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The Good Life at Aggtelek National Park Part 42: Hungarikum Night at the Vajdahunyadi Castle

hungarikum vajdahunyad castleHungarikum Night at the Vajdahunyadi Castle

The Hungarian Minister of Agriculture Sandor Fazékas has declared 2015 the Year of the Local Producer. This is to build on the initiative for the 10 national parks to certify official products from local producers within their territory. The certification of course must meet certain parameters, but is free, and so is the resulting advertising. The primary purpose of awarding "official product" trademarks to local producers and businesses within the national parks system is to improve the image of these products and facilities while raising environmental awareness; as well as strengthening regional nature conservation, rural development and economic co-operation. Moreover, the system aims to expand business opportunities and increase market access. Purchase of products bearing the official "Aggtelek National Park Product" label supports local culture, local producers, sustainable agriculture and the local economy. Aggtelek National Park certified 4 producers in 2014. So far, I have identified about 80 local producers and handicraft makers within Aggtelek National Park. I hope many more will apply in the second round.

Current Aggtelek National Park Officially Trademarked Products:

kiralyi csemegeRoyal Treats in Aggtelek- quality jams, mushroom products and drink syrups

Locally gathered and processed forest fruit and wild mushroom products since 2008.
Jams include: quince, dogberry, apricot, apple, sloe, green walnut, rosehip, elderflower, mulberry, plum...
Mushroom products include: morels, cep, bolete, chanterelle, fairy ring mushroom, black chanterelle (horn of plenty), and honey fungus among others
Drink syrups include, among others: dogberry, sloe, elderflower, rosehip, wild plum, lemongrass, forest mint, thyme, acacia flower, elderberry, dandelion, grape, quince, quince and ginger...

More information: Mrs. Krisztina Zsoldos Koltayné, Kossuth Lajos utca 49, 3759 Aggtelek
Tel: (+36)-30-933-1718, info@erdeigomba.hu

Fruktárium in Trizs - palinka (schnapps/brandy)fruktarium palinka
The family business was founded in 2009, collecting fruit from individual members in the village of Trizs, and with permission, from Aggtelek National Park. The palinka is made from plum, quince, dogberry, Szögliget grapes, wild apples, wild pears, elderflower and sloe.
More information: Mrs. Ilona Danyi Ácsné, Petőfi u. 13, 3724 Trizs
Tel: (+36)-48-504-230, fruktarium@fruktarium.hu

kishazTiny House in Jósvafő
Built in the mid-19th century, this former residence is now a protected monument and guesthouse in the centre of the village of Jósvafő, located beside the Bell Tower. The renovated house is divided into three areas plus a porch, and is furnished with traditional furniture. There are sleeping places for 4 persons, a bathroom and an equipped kitchen/dining area. For those who love nature and the village atmosphere.

More information: Mr. Béla Berecz, Dózsa György utca 5, 3759 Jósvafő
Tel: (+36)-30-331-1722, Fax: (+36)-48-350-053, bb.josvafo@gmail.com

Fruktárium Guest House in Trizs
Category: accommodation, services
Operator: EFFICIENT Business Consulting and Services Ltd.
The cottage was renovated and modernised in 2013, but according to the traditional Gömör peasant style using adobe bricks and incorporating small windows, a white façade and arcade veranda as it was at the beginning of the last century.
The peaceful rooms have beamed ceilings and period furniture.

More information: Mrs. Ilona Danyi Ácsné, Petőfi u. 22, 3724 Trizs
Tel: (+36)-48-504-230, fruktarium@fruktarium.hu

The event was held in City Park at the Vajdahunyad Castle. Although the Vajdahunyad Castle in the City Park may look like an historical building, it was only built about 100 years ago for the 1000th birthday of the Hungarian State in 1896 for the Millennial Exhibition, along with such Budapest attractions as the Millennial Monument on Heroes' Square, or the Fisherman's Bastion on the Buda Castle Hill. Incredibly, the original building was just a temporary structure made of wooden planks and cardboard designs. Ignac Alpar designed the building But the Hungarians loved the building so much that it was eventually built from permanent materials (between 1904 and 1908). The building has been the home of the Hungarian Agricultural Museum since 1897. The museum (Magyar Mezogazdasagi Muzeum) is the biggest agricultural museum in Europe.

Although I had been in part of the complex for Martin and Agota's wedding, and been spooked by the statue of Anonymus by Hungarian sculptor Miklós Ligeti (Anonymus lived in the 12th century (his true identity is unknown, but he was a notary of Béla III of Hungary), who wrote the chronicle Gesta Hungarorum (Deeds of the Hungarians), strangely enough, I had never been inside. The building inside and out is a magnificently beautiful complex, especially in the snow.

My colleague Mariann and I arrived around 4pm to set up, decorate the table, put out brochures and arrange the jams and palinkas for tasting by the 200 or so ambassadors and other VIPs.

  • dogberry jam
  • sloe jam
  • forest black pearl jam
  • quince jam
  • blackberry jam

  • wild apple palinka
  • wild pear palinka
  • elderflower palinka

The other national parks offered tastings of the following:

Folk music and dance was provided by the Válaszút Táncegyüttes and Kobzos Együttes. They were mostly playing Moldvai music and I desperately wanted to jump in and dance the hora and other dances, but was prevented by protocol. This did not seem to hold back youngsters from the Ministry though.

Freed from my suit, I sought out Mookie Brando and the Second Cousins at their gig a newest club. Tucked away in a basement on Dessewffy u. near the Noire, Attention is not easy to find without knowing exactly where to look. It was great to see Mookie and Juli again after almost a year. After awhile I realised something was not quite right. Not sure what the matter was, I gazed around slowly and discovered Tito was smoking. Then I realised most people were smoking. How could this be?! It is a private club, private party. They can do whatever they want. The managers seem very nice, and I wish the club the best in highlighting local music talent, but please do away with the smoking policy. God my clothes stank for the first time like that in years.

I stayed in town to get my passport renewed, parking permit renewed, and to speak with an immigration expert I have been using for years at Bereczki and Partners about preparing for my Hungarian citizenship exam. It was pouring rain and I was early for my appointment, so I finally gave in and sought refuge at a new place called the Bathori Cafe on Bathori u. The ladies that run the place have done a beautiful job in decorating the place with carved wood panels. It is cosy and friendly and bright, and most importantly, serves Fair Trade organic coffee and great looking pastries. A restaurant also operates on the premises.

The flipside of the coin was later in the afternoon when I went for lunch at a fast-food Chinese place I used to frequent on Kiraly u. near Csengery u. This is where I had the worst Chinese food of my life, and perhaps the worst food I have ever had in Hungary. I asked for the small lunch menu but was charged an extra 50 Huf. Why? Because she decided to give me fried rice instead of the plain rice in the menu. No apologies. Then I asked for a bit of sweet and sour sauce. She literally drowned my meal with this before I could stop her. When I fished my sesame seed chicken from the lake, it was incredibly greasy. Just plain yukk. The Bathori and this place could not have been more different.

In the evening it was time for the kind of monthly couple's dinner at an Indian restaurant. We again went to the Punjab on Pannonia u. It was great to meet up with everyone again after so long. Some of us then retired to the Sherlock Holmes Pub next door. The place used to be run by some friendly Turks in the early 90's, but I have no idea who runs it now, but it was nice to see the place is still running. After a few mystery drinks by way of Andi, I staggered home around 12:30am to where Nori and Andras were kindly putting us up.

I have been registered on ride-share site Oszkar Telekocsi for years, but have never used the service until now. Kata and I met a minivan full of people going to Miskolc at Keleti pu. and paid only 1500 Huf/person instead of the nearly 5000 Huf if we had gone by train or bus. The ride was pleasant, and I am sure we will use Oszkar again. We thought from Miskolc we could easily catch one of the regular buses, but we forgot it was Saturday and had to wait for a couple of hours and catch a train instead. We went into a Cafe Frei for a hot drink before going to the station. Kata had a big caramel milk, and I had a Congo hot chocolate with spices and orange peel. Friendly, well done, and an extensive menu of exotic hot drinks.

The house was 11 degrees when we eventually got home. Nori's dad's hazi palinka was a real life saver as we tried to get the fires going. We did not even notice until the next morning that the level of the Bodva River had risen dramatically. In fact, the water on had almost reached the road on the side of the house and stood quite high on the willow trees in the old channel. The back field was also showing signs of flooding. We are still trying to repair the house from the floods 4 years ago, and called the mayor and our neighbour park ranger to see what the situation was. The mayor said it was normal, even though the water was only about 30m from the house, and that he would get about 8 hours warning from upriver towns in the case of unusual flooding.