70 years of quality
I'm not sure whether there are people who personally remember the opening of the Ábrahám Inn in 1939. Those with longest memories claim that the veal goulash with noodles with cheese and bacon and the veal head goulash didn't lose quality ever since they can remember. Now, that is some place…
There are still places and restaurants where you can eat well. Nenad Čanak wrote that in the “Ábrahám” Inn guestbook, Željko Rebrača always goes back there whenever he's in the north of Vojvodina, as well as Rambo Amadeus and many other jet-setters, and the actor Dragan Nikolić “blamed” the director Zdravko Šotra and his crew for bringing him to a gastronomic adventure that can hardly be enjoyed in moderation.
Veal goulash with túrós csusza (homemade noodles with cheese and little pieces of fried bacon), as well as the veal head goulash are specialities that have been on the “Ábrahám” menu for decades, and the first one to “cook” it was a butcher from Palić, József Ábrahám back in 1939. After the II World War, his son Ferenc, and later his daughter Krisztina, followed in their father's and grandfather's footsteps, and created cult dishes from goulash or stew- depending on how you call it and make it- and their taste just doesn't change.
The “Ábrahám” Inn, which is located towards the exit from Palić (route E-5, Subotica-Horgoš), is specially visited for their filleted fish soup, tripe (on Tuesdays), veal head goulash (on Fridays), but also for a sweet treat “Somlói galuska”. The menu holds other dishes from this region as well, however, there are no grilled specialities.
- You should eat grilled meat in Belgrade and further down south. We did try, we even ordered prepared meat from Leskovac, but we simply couldn't do it. We will not make food others make better – says Eszter Ábrahám, the head purchaser of this restaurant.
Some rules in “Ábrahám” were not changed for decades, and not for lack of imagination on the part of owners or the staff. The rules of Ferenc Ábrahám, established in the 1950's proved to be very efficient. According to him, the restaurant doesn't require (live) music all the time (The fork and the knife play all the music here) and “If you can't make money for your daily bread during the day, you won't make it during the night”. Those principles are respected to this day, so the restaurant is open form 11 am to 11 pm, on Sundays from 11 am to 6 pm, and it is closed on Mondays.
– We have really good guests who don't lack gastronomic knowledge and that is why we try not to make even the slightest mistake. We don't do daily menu lunches, but we take orders, and if people want, they can take it home, and they often do. We kept the word homemade in the true sense of the word, and we serve (really) homemade quince, apricot and pear brandies, and wines from this region. People appreciate it and I believe that is the reason we are full during the weekends, but we also have a lot of travellers – drivers who already tried our dishes – says the owner Kristina Ábrahám.
The newest “Gastronomic guide of Subotica and Palić” by Miroslav Božin, starts with the slogan “Hey man, are you in bad mood? Let me take you to places with great food!
“Ábrahám” Inn is certainly unrivalled when it comes to good food.
– As much as I remember, there was only one complaint from an American patron, but it did not concern the service or the food, it was about the name of the Inn. He was a middle-aged man, probably originally from the region because he spoke Serbian really well. He asked what right do we have to use the name of a legendary American president Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865). When we explained to him that it was our grandfather's name, and that president Lincoln wasn't the only Abraham, but József, Ferenc and I were too, he laughed and complimented us on the quality of the served dish – says Krisztina.
Let's just say that, apart from the traditional “Somlói galuska”, “Ábrahám” Inn also serves poppy pancakes. This dessert is very rare even in the most elite restaurants.
M. Popadić
