Hungary

 

The cleaned intestines await stuffing.
Toltott káposzta. Sauerkraut with ground meat and sausage
Lecsó stew of meat with peppers and tomato
Meanwhile, the women untangle the small intestines. They will be cleaning these to use as casings for sausages.
Seared foie gras over potatoes
As I watch Joci jokes “It’s called the Colombian necktie, like in the movies.”
The boiled organ meats are a great snack to munch on while grinding, which takes a total of 2 hours. As I pick at a liver, I am instructed to add salt before taking a bite.
Brushing lángos with garlic oil
A great restaurant right outside Budapest
Porkolt with dumplings
The first pig is halved and lain on the butchering table in the kitchen of the basement floor.
Blood sausage with mustard
The traditional breakfast at a pig slaughter is “hagymás sült vér,” which translates to “cooked blood with onions.” The women of the house cook fresh blood drained from the pig in salted water. This causes the blood to stiffen into solid lumps which are grated.
The skin is ripped off and fed to the dogs. The meat and fat are removed and ground down with the offal. Pork cheek is probably one of my favorite pieces of meat on the animal. I eat an entire cheek, after salting it of course.
Zserbó cake
Joci removes the heart from the chest cavity of the pig. His hands are covered in blood. I ask him what that feels like and he tells me it’s warm, sticky and clean.
Csirke paprikás
The men and boys prep the three pigs for butchery. The pigs have each been killed with a quick stab to the throat. Their blood has been drained to use for making blood sausage.
On the yard outside the cast iron cauldron is still full of the water in which the innards were boiled. Rice is placed into a canvas bag that is dipped into the water by the two boys. They stand on opposite sides.
Ilonka Néni notices how much I enjoy the tender cheek meat and shares with me that it is her favorite too. We take a moment to munch on a cheek each, after salting them generously, of course.
Refreshing cucumber salad
Eventually there is no space left on the table. The third pig is placed in a vat on the floor.
The innards have been boiled. They breathe a bit before being ground to make filling for the sausage.
Balaton during the summer
A new bagel spot with duck live paté
The innards of three pigs are ground by hand. It’s a labor intensive task that takes 2~3 hours to complete.
The pig head with its meat and a bit of skin hanging on like a mask is a shocking sight indeed.
A light stew with chicken liver dumplings
Toltott káposzta. Sauerkraut with ground meat and sausage
This piece, for example, will make for beautiful szalonna.
Refreshing cucumber salad
Hungarian puff pastry, pogácsa
Pickles in a market
A delicious soup and soft cheese dumpling near the Balaton
Halászlé, traditional fisherman´s soup
She even makes a few lewd and hilarious double entendre’s that the boy doesn’t seem to be old enough to understand.
One of my favorite restaurants in the Danube Bend
Joci
Kemence lángos with fried pork cracklings and onion
The ladies also add smoked paprika powder, which is sprinkled over the top of the ground innards.
A loin and a belly remain to be separated.
Joci picks out an organ to show me. “This is the vese.” It’s the kidney.
Christmas fare
A delicious soup and soft cheese dumpling near the Balaton
Comfort food – pumpkin stew with grilled wiener
Country sausage with mustard
Lecsó stew of meat with peppers and tomato
All this gunk must come out before the intestines can be stuffed.
A leg is removed and stored separately. This will be sliced into hams to cure and cook.
Lángos fried dough
A wooden trough is lain over a couch in the makeshift kitchen on the ground floor of the house. It is filled with rice and the ground innards are added over the top.
After all the meat is removed the skull is given to the dogs to gnaw on. A fantastic Christmas present for the canines.
Tasting of pickles
Zsíros kenyér, bread smeared with lard, onions and paprika
Minced onion and rice is sauteed with the grated blood and seasoned with black pepper and marjoram. The dish is served with bread or eaten as a pudding. It is thought to give the men energy for the slaughter.
Kemence lángos, the Hungarian pizza
The head takes a bit longer to boil.
Rabbit meat on barley
They wash off the exterior of the small intestines with cold water and continue soaking them in a wooden trough filled with ice cold water.
When the sausage is done it is rolled up and twisted into links.
Sour cherry soup
Cucumber salad with sour cream
Hungarian ice cream
The intestines, kidneys, pancreas, spleen and stomach are removed into a wooden trough.
As she tugs at the casing to make sure it is filled evenly, she chastises the boy for cranking too quickly.
Another popular breakfast item at pig slaughters is “velős rántotta,” scrambled eggs made with pig’s brains. It’s served with red cabbage cooked in vinegar with a dash of sugar.
Halászlé, traditional fisherman´s soup
A delicious appetizer at Kistucsok restaurant near the Balaton
Halászlé, traditional fisherman´s soup
Old school ice cream place
Seared foie gras over mashed potato with pears
Intestines go through a final clean in ice cold water.
“Perzselés” is carried out all over the body of the animal. In addition to burning the skin, it causes the flesh to stiffen, making it easier to chop into.
Suckling pig
Next, the tail is separated and the snow-white fat is torn as effortlessly as paper straight up through the stomach.
Borzaska, pork cutlet breaded in shaved potatoes and fried
The ladies toil for close to 20 minutes over the trough, mixing the herbs, rice and innards into a homogenous filling.
Zsíros kenyér, bread smeared with lard, onions and paprika
A little tasting of Hungary´s best
Reindeer steak
The organs are boiled in a large cast iron cauldron over a wood fire in the yeard. They will be ground and stuffed into the small intestines to make sausage.
Toast with brain and paprika grilled onto it
Toltott káposzta. Sauerkraut with ground meat and sausage