Hungary

 

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.
Eventually there is no space left on the table. The third pig is placed in a vat on the floor.
Reindeer steak
Blood sausage with mustard
Sour cherry soup
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.
The first pig is halved and lain on the butchering table in the kitchen of the basement floor.
Rabbit meat on barley
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.
A delicious appetizer at Kistucsok restaurant near the Balaton
A new bagel spot with duck live paté
Suckling pig
Old school ice cream place
The innards of three pigs are ground by hand. It’s a labor intensive task that takes 2~3 hours to complete.
Next, the tail is separated and the snow-white fat is torn as effortlessly as paper straight up through the stomach.
Cucumber salad with sour cream
Zsíros kenyér, bread smeared with lard, onions and paprika
All this gunk must come out before the intestines can be stuffed.
Tasting of pickles
Christmas fare
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.
Intestines go through a final clean in ice cold water.
Joci
The ladies also add smoked paprika powder, which is sprinkled over the top of the ground innards.
As I watch Joci jokes “It’s called the Colombian necktie, like in the movies.”
The head takes a bit longer to boil.
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.
Porkolt with dumplings
This piece, for example, will make for beautiful szalonna.
Halászlé, traditional fisherman´s soup
Balaton during the summer
Refreshing cucumber salad
When the sausage is done it is rolled up and twisted into links.
Kemence lángos, the Hungarian pizza
Zserbó cake
Lecsó stew of meat with peppers and tomato
A little tasting of Hungary´s best
After all the meat is removed the skull is given to the dogs to gnaw on. A fantastic Christmas present for the canines.
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 cleaned intestines await stuffing.
Kemence lángos with fried pork cracklings and onion
Lángos fried dough
Halászlé, traditional fisherman´s soup
The ladies toil for close to 20 minutes over the trough, mixing the herbs, rice and innards into a homogenous filling.
A leg is removed and stored separately. This will be sliced into hams to cure and cook.
A delicious soup and soft cheese dumpling near the Balaton
A delicious soup and soft cheese dumpling near the Balaton
Pickles in a market
Seared foie gras over mashed potato with pears
Zsíros kenyér, bread smeared with lard, onions and paprika
Lecsó stew of meat with peppers and tomato
As she tugs at the casing to make sure it is filled evenly, she chastises the boy for cranking too quickly.
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.
The intestines, kidneys, pancreas, spleen and stomach are removed into a wooden trough.
Toltott káposzta. Sauerkraut with ground meat and sausage
She even makes a few lewd and hilarious double entendre’s that the boy doesn’t seem to be old enough to understand.
Seared foie gras over potatoes
Toast with brain and paprika grilled onto it
Hungarian puff pastry, pogácsa
Comfort food – pumpkin stew with grilled wiener
Toltott káposzta. Sauerkraut with ground meat and sausage
Hungarian ice cream
Brushing lángos with garlic oil
Csirke paprikás
The pig head with its meat and a bit of skin hanging on like a mask is a shocking sight indeed.
Refreshing cucumber salad
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.
Meanwhile, the women untangle the small intestines. They will be cleaning these to use as casings for sausages.
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.
Country sausage with mustard
A light stew with chicken liver dumplings
“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.
Borzaska, pork cutlet breaded in shaved potatoes and fried
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.
One of my favorite restaurants in the Danube Bend
A great restaurant right outside Budapest
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.
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.
The innards have been boiled. They breathe a bit before being ground to make filling for the sausage.
Halászlé, traditional fisherman´s soup
Toltott káposzta. Sauerkraut with ground meat and 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.