In Hungary, you can acquire a pálinka distiller university degree

Pálinka will celebrate its 700th birthday next year, and pálinka making is currently in its heyday. The Szent Istán University’s Faculty of Food Sciences was the first university in Hungary to launch the pálinkamester specialist engineering and consultant academic program. This unique academic program is the balance of theory and practice when it comes to pálinka making.

According to Infostart, in the pálinkamester postgraduate course, students can master the science of pálinka making in just four semesters, but in addition to technological knowledge, they can also expand their marketing and commercial knowledge. This will help them establish their future business, Szilárd Kun, PhD, associate professor at the Faculty of Food Sciences at Szent István University, emphasised.

“Having the opportunity to make pálinka at home gets people closer to it, dealing with food becomes more personal, and the appreciation for pálinka, so to speak, increases.

Many students in the program already make pálinka at home, but they consider the information they learned by themselves not quite enough.”

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Szilárd Kun, PhD, wishes that private, commission, and commercial pálinka making would be better separated. What is clear, however, is that the unique regulation has opened new perspectives.

“There are always people who say that keeping to Hungarian traditions, they want to make apricot, plum, or pear pálinka, but there are always those who are looking for something new. Of course, this is what shapes the market; I should mention hawthorn, cornel (Cornelian cherry), or distillates made from rosehip. There are some special fruit pálinkas that are quite divisive.”