Cooking school Chef Parade celebrated its 5th birthday on Friday night, and I was invited as a partner to attend the party stocked with free food and drink. How could I possibly say no?! Chef Parade has two main venues, one at Bécsi út in Buda, and another at Páva u. in Pest. A third location will open soon on Sas u. in the 5th District. The party was at the larger Becsi ut school. Paul Mizener, chef at The Caledonia, also offers some cooking classes here.

I admit, I hit the mohitos and gin & tonics pretty hard, but I still kept some fairly legible notes. Let's start with the food, since that is really what it is all about. The red Thai chicken curry and vegetable curry with tofu were both very good, while the couscous salad is some of the best I have ever had. The couscous used an exotic spice mix dominated by cinnamon. Munchies included an capacious mix of spicy Japanese snacks and peanuts, as well as hot olives and peppers. The chocolate dessert was also yummy.

Some people cannot be allowed in shoe stores, some can't be allowed into candy shops without spending all their cash; my danger zone is kitchen and cooking supply shops (and of course book stores). Chef Parade has a huge selection of cookbooks for sale in both Hungarian and English. There are also a number of food products on sale, and not the stuff you find at most specialised shops in town. There must have been 30 different hot sauces on offer including Whoop Ass, 100% Pain, Buffalo Wine Hot Sauce, and Ass Kickin' to just name a few. Prices are very reasonable. I bought a 500g bag of basmati rice at Marsala Market last week on the Korut and paid 1300 HUF, whereas the same bag costs 690 HUF at Chef Parade.

I took a taxi home around midnight with a satisfied belly, a happily buzzed head, and notes for some birthday and Christmas presents for fellow food lovers.