My colleague at Aggtelek National Park Tamas Kondrat (in charge of the park's vehicle and small agricultural machine fleet) was hosting a Tai Chi Camp by the Baradla Cave entrance in Aggtelek and asked Kata and I if we could volunteer to cook a couple vegetarian lunches for the participants. Kata was in Budapest over the weekend for her last Shiatsu course, but I agreed provided I had some help chopping vegetables. The weather, at times overcast, at times sunny, was more or less cooperative to the outdoor cooking in a Hungarian cauldron (üst). Another colleague Mariann (in charge of equestrian tourism) and a Vietnamese woman (wife of one of the participants) helped cut vegetables, as well as the participants themselves during their break. The view over the rolling hills and the cool breeze made me feel like I was at Lake Balaton. The participants could not have asked for a better environment in which to practice, in a field upon the roof of the Baradla Cave. Every couple of hours a group of tourists completing the Baradla Cave Aggtelek Short Tour exited nearby and asked what's for lunch, to which I invariably replied, "oh great, some volunteer cooks!" The first day we brewed up a vegetarian gulyas. The second day  we concocted another kind of vegetable stew sans paprika but with bunches of wild herbs some people were kind enough to gather as well as some very hot Vietnamese peppers.

Sunday after lunch we went to go visit the Koltays in the village of Aggtelek. The couple moved to the area a decade ago, initially organising cultural events on a stage in their hay barn. After trying their hands at several cultural ventures, they have finally found their niche creating local delicacies from Aggtelek National Park's wild fruit, herbs and mushrooms. Their Royal Treats enterprise produces homemade jams, syrups, dried fruit, dried mushrooms and now a variety of chutneys. The first chutney trial balloon they are flying is manufactured from the pears in their garden, chanterelle mushrooms (rokagomba), and either dill or lovage (lestyan) from their garden. One of their most unusual and tasty products is a local specialty, dogwood berry jam. All the mushrooms are dried naturally in the sun, and all the jams are made by hand in their kitchen.

The couple are intensely genuine and sincere, and very good at what they do. If you need any more evidence of their hard work, just take a spin around their back garden. There was a time, in what now seems like a previous life, that the first thing I did upon entering a house was to check out a person's books. Now I immediately check out their garden. A rock garden covers their trash cans, flowers blanket all the surfaces in their courtyard, a lemon tree is amass with "Hungarian oranges," rabbits peek out of their in their hutches, garlands of purple flowers climb up the front of the house, and fruit trees and vegetable patches stretch out in the back topped off by the superb view across the valley back towards the cave. At the Koltays I experienced distinct garden envy. Their yummy handmade goodies have also received certification as official products of Aggtelek National Park.

Contact:

Email: info@erdeigomba.hu
Tel: 06-30-933-1718

Other certified products include:

• Kisház Guest House in Jósvafő

• Fruktárium Guest House in Trizs
• Fruktárium Pálinka Distillery in Trizs