Lángos came over the border from Hungary and settled in Austria so comfortably that most fairgoers now treat it as their own. It is a soft yeast dough, often enriched with a little mashed potato, stretched by hand into a rough round and fried until it puffs and blisters. At every Kirtag, the village church festivals, at Vienna's Prater amusement park and at open air concerts, the stall with the longest line is usually the one selling it, brushed with garlic and loaded with sour cream and cheese.

Race weekends in Styria come with campsites, crowds and appetites, and langos meets all three. At home the trick is a well risen dough and oil at the right temperature; the toppings are a matter of conscience.

The dough

Ingredients

• 1 medium floury potato
• 3 1/4 cups (400 g) all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons (7 g) instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt
• 1 cup (240 ml) lukewarm milk
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) sunflower oil

Frying

Ingredients

• 4 cups (1 liter) sunflower or canola oil

The toppings

Ingredients

• 4 cloves garlic
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) sunflower oil or melted butter
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 cup (240 g) sour cream
• 2 cups (200 g) Emmentaler or Gouda
• 2 tablespoons chives

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