Friends sets, with a sparkling sign proclaiming ‘LEGO FOR GIRLS’, and I wouldn’t have noticed. That’s how chuffed I was to finally have this awesome set in my hands.

So it had been a really positive experience so far. My final stop was The Disney Store, which I entered with trepidation. I love Star Wars & Marvel (both acquired by Disney) as much as I do not love princess culture (pretty much created by Disney).

IMG_4015Given that Disney & gendered marketing to kids go together like the Empire & the Death Star, I tend to browse Disney’s virtual and actual aisles with frustration. This occasion was no exception.

Starting with Marvel, there was nothing in the store featuring a female character. No Black Widow in the Avengers line, no Gamora or Nebula in the Guardians of the Galaxy stuff, no additional female superheroes, nothing. *sigh

On to Star Wars.

There’s large section of the store devoted to movie merchandise, primarily the original trilogy. The lack of Leia merchandise was an early issue on this blog, so I was keen to see if things had improved at all. At first glance, it hadn’t. There was a prominent display featuring Han Solo, Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, and a Stormtrooper – but no Princess Leia.

IMG_4040I scanned the large selection of Star Wars stuff here, and eventually found a Leia. In fact I found a couple. They were each part of different play-sets figures. One set was Jabba’s palace, which of course means one thing – Slave Leia.

An eagle eyed fan on Twitter also spotted a Torryn Farr figure. Who is she? The blink and you’ll miss her Rebel Comms officer from The Empire Strikes Back. She may not be the most active character in the trilogy (she sits in a chair and relays orders), but I guess at least she’s a female Star Wars character figure.

That’s not all the Star Wars gear the shop has now though. There’s a big display of merchandise from the brand new TV show Star Wars Rebels. It’s early days for the show, but it has TWO major female characters that are prominently featured in the artwork of the toy display. So I was curious about what the the product would be like.

Product? What product?

IMG_4009IMG_4037

That’s right. There was nothing, nothing, featuring either of the female characters of Sabine or Hera. Not an action figure, not a t-shirt, nothing. I asked a member of staff about this. She looked surprised, had a glance at the section, and then kind of shrugged “No, there’s nothing with any of the women”.

What’s a girl gotta do to get into the Star Wars line at the Disney Store? It seems even a pink skinny waisted Boba Fett with a boob plate can’t break the gendered marketing glass ceiling far, far away…

So in this flagship Disney Store, in one of the premier shopping centres in Britain, there were just three items including any female characters in the whole of their Marvel & Star Wars sections – nothing in Marvel, and Star Wars had a classic Princess Leia (as part of a set), Slave girl Leia (as part of a set), and an individual figure of a rebel who says “Stand by ion control…Fire!” and nothing else.

Apparently, Sabine & Hera will be included in the second wave of Star Wars Rebels figures being released by licensee Hasbro. Staff also told me “We’re going to get Princess Leia stuff soon. But they keep saying that”. They had no idea about female Marvel characters.

I didn’t buy anything, and I’m not planning on going back. I left the shop more frustrated than ever about the fact that The House Of Mouse now own Marvel & Star Wars. I really hope things change for the better, and they embrace the female – and girl – market for these brands.

I reflected that my previous positive toyshop experiences were both due to the willingness of brands/retailers to engage with feedback, listen to those seeking change, and take a good look at their offering.

In conclusion, in terms of gendered marketing and division of toys: The Entertainer good, The Disney Store sadly not, and the LEGO shop? Well, they had me at female scientist minifigure set and was the only shop I spent money in.

So while this may have been an unscientific survey, in the end it was all about science.