Bring a 4-liter (4-quart) pot of salted water to a boil. Add the noodles and boil until tender, 8 to 9 minutes. Drain. Add the butter to the cooking pot and let it melt. Return the noodles to the pot and thoroughly mix with the butter. Cover, and keep the noodles warm.
Grind the poppy seeds in a seed grinder (or use preground seeds) and mix thoroughly with the sugar. Transfer to a serving bowl. Transfer the warm buttered noodles to a large, preheated serving bowl.
Let your guests help themselves to noodles, generously sprinkling them with the sweetened poppy seed mixture. The noodles look unusual, as if they had been sprinkled with tiny ants, but the flavor is delicious.
Serves 4.

HUNGARIAN (MAKOS TESZTA)
Poppy seeds must be fresh and must be ground to bring out their full flavor. Every Hungarian kitchen is equipped with a small seed grinder for this purpose, but elsewhere you may not have an easy way to grind these tiny seeds. A food processor whirls the seeds around without breaking them. If you don't own a seed grinder (and how many of us do?) you can buy canned ground poppy seeds, but these are not very good. Grocery stores specializing in Eastern European and German foods often carry fresh-ground bulk poppy seeds. Make sure they are fresh and have no bitter or rancid flavor.