Did you know?! – 5 interesting facts about the favourite Hungarian dessert, ’Túró Rudi’

The beloved cottage cheese bar enjoys great popularity not only in Hungary but in several countries around the world. Dear Fans, have you ever wondered why Túró Rudi is not a Hungaricum? Do you know what the biggest initial challenge of this irresistible delicacy was, and what the secret of its unbroken success is?! Let us see five interesting facts about Túró Rudi that might surprise you 😉

1. Túró Rudi as a Hungaricum?!

Few may know that the popular cottage cheese had a “predecessor” in the Soviet Union. Despite its great popularity, that is the reason why Túró Rudi is not mentioned on the list of Hungaricums.

The idea of the Hungarian cottage cheese bar was born based on the brick-shaped curd butter product called “glazirovannij szirok”.

In Hungary, the product development can be thanked to Rudolf Mandeville and his professional team who started to work on the sweet, slightly lemony, chocolate-dipped cottage cheese dessert in 1954.

2. The story behind the special name

Its product name, “Rudi”, comes from the Hungarian word ‘rúd’, which means ‘bar’ in English. At first, it was called “Curd Mignon”, but fortunately, they realised it soon enough that the name “Curd Rudi” (Túró Rudi) would be more striking. The denominator was Sándor Klein, who taught work psychology at the Budapest University of Technology when the director of the Budapest Dairy Company asked him to help promote this strange new thing. However, not everyone liked the new name. The advertising manager of the publishing journal found it immoral, so for a while, he refused to publish the advertisement for Túró Rudi. Its production could begin only 12 years later.

• Read also: Cottage cheese and chocolate – the story of Túró Rudi

3. The secret to unbroken success

Today, the manufactory can be found in Mátészalka, where 240 people ensure high-quality production every day. According to Divany, the oldest worker has been there almost since the beginning, having been involved in the production of the cottage cheese dessert for 42 years.

Nowadays, 68,000 pieces are produced per hour.

It is made exclusively using Hungarian milk, which arrives at the factory every day in huge tank cars and then enters the milk processing plant after strict quality control. As NlCafe reports, in Hungary, more than HUF 20 billion (~EUR 57 million) is spent on the cottage cheese dessert a year.

4. Home-made Túró Rudi

Nowadays, hundreds of varieties of the cottage cheese bar are available in all kinds of flavours. However, the sweet Hungarian curd snack can be prepared at home as well. For more details, check out our recipe.

Read alsoRecipe – Irresistible homemade Túró Rudi with vanilla!

5. Túró Rudi around the world

In other countries, the cottage cheese bar has a different name, and the taste is not the same either. The Austrians produce it under the name Landfrisch Rudi; in Berlin, it is called Quarki; while in Estonia, it bears the name Vanilia Ninja. In 2008, China also started to produce the dessert under the name Cheese Kiittyy (to be reminiscent of the brand Hello Kitty). Besides the name, several other differences can be discovered – the Latvians’ sweet dessert is coated with caramel, while in Russia, the cottage cheese dessert has the shape of a brick.

Featured image: www.facebook.com/turorudi/

Source: nlc.hu; divany.hu