Hungarian folklore

Contents:

• 1. Hungarian folk costumes
• 2. Traditional dishes and drinks
• 3. Traditions connected to religious holidays
• 4. Traditions connected to national holidays

Hungarian folk costumes:

• Our folk costumes vary by region, but you’ve probably heard about either the Matyó or the Kalocsa embroidery.
• Nowadays, folk costumes are mostly worn on special occasions and holidays.
• The basic items of Hungarian folk costumes were mainly simple, handmade and versatile so that they could be combined in many ways.
• These included shirts, trousers, pendely (linen underskirt), skirts, different types of aprons, belts, elejbőr (an item made from sheepskin to keep the chest area warm), kacagány (furred animal skin worn on the back), vests, ködmön (a type of coat made from sheepskin), fur coats, different underpants. The final look was complete with headpieces (hats, caps, wreaths, corolla, coifs and headscarves), scarves, shoes, jewellery, ribbons and hat ornaments.

„Matyó” and „Kalocsai” folk costumes

Traditional dishes: soups

• Goulash (gulyás): is somewhere between a soup and stew, with beef (occasionally veal or pork), carrot, potato, spices and the typical paprika.
• Fisherman’s soup (halászlé): is prepared from mixed river fish (carp, catfish, perch or pike) and with a great amount of hot paprika, giving it the characteristic bright red color.

Traditional dishes: main courses

• Stuffed cabbage (töltött káposzta): is made of cooked cabbage (mostly pickled) filled with pork mince, mixed rice and flavored with the unmissable paprika, pepper and tejföl (sour cream).
•  Lángos: a deep-fried flat bread that is certainly something to avoid on a diet. It is usually eaten with garlic sauce, cheese, tejföl (sour cream), or even sausages.

Traditional dishes: desserts

• Somlói galuska: a delicious, unmissable dessert made from sponge cake, layered with chocolate cream, walnut kernel, rum and whipped cream on the top.  Its history goes back to 1950, when the legendary Gundel Restaurant’s headwaiter (Károly Gollerits) envisioned this novel dessert.
• Chimney cake (kürtös kalács): a special sweet spiral cylindered bread made from sweet yeast dough baked over charcoal, which has a sweet, caramelized coating, onto which cinnamon, cocoa, coconut, or chopped walnuts are added.

„Somlói galuska” and „kürtös kalács”

Traditional drinks

• Pálinka: is among the most important aperitifs in Hungary. The alcohol content of the national brandy is at least 40% and it can be made of several fruits, such as apricot, plum, pear, sour cherry, apple, raspberry, chestnut and sometimes even sweetened with honey.
• Sweet wines of Tokaj: one of the most famous wines of the region is „Tokaji Aszú” which was the first sweet wine in the world that can be distinguished by the number of “puttony” indicated on the bottle label.
• Egri Bikavér: or Bull’s blood of Eger, is the most famous red wine of Hungary. According to the legends, Turks thought the Hungarians were so strong during the siege of Eger castle because they were drinking wine spiked with bull’s blood.

„Pálinka”, sweet wines of Tokaj, „Egri Bikavér”

Traditions connected to Easter

• Sprinkling: On Easter Sunday in the morning girls put on their best clothes. Young boys from the village visit them and sprinkle them with cold water (from the well) so that they remain beautiful and young.
• Red and green eggs: In return for the sprinkling the boys receive eggs painted red and green from the girls. The red egg represents the blood of Jesus and the green one represents nature’s renewal.
• Catkin and egg tree:The blessing of catkin is part of the church service on Palm Sunday. The egg tree is decorated with colourful eggs.

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Sprinkling, red and green eggs and catkin

State Foundation Day: 20 August

• Every year on 20 August, Hungary celebrates the establishment of the Hungarian State and the country’s more than 1,000-year-old history. It is also dedicated to Hungary’s first king: King Stephen I, the first canonised saint of Hungary and it is also the festival of new bread.

„Busójárás”

• It is an annual celebration of the people living in the town of Mohács, Hungary, held at the end of the carneval season („Farsang”), ending the day before Ash Wednesday. The celebration features Busós (people wearing traditional masks) and includes folk music, masquerading, parades and dancing. Busójárás lasts for six days, usually during February.

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