For our fifth meeting we met in the city centrum, where Fruzsi and Boti are living. Before the meeting I had a very little of information of it what would we be teaching and learning this time around. Therefore it was a very nice surprise for me that we were about to have some Hungarian snacks and drinks, which Fruzsi’s family had just recently brought from Hungary.
Palinka
Palinka is a traditional Hungarian drink that contains around 50-70% of alcohol. It is distilled and usually made out of plums (szilva) and apricots (sargabarack). Although, basically any fruit or berry that grows in the garden, such as cherries or strawberries, could be used too. Anyway, since palinka is usually home made, it tastes different every time. Therefore we organized a game in which we tasted a little sample from each 4 bottles of palinka and found an order for them:
Plum 2010
Plum 2016
Apricot 2017
Apricot 2016
Palinka is drinked from a speacil kind of a tiny glass. It can be consumed in any time of the day, for any cause, such as medication for cough.
Kolbasz
Fruzsi’s family had bought also some kolbasz, Hungarian sausage. I honestly hadn’t eaten sausage for over 15 years, so it was a rather interesting experience. I didn’t remember how does sausage taste – no any idea. So, I wasn’t really able to compare it to anything. But it was good. Strange to say, but I quite liked kolbasz. It did fit perfectly together with palinka, I have to say. 
Disznovagas
Disznovagas is a pig killing party, and it is kind of nice closing for this blog pot, since in it palinka and kolbaz comes together. So, according to Frizsi and Boti, in Hungary there is a special day in which you wake up early in the morning and start to drink palinka. After that you butcher a pig or two, and in the evening you will have a feast.
Wrap-up
I really loved this meeting since we were talking a lot about Hungarian culture and the stuff we were talking about was very interesting. For instance the pig killing party sounded as something primitive, traditional and almost exotic that is happening in a small village in a countryside. That left a lot of space for imagination, which was so cool!
Comments