The fanciest pancakes of Hungary awaiting guests

One of the most popular and awaited gastronomy event arrives again on 23 September in Fővárosi Rendezvénypark in Budapest. Multiple thousands of guests are expected for the Pancake Festival this year. Besides the pancake baking and eating contests, several other programs await visitors, such as a market, agility contests and entertaining performances, according to Travelo.hu.

Pancake is a national favorite in Hungary, but there are several ways to prepare it. Pancake Festival offers opportunities to taste the most delicious ones and learn much about the different recipes. Catering experts from all around the country will come together to teach the secrets of the tastiest and most peculiar types of Hungarian pancakes.

Agility competitions will be organic parts of the event, but they are not only for children.

For example, there will be a race which involves running along an obstacle course with a pancake on a plate being balanced in the contender’s hand. The pancake eating contest also contains a twist, as the competitors have to eat the dessert without using their hands. And last but not least, there will be a balancing contest as well with a huge pancake as a balancing weight. In this event, the contender who can hold the plate in their hand for the longest time without dropping the pancake or lowering their arm wins.

Not all programs involve pancake directly:

there will be a section for children, push bike contest, concerts, fashion shows, dance performances and many more.

Pancake – or palacsinta in Hungarian – is a dish originating from the ancient Roman “placenta”. The round pasta was baked on a stone or – according to the legend – a bronze shield. It played a vital part in Roman legionnaires’ diet as it was durable. It was consumed with meat so it was less like a dessert. Pancake was brought by the conqueror Roman legions into the basin of River Danube, as well as into Western Europe.

The first written mentioning of pancake in Hungarian history is from the cook book of the Transylvanian prince’s royal chef from the 16th century.

Folk tradition claims that all durable food had to be consumed by pancake day which was forbidden to eat during the forty days long fast. One of the basic ingredients of the pancake is egg, and as it was baked in lard, it was splendid for using the remaining stores.  The world’s largest pancake was baked in 1994 in Rochdale. The world recorder pancake had a diameter of 15 meters, weighted 3 tons and contained at least two million calories.

Ce: bm

Source: Travelo.hu