Hungaricums – Hungary’s Cultural Values

The Hungarians are famous for loving their stomach and enjoying good foods and drinks, so it is worth taking a look at the staple items on a red-and-white chequered tablecloth. Ground red pepper and hot spices are indispensable ingredients of Hungarian cuisine. Guidebooks say beef goulash soup is the most popular dish among foreigners. Speaking of soups, you should not forget about Újházi chicken broth, fish soup from Baja, Szeged or Badacsony, and bean goulash. Paprika is also a key ingredient in main course dishes, such as stuffed cabbage or the various kinds of stew; the latter making for a really pleasant combination of flavours, together with curd cheese pasta. The most popular desserts include creamy pastries and cakes, especially the one with sugar icing, called Dobos cake after its inventor.

Festive meals often start with spirits to work up a hearty appetite. Most homes only choose pálinka made from excellent Hungarian fruits (plums, pears, apples, quinces and sour cherries). This delicious drink not only serves as an aperitif, but it is also an organic part of most friendly get-togethers, a driving force for work at pig killings and a means of cohesion between friends. Nowadays, pig killings are only customary in small provincial towns, where sausages, ham, white and black pudding and brawn are saved as reserves for the rest of the year.

In terms of fame, Hungarian brands of pálinka are only surpassed by wines. Due to its climate, Hungary is famous for its wines and a total of 22 wine regions. The most famous sweet white dessert wine, is Tokay. The best known dry white wines are probably Badacsonyi szürkebarát and Irsai Olivér, while the most renowned Hungarian red wine is Egri bikavér.

Hungary abounds in medicinal and thermal waters, which is why visitors can enjoy a wide range of thermal spas across the country, including 15 only in Budapest. The Hungarian capital’s spa culture started to flourish during the Turkish occupation, and it has not lost its popularity ever since. The best known spas are Széchenyi and Saint Gerard. Those who prefer a Turkish spa should go to Király or Császár. In addition to the capital, you can allow your body and soul maximum indulgence in Zalakaros, Cserkeszőlő, Hévíz, Hajduszoboszló and Harkány, to name but a few spas.

The puszta, along with its flora and fauna, is a unique Hungarian asset, a fine reflection of harmony between wildlife and human activity. A piece of such land was chosen to be Hungary’s very first national park in 1973. This was Hortobágy, a region symbolised by its natural fauna and farm animals. Real shepherds with satchels no longer come about in the puszta, but a high number of ancestral Hungarian grey cattle, mangalica, Racka sheep, Hungarian horse and poultry breeds are kept and raised in the area for the purposes of tourism. The puszta holds Hungarian sheepdogs in high esteem: shelters and farms were protected by the kuvasz or komondor, and the flock was shepherded by the puli or pumi.

The image of the puszta and the infinite plain is the theme of several works of fine and folk art. Hungary boasts of a great deal of folk art, including painting, sewing, lace making, wood carving, wood dying and pottery. Every region uses its own peculiar patterns. The most spectacular works, such as Kalocsa and Makó embroidery, feature roses, corn poppies, tulips and forget-me-nots which occupy the central place, both in paintings and in hand-embroidered textiles and clothes. Today, recognised as cultural industries, painting and sewing were for the women, while wood carving and pottery were male activities, which were performed during winter. Within folk art, special mention should be made of folk songs and folk tales. Often based on folk wisdom and proverbs, these works were born in the course of community activities and spread by word of mouth. Folk dance and folk music also developed forms that are characteristic of particular regions. The complex collections that perpetuate them, were compiled by world-famous Hungarian composers, including Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály, who studied and gathered the pieces of Hungarian folk music.

Hungarian culture is also extremely rich in folk customs, most of them related to festive periods. They include busójárás, a procession where people dress in sheep leather and wear carved wooden masks to invoke spring and chase away the severe winter. Another folk custom that has survived, relates to Easter. In the early hours of Easter Monday, young men sprinkle their female friends with water, now with scented eau-de-Cologne, to keep them “blossoming”. In exchange, the girls would give the boys hand-painted red eggs, which often feature folk motifs. A folk custom related to Christmas is Nativity play, which is now sinking into oblivion. This tradition is kept in school or church feasts and perhaps in small villages. Mystery plays recount the birth of Jesus. Earlier, young students went from house to house to act out the story for a treat by local people.