Lecsó

Lecsó (English Lecho, [ˈlɛʧoː] "LETCH-oh"; Hungarian: Lecsó [ˈlɛʧoː], Czech and Slovak Lečo, German: Letscho, Polish: Leczo, Russian: Лечо) is a Hungarian thick vegetable ragout or stew which features green and/or red peppers and tomato, onion, lard, salt, and ground sweet and/or hot paprika as a base recipe. The onions and peppers are usually sauteed in lard, bacon fat or sunflower oil. Garlic can also be a traditional ingredient. It is also considered to be traditional food in Czech,Slovak and Croatian cuisine and is also very common in Poland, Austria, and Israel.

Most Hungarian recipes recommend the mildest variant of Hungarian wax pepper, which are in season August–October which is also when field tomatoes are at their best. Other recipes suggest using both bell pepper and banana pepper as alternatives.

Varieties

There is a large variety of lecsós, the base of all being a mixture of tomatoes and peppers (both sweet and hot), onions, spiced with salt, some variants also sugar, a fair amount of red paprika powder and often garlic. Some recipes may also use bay leaf, ground black pepper or thyme. To make the perfect lecsó base, one must render the lard from the smoked bacon (if that is used instead of oil, which is also common), and fry the onion slices until the edges become slightly brownish. Next the pepper slices must be added and fried until crisp. The tomatoes come last because, if added at the beginning, they would soak the onions and the peppers.

Lao Evangelical Church

The Lao Evangelical Church (LEC) is the largest registered Christian church in Laos. It is believed that the church has around 120,000 members (2% of the population) and 200 ordained Pastors. The LEC is headquartered in Nakham Village, in Vientiane Capital. There are three main churches in Vientiane capital, Nakham, Naxai and Anou church. These three churches are headed by the national leaders of the LEC. As of 2009 there have been no foreigners that have been allowed to become members of the LEC.

History

Regarding the History of the LEC, the church itself has not provided any kind of official history. However this information has been gathered based on other organizations that have worked with in Laos or have worked with the LEC.

The Lao Evangelical Church (LEC) grew out of the work of Swedish Protestant (1890), Swiss Brethren (1902) and Christian and Missionary Alliance missionaries (1928). The missionaries who worked in three different parts of the country came together and adopted a constitution to establish the LEC in 1956. The newly formed church was granted corporate status by the Royal Lao Government in 1960. The change of government in 1975 affected the church negatively. Between 1975 and 1990, the church did not have any contacts with the outside world as the country remained a closed-door society where religious freedom was restricted. Since the country opened up in 1990, the membership of the LEC has been growing. The LEC recently started a Bible school training programme at its headquarters in the state capital Vientiane. Until now most of the pastors were trained in neighboring countries. Since 1975, no expatriate missionaries have been permitted to work within Laos. Although public evangelical activities are not encouraged by the socialist government, the churches in the capital city, towns and rural areas are experiencing considerable growth, especially with increasing youth membership.