Hungarians love chocolate indeed, it is their favorite sweet. They eat it in pastries, cakes, cookies, and even as the stuffing of a pancake called palacsinta. But last week Budapest was abuzz with rumors of a scandal that turned many a Communist sweet tooth sour. At lavish parties run for high government officials by the boss of Hungary's state-controlled national catering service, the pièce de résistance was a chocolate-covered airline hostess.
As the rumors had it, Caterer-cum-confectioner Lajos Onodi operated a roulette parlor in the Budapest suburb of GÖd. The gambling den, frequented by foreign...