Pálinka & pork: pig of a festival has wings
A festival devoted to a breed of pig is the kind of thing you night expect in some rural market town, not cosmopolitan
Pork, pálinka & paprika
The mangalica pig is as Hungarian as pálinka and paprika, which together form the unholy trinity of Magyar cuisine. All three Ps will be manifest at the pigfest in the Városliget, alongside homemade jam, traditionally made cheese and honey. However, if this is all starting to sound like a Women’s Institute tea party, fear not – there is no hint of village green gentility about the relationship between Hungarians and their porcine friends.
Stuff & get stuffed
Festivities kick off at noon on Friday with opportunities for tasting, eating and drinking. However, it’s knives out on Saturday morning and down to business with the kolbásztöltő verseny (sausage making competition). Lip service is paid to the selection of quality meat, fillers and secret family combinations of herbs and spices, but speed and a capacity for imbibing pálinka by the cupful is just as much a matter of pride at these events. A word of caution: meat grinders, sharp knives and hard liquor can be a dangerous combination.
The expected
Those who can’t stand the bucolic frenzy of the sausage stuffing contest can wander amongst some fifty stalls selling traditional Hungarian handicrafts and folk arts. Or head over to check out the Madarak Házibuli Zenekar (Madarak House Party Orchestra), playing at 3:30pm. The five-piece once made it into the Guinness Book of Records for playing a gig on a kitchen table (using it as a stage, not an instrument).
Fire burn & cauldron bubble
Then on Sunday there is a bogrács cooking competition. A bogrács is a large cauldron, usually hung over a fire from a tripod. The bogrács party is a traditional Hungarian summertime pursuit, and one of the rare times when traditional Hungarian men attempt any kind of cooking. Gulyás (goulash) soup is the order of the day – cooked slowly over an open fire. The cooks put their heads and their glasses together as they monitor the progress of the cooking. Debate over subtle adjustments to the bubbling pot usually lead to a unanimous decision to throw an extra fistful of fiery red paprika powder into the mix. The result is a robust stew that will warm you to the core. The various efforts will be judged at 3pm.
A kingdom for a pig
But what of the star of the weekend, the mangalica pig? The beast is usually white, but sometimes black or even red, with long, curly hair. It is prized for its dark red meat, which has a higher fat content – reputedly low in cholesterol – is tastier than that of the bald pink hybrids that are grown en masse in sheds the size of shopping centres. The mangalica cannot be raised in factory farms. It used to be found right across
The Slow Food Foundation – whose mission is to encourage regional diversity in food and the eschewing of tasteless fast food – has given its seal of approval to the mangalica. It set up a “Presidium” in
The festival organisers, while recognising the enormity of the challenge of persuading consumers to go for quality over quantity and low price, are hoping that the festival will raise the profile of
Getting there
Mangalica Festival
Vajdahunyád castle
8-10 February (Friday – Sunday)
Admission is free
