Easter

Variations on the traditional Hungarian braided scone

easter braided scone fonott kalács

The braided scone is something that simply cannot miss from the Hungarian table during an Easter feast. The slightly sweet ‘cake’ is usually eaten with the hard-boiled and painted eggs, the ham and horseradish, but it can be prepared in numerous other ways so that it can become a filling breakfast or a delicious and simple dessert in itself. We have collected some of the best and special braided scone recipes for you to try (not just at Easter, but at any other point of the year).

Traditional braided scone

braided scone fonott kalács

Ingredients

  • 2 decagrams of fresh yeast
  • 4 decilitres of fat milk
  • 4 decagrams of powdered sugar
  • 25 decagrams of fine flour
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1 yolk
  • 1 whole egg
  • 3 decagrams of melted butter
  • 1 decagrams of Bourbon vanilla sugar

Preparation

Add the powdered sugar along with the yeast to the milk and let it raise. Mix the flour, the salt, the egg yolk, the melted butter, the vanilla sugar and the raised yeast together and knead the dough. Spread oil in a bowl and let the dough leaven in it for 30 minutes.

Split the dough into 3-4 equal parts (depending on whether you would like smaller or bigger scones). Split each part into two and then spin and braid them.

Spread a half a beaten egg over the scones and leaven them at room temperature for yet another 30 minutes. Spread the other half of the egg on the dough once it is leavened.

Bake the scone in a pre-heated oven under 175 degrees Celsius for approx. 30 minutes, until it puts on a golden colour.

Braided scone with cottage cheese, ham and ramsons

braided scone fonott kalács

Ingredients:

for the dough:

  • 45 decagrams of flour
  • 2 decagrams of fresh yeast
  • 2 decilitres of lukewarm milk
  • 1 bigger egg
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 teaspoon of sugar

for the cottage cheese filling:

  • 25 decagrams of curd cheese
  • 1 tablespoon of sour cream
  • 1 coffee spoon of ground pepper
  • salt to taste

for the ransoms filling:

  • 8-10 ramsons
  • 1 tablespoon of sour cream
  • salt to taste

for the ham filling:

  • 15 decagrams of ham
  • ½ tablespoon of sour cream

Preparation

Take half of the lukewarm water and add the sugar and yeast to it, then leave it to raise. Pour the remainder of the milk into a mixing bowl, then add the oil along with the egg to it, then mix it. Next, add the raised yeast to the previous mixture. Mix the flour with the salt, then after sieving it, add this to the mixture too, and knead the dough in a few minutes.

Put the kneaded dough into a leavening bowl and let it rest and leaven for one and a half hour. Then, spread some flour on a flat surface where you will knead the dough. Split the dough into three equal parts and form small balls out of them.

After softening the cheese with a fork, add the sour cream, the ground pepper and the salt to it. Mix it thoroughly. Cut the ramsons into tiny bits and add them to the sour cream with a pinch of salt, then mix it well. The ham should be cut into small bits too.

Roll out the dough balls one by one so that their dimensions will be approx. 35×30 centimetres and spread the fillings evenly unto them one after the other. Each ball should have a separate filling. Then fold the two sides of the dough a bit and roll it in a bejgli-like fashion (you can find the instructions here).

Lay the rolls next to each other and start braiding them. After you are done braiding, place them on a pan with baking parchment.

Cover the braid and let it leaven for 25 minutes at room temperature. After leavening spread a whole beaten egg on the dough and place it in the preheated oven. It should be baked for 45-50 minutes on a higher-than-average temperature until it becomes red.

Scone flower with poppy seeds

braided scone fonott kalács
photo: http://noriezmegaz.blogspot.ro

Ingredients

for the dough:

  • 3 decilitres of milk
  • 60 decagrams of flour
  • 5 decagrams of yeast
  • 3 tablespoons of sugar
  • 2 tablespoons of oil
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 10 decagrams of melted butter

for the filling:

  • 20 decagrams of ground poppy seed
  • 20 decagrams of powdered sugar
  • 1 package of vanilla sugar
  • some slightly sour jam
  • 1 grated lemon peel

Preparation

Mix the lukewarm water with a pinch of sugar and the yeast, then let it raise. Then, mix it with the flour, eggs, rest of the sugar, oil, salt and knead it well. Leave it until it becomes twice in size.

Spread flour on a board and roll the dough out into a rectangle shape. Spread butter on it and a thin layer of jam. Mix the poppy seed with the powdered sugar and vanilla sugar, and sprinkle this on the rolled-out dough.

Roll the dough up like you would roll up a bejgli, place it unto a baking parchment in a pan, then shape it into a wreath.

Cut slightly into it at 3 centimetres distances and then turn the slices out. Spread some yolk on top of it.

Bake it in a pre-heated oven under 180 degrees Celsius in 20 minutes.

photos: mindmegette.hu

Surprising Easter statistics about the Hungarians

hungary easter eggs paint

Easter is not just about eating chocolate desserts and decorating the house with flowers and catkin. It is also about keeping the old traditions that are very important in Hungary. Easter sprinkling is one of these among family and the closest neighbours as well. Delmagyar.hu writes about Kutatópont Kft.’s research on this topic.

Foods and dishes

According to the data, the most popular foods and dishes during Easter are hard boiled eggs (81 percent), smoked ham (78 percent), escalope (54 percent), radish (42 percent), braided yeast bread (42 percent), smocked collar (40 percent), and stuffed cabbage (36 percent) in the Hungarian households. As for drinks, people prefer flavoured soda (53 percent), juices (43 percent), beer (37 percent), wine (35 percent), and pálinka (30 percent).

There is an interesting gastronomical preference difference between men and women. Men prefer spare ribs, stuffed cabbage, beer, wine, and pálinka. However, women like Russian salad, gerbaud cake, Linzer, and eggnog. Interestingly, traditional kocsonya, which has a six hundred years past, is not one of the most popular dishes. Statistics reveal that the older generations still like this jelly made of pork soup.

Traditions today

55 percent of the Hungarians buy chocolate bunnies and eggs to give as presents, 40 percent decorates their homes with catkin, 37 percent with fresh cut flowers. Also, 37 percent paints eggs, 31 percent travels to visit their relatives, and 19 percent hides chocolate for younger kids or go to the church. 13 percent keeps lent before eating meat, regardless of time.

Easter eggs paint

Older traditions

79 percent of the Hungarian women get sprinkled, 11 percent blames men for not getting sprayed, and 10 percent chooses not to get sprinkled. Data shows that refusing to follow the tradition of sprinkling is the lowest between the ages of 18 and 29. On the other hand, it is the highest among 50-59 year-olds, and people with higher qualifications or living in Budapest. Finally, women get also sprinkled by neighbours (29 percent) beside their male relatives.

sprinkling locsolás Easter Munkácsy
Mihály Munkácsy – Húsvéti locsolkodás – Photo: Wiki Commons

Tips and techniques for decorating your Easter eggs

egg tree hungary easter

Magyarvagyok.hu collected a variety of Hungarian egg decorating techniques. These are the most commonly (and traditionally) used Hungarian techniques for dying and decorating the eggs for Easter. You can decorate hard-boiled eggs (which you can eat later), or you can blow the egg out and decorate the shell only (which you can keep for a long time). 

Blowing the egg out of its shell

If you aim to keep your decorated egg for a long time, it is advised to blow the egg out and use only the shell. The egg should be washed, then holes need to be poked on each side with a strong needle. The last part is quite self-explanatory, you blow on one side and the egg comes out on the other side. Once the shell is empty, it needs to be washed carefully inside and out.

Dye your eggs with natural ingredients

Luckily, artificial dye and paint are not the only options to colour our eggs. You can find many things in your fridge or pantry which you can use to dye your eggs different colours. Let’s see what these are.

The most popular Easter egg colours are red, blue, green, yellow, orange and purple.

For the iconic red colour, infuse some water with red onion peels and then soak the boiled eggs or eggshells in the mix. For a purple colour, boil ½ litre beetroot juice and 1 tbs of vinegar. Pay attention because if you boil it too long, your eggs will have a deep red colour. Boil it for 15 minutes to get a purple colour and then soak your boiled eggs or eggshells in it. Rinse curcuma, carrots, lemon or orange peel and then soak the already boiled eggs in the mix to achieve a nice yellow colour.  Use spinach to get a nice green colour, and use red cabbage for blue. Add red paprika to some water and soak your eggs in that to get an orange colour.

Egg decorating techniques

These are the most commonly used techniques to decorate Easter eggs. These techniques are relatively easy and do not require too many special tools.

Dying your eggs is often the first step, after which you can use different techniques to create patterns on the already coloured shell. There are dyes you can purchase at stores, you usually have to pour it into the water and then soak your boiled eggs or egg shells in the mixture for a couple of hours. If you want to go for natural ingredients, see above.

Painting on the eggs is the easiest and simplest way to decorate your eggs, and this is also the technique that kids tend to enjoy the most. You just grab a paintbrush and let your creative freedom fly. Use tempera or a permanent marker to draw whatever you would like on your eggs.

The following techniques are a little bit more complex:

  • Use tin foil: Get a square-shaped tin foil, crumple it, then smooth it out. Cover the sheet with the same or with different colours of acryl paint. Put your egg in the middle of the tin foil and cover it up. Press the foil gently then open it and let the paint dry, leaving interesting patterns on your egg.
  • Berzselés: This technique is called berzselés. Get a few parsley leaves and water them. Press the leaves gently to the egg, then cover the egg up with a piece of nylon pantyhose. Boil a few red onion peels in water, then put the nylon covered eggs in the water and let it soak. When you take the eggs out, the parsley leaves will leave nice patterns on the egg shells.
Berzselés
Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org by Dirk Ingo Franke
  • Decoupage technique: You can buy pre-made pictures to put on your eggs. You need to blow the egg out of its shell, clean it with water, cover it with glue, then gently press the paper cut-out on the egg.
  • Marble eggs: Pour boiling hot water into a glass bowl and put grated crayons in it. When the crayon starts to melt, put the already boiled or blown out the egg in the mix and whirl the egg carefully in the water with a spoon. This technique will leave a nice marble-like pattern on your eggs.
  • Dotted eggs: Dye your egg a colour of your choice, then put dots or stripes of glue on it then dip it into the coloured sand.
  • Scratching: Once you have already dyed your eggs a certain colour, a knife can be used to carefully scratch the shell and create different patterns on it.
  • Use wax: You can write or draw on the egg with wax, then soak it in vinegar for a couple of hours. The vinegar will remove the egg shell’s natural colour except for the wax-covered parts. The darker your egg’s natural colour, the nicer the result.
  • Pantyhose: You can cut holes in a pantyhose, dye it and wrap it around your eggs to create strange patterns.
hungary easter
Photo: MTI

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Easter in Hungary – the origins of a holiday

easter hungary eggs

The Hungarian word for Easter is “húsvét” (“taking meat”), which originates from the fact that the first day of Easter is the closure of the 40 days of fast. In Csíkményság, the procession during Easter is often called “kikerülés” (“avoidance”), which shows similarities to the original English word for Easter: Passover.

According to Magyarvagyok.hu, Easter and its relative holidays belong to the movable feasts, as they are not related to the same date in the traditional Julian calendar. It is calculated according to the movement of the moon, so the date of Easter has been debated many times.

Pesach or the Jewish “Easter” is the basis of the European holiday; according to Israelite tradition, this was the day when the Children of Israel fled from the Egyptian slavery.  According to the Old Testament, the Egyptian households were struck by the ten plagues, but the Angel of Death avoided the Jewish houses because they were marked with lambs’ blood — that is the reason why Easter is often referred to as the “avoidance.”

good friday hungary church
Photo: MTI

A preparation period precedes Easter called fast (Nagyböjt), which commemorates Jesus’ 40-day-long fast during his journey in the desert. The official closure of the holidays related to Easter is Pentecost (Pünkösd in Hungarian).  In Latin, this whole period is called Septuagesima, as it lasts for seventy days altogether.

Easter is most importantly the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ in the Christian world.

It is both the oldest and the most important clerical holiday. The Sunday preceding Easter is Palm Sunday, the celebration of Jesus arriving at Jerusalem among a crowd waving with palm branches. Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper and Christ’s arrest, while Good Friday is the mourning of his sentence to die on the cross.  Finally, Holy Saturday is celebrated with a procession, as this day is dedicated to the prophecy coming true and Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday.

One of the most ancient — thought nowadays less known — symbols of Easter in Hungary is catkin, which has also been one of the most important herbs in traditional medicine. Hungarians thought it has mystical powers, so they often burnt it the hearth to protect the household from anything harmful.

easter lamb christian

The lamb is the iconic animal of Easter, at least among the more religious population. It has two reasons: first, as we mentioned above, the blood of lambs protected the Jews from the Ten Plagues of Egypt in the Old Testament.

In the New Testament, however, the lamb refers to Christ, who was “sacrificed” for the salvation of humanity, just as the sacrificial lambs in the old Israelite tradition.

easter rabbit eggs

For people less concerned with Christianity, the most significant iconic animal of Easter is the rabbit. It is difficult to explain its relation to the holiday, but the rabbit probably has become a symbol of Easter because of its fertility.

Rabbit is related to Easter eggs for some reason — many claiming that the coloured eggs are actually laid by rabbits — but scholars claim that this misunderstanding has its roots in German culture. In German-speaking areas, it has been a custom to give guinea fowl with its eggs as a present. Guinea fowl is Haselhuhn or simply Hasel in German, while Hase means rabbit. This might be the source of the mixing-up which spread to many placed outside the DACH countries.

Speaking of eggs: it is also closely related to Easter, mostly due to its connection to fertility.

We also eat it during Easter, but probably its colouring and decoration is the most important tradition. The most widespread colour is red, as this colour is considered to have divine or magical powers. Though special paints are already available in stores, traditional painters use the cooked peel of onion to retrieve this colour.

painted decorated egg easter
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

It has been a tradition for a long time — especially in Eastern Europe — to dye eggs with herbs and other plants, or sometimes cochineal.  Later, multicoloured eggs also appeared, as well as the ones with writings on them. The inscriptions were written with wax on the shell, which was later scratched, revealing the white letters. The writing could vary from names through messages to Christian symbols. Young maidens usually purchased the painted eggs from women who were professional egg decorators.

In Hungary, the tradition of the so-called sprinkling (locsolkodás) is closely connected to painted eggs: after sprinkling girls with perfume — or in a more traditional way with cold water from the well(!) — young men are given some of these decorated eggs. Both sprinkling and Easter eggs symbolise fertility and the sprouts of new life.

Eggs decorated with different patterns are called “hímestojás” (“fingle eggs”) in Hungary.

Young men often compete with each other about who can collect the most eggs during sprinkling “tours.” There are different regional games related to eggs in certain regions of the country. For instance, in Kecskemét, men use to duel in a way that they start hitting eggs against each other and whose egg breaks first loses the game.  Another popular custom is throwing eggs towards each other: who does not catch the egg thrown to them will not find their spouse for another year — at least according to the legend.

Eggs have also been subjects of mystical rites. Some people used them for fortune telling: they broke an egg and poured it into a glass of water and it showed what next year’s harvest would be like. In some places, maidens hid eggshell next to the house’s porch. They believed that their future husband’s profession would be the same of the first man who enters the house.

Eggs might have become the symbols of Easter mostly because the poultry usually began laying eggs at that time of the year, bringing the sign of spring and new life — a natural parallel to Christ’s resurrection.

If you found these symbols and traditions interesting, you can test what you have learned.

Easter egg, the special Hungarian tradition

easter hungary eggs

The so-called hímes tojás, which can be translated literally as decorated egg, is the heart and soul of the Hungarian Easter Holiday. It is a great Hungarian tradition to dye eggs with different bright colours either as decoration, to eat them or to give them to the young men who come to the house to water the ladies. What does the Easter egg symbolise, why is it such an important component of Easter and why do we decorate it? Magyarvagyok.hu published a long and detailed article about the Easter egg, in which all questions are answered.

An ancient symbol

The egg is most commonly known as the symbol of fertility. However, the egg also symbolises rebirth and resurrection, encompassing the past and the future. If one is aware of the ancient meaning and importance of the egg as a symbol, it is no longer strange that our ancestors, for example, placed a red egg with symbols on it in the hands of the deceased. Moreover, at Easter, the resurrection of Jesus is celebrated, and the egg is also a symbol of resurrection.

An ancient tradition

The ancient Hungarian tradition that is kept until today is the watering of young women, the so-called locsolás. The Hungarian verb locsol is similar to the English verb sprinkle (most often with water). Dipping in water is an ancient symbol of fertility. The girls are sprinkled with water and the boys, in return, get the hímes tojás, the dyed egg that symbolises reproduction and new life. Boys need to be extremely careful not to break the special egg.

Decorating the eggs

People often connect the decorated eggs with religion. However, the symbols covering the eggs go way back before Hungary was not even a Christian country. Hungarians used to put ancient signs on the eggs, representing the characteristics of ancient life in Hungary, motifs such as shepherding, nature, fertility magic, eternal life, etc. Interestingly, it is not common in Hungary to put Christian symbols on the Easter eggs.

How to decorate the eggs?

Before you start dying your eggs, you need to decide whether you want to eat them afterwards or keep them as decoration. If you would like to eat them during Easter, you need to boil them and consume as soon as you can because they cannot be kept for a long period. If you would like to keep them as decoration, you need to blow the egg out of its shell, this way you can keep it for a long time.

Either way, the first step is washing your eggs to remove the bacteria and the grease from the shell so that the paint will stick better.

If you would like to eat them, the next step is boiling them. Also, you are advised to use natural ingredients to colour your egg if it is for consumption. If you do not want to eat the eggs, you can either boil them or blow them out; it is up to you and how long you would want to keep them.

Tips for boiling: put salt or vinegar into the water (even if their shell cracks, the eggs won’t come out), place the eggs in the cold water (!), boil them for 10 minutes, then immediately cool the eggs for easier shell removal.

You can use hot or cold dye, the hot one creates a stronger colour, but the cold one is advised if you want to eat the eggs. You can soak the eggs for as long as a whole day to achieve the prettiest colour.

If you are interested in what Hungarians usually eat at Easter besides boiled eggs, click here.

What do Hungarians eat at Easter?

easter húsvét

The Easter Holiday is just around the corner, so it is just the time to talk about our favourite Easter dishes. Magyarorszagom.hu collected the most popular dishes that Hungarians usually go for this time of the year. These cannot be missed from the traditional Hungarian Easter breakfast table.

Easter Ham

The Hungarian cuisine is very heavily meat-based, and the Easter menu reflects that. The main dish in the middle of the family table is always the Easter ham. Ham is the meat cut from the thigh of the pork which is most often salted or smoked. There is no Easter without ham.

What do we eat the ham with?

Horseradish

I would bet that the majority of Hungarians never eat horseradish except at Easter. This is the time of the year when supermarkets and shops sell their horseradish supply for a year. You have to go and get yours very soon because there is no way that there is any left a day before Easter.

Eggs, eggs, eggs

The egg has become the symbol of Easter, there are traditional Easter egg hunts for children, and painting eggs is a special activity that Hungarians, especially kids enjoy. Apart from all of these, eggs are fundamental components of the Eastern meal. Boiled eggs often accompany the Easter ham on the table.

Easter cake

Something must accompany the Easter ham and the boiled eggs, and that something is the Easter cake. It is a particular kind of bread, as it has a unique form, it is baked in a braided shape. It is relatively easy to make; you only need some sugar, milk, yeast, flour, eggs, salt and butter. If you would like to make the special Easter cake, here is a good recipe.

All of these, the ham and the eggs are pretty heavy meals. Therefore, the Easter table is often covered in various spring vegetables to accompany the other food groups (the meat and the carbohydrates). You will most likely find tomatoes, paprika, radish and spring onions next to the boiled eggs.

The Easter meal is what Hungarians often call a cold meal because nothing is really fresh and hot when you eat it. The ham and the eggs are often cold by the time the family sits down to eat, but it is perfect just the way it is.

Spring Fair opened at Vörösmarty Square, Budapest

Spring Fair at Vörösmarty Square, Budapest

The Spring Fair awaits handmade folkloric craft aficionados in Vörösmarty Square for one month around the Easter holidays. Visitors will be sure to find delightful treasures as they browse among the wooden huts of vendors selling gift items, clothing and accessories in modern styles but which also respect age-old traditions.

In addition to traditional products, there are also updated versions of folk art objects and creations from various designers. But even if you don’t plan on shopping, as the festival aims to provide high-quality entertainment to the residents of Budapest and visitors to the capital alike with cultural events, arts and crafts presentations, folk music and folk dance shows.

Besides musical performances, visitors can catch a glimpse into the work of traditional craftspeople, with demonstrations by basket-weavers, potters and blacksmiths.

These interactive, family-oriented presentations of folk traditions will change every week: there will be opportunities to try felting, beading and glassblowing, as well as making jewellery, musical instruments or cheese. If you find that the bustle of the market is making you peckish, a wide variety of culinary treats await!

Spring Fair at Vörösmarty Square
Spring Fair at Vörösmarty Square, Budapest

The fair’s food stands mostly feature mouthwatering roasts and traditional dishes, but those with a sweet tooth will also find plenty to choose from among the artisanal marzipan and chocolates, as well as the perennial favourite of Hungarian fairs, kürtőskalács, or spike or chimney cakes, baked onsite over an open fire.

Address: Vörösmarty Square Budapest, 1051

 

Photo: MTI

Here are the national holidays in Hungary: six workdays on Saturday, nine long weekends in 2018

Next year, six Saturdays will be workdays according to the decree of 2018 about national holidays which was published in Magyar Közlöny on Friday. However, there will be nine long weekends due to workday replacements, according to ProfitOnline.

According to the decree, next year’s working schedule will change, because people must work on 10th March, 21st April, 13rd October, 10th November, 1st December and 15th December, which are all Saturdays.

On the other hand, 16th March, which is the Friday following the national holiday, will be a rest day, 30th April right before the International May Day, 22nd October before the Memorial Day of the Revolution of 1956 (a Monday), the day after All Saints Day 2nd November (a Friday), and the Mondays of 24th and 31st December will also be days off.

Moreover, 20th August also falls on a Monday, just like Easter and Pentecost Mondays (2nd April, 21st May), so employees can expect nine long weekends altogether. 1st January also falls on a Monday in 2018.

The decree affects the schedule of all employers and their employees except the nonstop workplaces and those that operate on holidays as well.

Ce: bm

Hungarian Easter celebrations – PHOTOS

Hungarians have great traditions during Easter festivities, and you can relive it by taking a look at these amazing photos:

Reformed church in Budapest, photo: MTI
Reformed church in Budapest, photo: MTI
Midnight Pascha Vigil for Easter held at St. Stephen’s Basilica, photo: MTI
Midnight Pascha Vigil for Easter held at St. Stephen’s Basilica, photo: MTI Lutheran church in Budapest, photo: MTI
Lutheran church in Budapest, photo: MTI
Debrecen – This year Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrated Easter, or Pascha, on the same day as Western Christians for the first time since 2014.
Hungarian tradition in Csallóközcsütörtök, Slovakia, photo: MTI
Easter eggs in Szeklerland, photo: MTI
Easter eggs in Szeklerland, photo: MTI
Easter eggs in Szeklerland, photo: MTI
Easter eggs in Szeklerland, photo: MTI
Skanzen in Szentendre, photo: MTI
Csíkszereda, Szeklerland – Sanctification of Food, photo: MTI
Csíkszereda, Szeklerland – Sanctification of Food, photo: MTI
Csíkmindszent, Szeklerland – Easter Monday, photo: MTI
Csíkmindszent, Szeklerland – Easter Monday, photo: MTI
Csíkmindszent, Szeklerland – Easter Monday, photo: MTI
Mezõkövesd, Hungary – Traditional Easter, photo: MTI
Mezõkövesd, Hungary – Traditional Easter, photo: MTI
Mezõkövesd, Hungary – Traditional Easter, photo: MTI
Mezõkövesd, Hungary – Traditional Easter, photo: MTI

How Hungarians celebrated Easter back in the day

Skanzen in Szentendre, photo: MTI
Rákospalota (Budapest) – Easter Monday, photo: MTI
Photo: MTI

Photo: MTI

Orbán’s Easter message: Migration in focus of conflicts

Budapest (MTI) – Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said that migration stands in the focal point of current conflicts, adding that if the security of Hungarian people is at stake, there is no room for compromise.

“What is going on in Hungary is a dress rehearsal for next year’s election campaign. This is what stirred up still water and filled Easter Week with uproar,” Orbán told Vasárnapi Ujsag, a Sunday morning programme of public Kossuth Radio, referring to a series of demonstrations over the past few days.

The prime minister called it completely understandable that US billionaire George Soros’s “international and domestic networks” are protesting against the recent amendment to the higher education law. It is still to be understood, however, why Hungarian academics, scholars and professors take a stand for Soros keeping his privileges instead of other universities in Hungary getting the same rights as the Central European University enjoys, he said.

Orbán called the protests “a peripheral theatre of war” of a crucial conflict, which concerns the ethnic mix of Europe.

The Hungarian branches of international NGO networks conceive Europe as a continent letting in foreign ethnicities from other parts of Europe, he said.

An unimpeded immigration of those aspiring for a European standard of living would carry a risk of terrorism and deteriorating public security, and imply the emergence of parallel Muslim and Christian societies in the European countries.

Orbán said “Soros’s network” is angry with Hungary because it has halted the wave of migrants which they had proven in theory to be unstoppable.

Asked about when the conflict will escalate, Orbán said that the European Union wanted to close the dispute by June through the approval of new immigration rules that are mandatory for all.

“Some of us are still resisting,” he said, mentioning the Visegrad Four and Romania as countries determined to preserve Europe’s Christian identity.

“A crucial clash is in the offing,” Orbán said, referring to the European parliamentary debate over Hungary scheduled for late April, and the next two EU summit meetings designed to bring the issue of immigration to a head.

Orbán admitted that Soros had had some merits in Hungary’s transition to democracy in the late 1980s, including support for many young anti-communists, civil organisations and samizdats.

The prime minister said he could put up with Soros’s financial moves, including speculation against the Hungarian forint and “an attempt to take over OTP”.

Orbán said he could even tolerate the existence of the CEU which he said was training liberal activists for the southern Slav and central European countries.

“What has really triggered the fuse is the Soros empire’s decision to support migration,” the prime minister said. As migration is connected with the safety of Hungarian people, border defence, public security and terrorism, “there is no room for compromise,” he said.

Photo: MTI

How Hungarians celebrated Easter back in the day

Did you know that “you could even smell the violets of Gellért Mountain in the city” 120 years ago? And that “the bells of Pest and Buda sounded differently in springtime”? Index.hu cites the thoughts of Gyula Krúdy, a famous Hungarian writer, who – among others – wrote about the springs and Easters at the turn of the century. Let’s recall how Hungarians celebrated Easter back in the day 🙂

As the saying goes, so many countries, so many customs. This is also true for different regions, eras, but traditions even differ by families. Especially in the case of Easter. We have previously shared articles about Easter traditions in Hungary, and also the important role superstitions play in the festivities. But for now, we want to take you on a little journey in time with quotes from Gyula Krúdy and newspapers that illustrate how Hungarians used to celebrate Easter.

“For a few weeks, the shop-windows of confectioneries have been showing that this is the joyful celebration of red eggs, but the red eggs of Budapest are only reminiscent of the real, countryside eggs, in their shape. No lady boiled them and painted them red, they are not even decorated with strange shapes, and they have nothing to do with hens. They were made in the factory, from sugar, silk paper and painted wood. Some of them have small windows, with hens, and their chicks inside, while others can be opened, and a baby or a bunny smiles at you from the inside. A cavalier flatters his female acquaintances with decorated eggs, parents buy less decorated ones for their children, but the joy it gives them is probably the greatest and the most sincere.” (Vasárnapi Ujság, 1903)

The Grand Boulevard used to be the heaven of these “panorama eggs”. A row of confectioneries sold sugar eggs and their rival: sugar sheep. A good egg was also able to reflect world politics. For instance, in 1939, not long before the outbreak of WWII, a tiny warship and a bomb-dropper was hidden inside the eggs.

Postcard from 1950 (Zempléni Múzeum)

“The habit of sprinkling women is not as widespread in Pest as it is in the countryside, but the trade of pharmacies always increases before Heaving Monday, because the cavaliers and fops of Pest went to fill up their small bottles with cologne rose water.”

There was a more playsome way of sprinkling, with which young ladies came up: they made the gentlemen smell an object that looked like a bouquet, but it was actually a spray, which poured water all over their face. It might be incredible, but some factories already produced creations like this in the 1870s.

“Do you, dear reader, remember the trend in Pest, when everyone put on new clothes for Easter? Even though the city wasn’t receptive to superstitions and people only stuck to traditions that were pleasant, enjoyable and affordable to them, like Easter ham and sprinkling, no one gave up new clothes for the feast. Anyone who wanted to look like a decent person bought new clothes for Easter.” (Gyula Krúdy: The last chime)

Postcard from 1910

Some people took this so seriously that others complained that the processions of resurrection around the churches of Pest were basically the fashion shows of women, who wanted to show off their new clothes.

At Easter-time, all restaurants and cafés of the City Park and the Margaret Island put out fences painted green, metal tables and chairs, even if the weather didn’t look like it was spring. On the Gellért Mountain, carnival people and gingerbread-makers mounted tents when Easter came.

This was also when people went on excursions to nearby forests, but some people went even further.

According to an 1892 issue of Budapesti Hírlap, around Easter “all fathers turned into simple vehicles”, because it was time for them to take the kids on excursions. “Sunday family men are the most patient vehicles, because even horse are trained to signal when they are full overloaded, but this is not something that Sunday family men can do.”

“In the city centre, spring fever mostly manifested in men thinking about how they could steal some money for the Easter trip. It was like the whole city wanted to leave Pest around Easter. Local citizens, who claim to make money by sitting in cafés every day and live off of the garbage of card-tables in the winter, come up with a plan that is honoured with prison by the court: before Easter they run around with banknotes to buy train tickets.” (Gyula Krúdy)

People’s traveling desire was supported by the Budapest Ticket Office which organised special trips with the destination of Fiume. According to Sunday Journal, “they took excursionists there and back, catered for them for 36 forints. 260 people took part in the trip to Fiume” in 1886.

To finish the recollection and get you in the mood for the holiday, we’d like to share Sándor Márai’s thoughts on celebrations and festivities:

“Get yourself clean on the inside and the outside as well. Forget the tasks of everyday life. Celebrations are not only written with red letters in the calendar. Look at our ancestors and how reverently, unconditionally and joyfully they celebrated! Celebration is unlikeliness. Celebration is deep and magical irregularity. Let the celebration be celebratory. Let it be filled with dance, flowers, young ladies, delicious food and beverages that warm the heart. And most importantly, let it have something from the old traditions, the seventh day, interruption, total relaxation and let it be reverent and unconditional. Celebration is the class of life, its higher sense. Get ready for it in your body and soul.” (Excerpt from Sándor Márai’s Herbario)

Photos: www.facebook.com/ZempléniMúzeum, Húsvét

Featured image: Wiki Commons by By Jellinek – Pruzsina Rózsa 

Ce: bm

Quiz – Easter in Hungary

So many countries, so many customs – we all have different traditions when it comes to celebrations, festivities. This is especially true in the case of Easter, which is one of the most important celebrations in Christian countries. Nowadays it is mostly connected to bunnies and chocolate eggs, but the roots of Hungarian Easter traditions go way back in time. Are you familiar with how we celebrate Easter? 🙂

Cardinal Erdő sends Easter message

Budapest (MTI) – “We see the cross as a sign of hope rather than a symbol of death,” Cardinal Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest said.

“Suffering in itself is not a message but if it is an expression of love for God and our fellow human beings, it is indeed a reason for us to rejoice,” the head of Hungary’s Catholic Church, said in an interview to daily Magyar Hirlap published on Saturday.

“This is a very strong message for modern man: physical inconvenience, exhaustion or even pain are not the worst evils in this world, and we must remember that man does not live for momentary wellbeing alone but has an eternal mission. Thus, we need to see the moments of our life as part of a broader context,” the cardinal said.

Péter Erdő also talked about how man must be addressed in a different ways in different times. “Today we live in an audiovisual age, which has an impact on people: they find it more difficult to think in an abstract way or read long texts. Instead, we like to communicate with strong symbols. However, this is not alien to Christianity at all as the spread of faith was helped by the strength of symbols in the very beginning,” the cardinal said.

Cardinal Erdő also talked about the persecution of Christians today. “In many places, this takes a really brutal shape and it is important that we, Christians, are a single body, and none of the parts can be wounded without causing harm to the whole entity,” he said. “We only have our modest human means to help but we must do what we can,” he added.

Photo: MTI

Enjoy a traditional Hungarian Easter atmospher: Hollókő Easter Festival

Hollókő, the venue hosting the event has been a World Heritage Site since 1987. The village, built in the 17th -18th century, was the first in the world to receive the title as a village due to the unique preservation of the traditional settlement form, traditional architecture and village life before the 20th century’s agricultural revolution in its original state.

Hollókő developed in a gentle and harmonious symbiosis with nature and hasn’t turned into an open-air museum village: it is a living, inhabited village until this day with certain buildings used by the local residents according to their traditional use.

Furthermore the World Heritage Site protection also includes the medieval castle appearing above the village and the entire surrounding nature conservation area.

 

The Hollókő Easter Festival has been attracting Hungarian and international visitors alike to the World Heritage village for over 20 years. The event recalls the Palócz Easter traditions presenting traditional folk groups, folk musicians, folk dancers, folk singers and folk craftsmen. The religious festivities played a distinguished role in the traditional community of Hollókő, which was complemented by the system of traditions and the rich world of legends and beliefs of the local residents.

The Hollókő Easter Festival is the first event organised in the spring, which besides sacral traditions presents, passes on to the future generations and keeps on going the Palócz folk traditions in the only World Heritage site village of Hungary. Taking the popularity of the event extended in time and space and turned into a three-day series of programmes, the event is complemented with elements, which are closely linked to the mystery of Easter, however at the same time offer a novel experience to the visitors. The spraying of women with well water has always been inevitable part of Easter, which tradition has been kept alive until this day by the event.

The Hungarian ice bucket challenge

In 2017 the Hollókő Easter Festival will be a three-day event (15-17th April 2017). By the purchase of the central ticket all museums, exhibition venues of the village and also the castle can be visited (without any extra charges) every day, including also parking. Saturday will be organised in the spirit of gastronomy, as the Easter ham will be prepared also on this day. Our event is also planning to serve as a venue for famous gastronomic events of the Palócz land making our event more colourful and providing an opportunity for them to present their delicacies to a wider audience and to promote their summer events.

On Saturday, after the resurrection mass the internationally well-known violin artist, LAJKÓ FÉLIX concert will entertain the guests. On Easter Sunday and Easter Monday the program are starting with the morning Easter mass and on Sunday with the procession and it continues within the entire area of the Old Village. Here locals dressed in traditional folk costumes with folk dancers will fill up the streets of the village. They will spray passing by visitors with water and will present their Easter traditions. Palóc and local folk dancers and various concerts (Esszencia, Bazseva, Kerekes Band, Ferenczi György&Rackajam, Dűvő) will be presented on the open-air stage making the event even more colourful.

Further information: www.facebook.com/IloveHolloko

Primavera and Easter at the Hungarian State Opera

With the coming of spring, for the fifth time, the Erkel Theatre presents the panorama of premieres from Hungarian opera companies between 4 and 9 April at the Primavera ‘17 Festival. Afterwards, performances at both venues of the Hungarian State Opera are dedicated to the Easter celebrations with works by Bach, Mascagni and Wagner.

It is the obligation of the Hungarian State Opera House, by virtue of its rank and status as a national institution, to support the performance of opera around the country. It was this recognition that in 2013 gave rise to the week-long Primavera series, in which each of the companies from Hungary and abroad that are invited to participate will feature their latest pieces at the Erkel Theatre every spring. The festival begins on 4 April with Mozart’s Don Giovanni in the production of the Cluj-Napoca Hungarian Opera directed and conducted by György Selmeczi. Fans of Verdi can enjoy three new productions: La traviata (Győr National Theatre, 5 April), Il trovatore (Szeged National Theatre, 6 April) and Macbeth (Pécs National Theatre, 9 April). The Csokonai Theatre, Debrecen presents the most important Hungarian national opera, Bánk bán by Erkel on 7 April. The Miskolc National Theatre presents Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländeron 8 April in the production of acclaimed director Máté Szabó, who has also staged several successful productions for the Hungarian State Opera.

The Easter celebrations are accompanied by productions that are closely associated with the festive season. The Saint Matthew Passion is Bach’s greatest work, one which constitutes an unsurpassable pinnacle not only of Protestant church music, but in the universal history of music. In 2013, the Opera performed the Mendelssohn version – for the first time in Hungary – and in a similarly pioneering manner provided a visual dimension for the enjoyment of its audiences. The background video displayed throughout the musical work was created by Oscar nominated animated film director Géza M. Tóth, who is also repsonsible for the new Ring productions of the Opera. Bach’s masterpiece can be seen on 13 and 15 April.

Richard Wagner’s Bühnenweihfestspiel has been in the focus of the Holy Week for decades. The traditional production of Parsifal by András Mikó features the most renowned Hungarian singers: István Kovácsházi in the title role, Gábor Bretz as Gurnemanz and Judit Németh as Kundry. They are joined by guest star Pavlo Hunka in the double roles of Amfortas and Klingsor on Good Friday and Easter Monday at the Opera House.

“Easter Showdown Motivated By Jealousy!” “Clown Commits Murder On Stage!” These are two headlines that might have graced Edoardo Sonzogno’s front pages, and it is the Milanese newspaper publisher and his annual opera-writing competition we have to thank for Italy’s two most popular one-act works, Cavalleria rusticana by Mascagni and Pagliacci by Leoncavallo. The production staged by Georges Delnon in 2014 returns to the repertoire on 13, 15 and 17 April at the Erkel Theatre.

Those who have seen Mascagni’s famous one-act Cavalleria rusticana will never forget the Easter Hymn. The tragic story taking place at Easter is a perfect match for Messa di Gloria, which exudes the euphoria of resurrection, but which is above all a Southern Italian mass of innocent faith. The artists of the Hungarian State Opera (including soloists Ildikó Komlósi, Judit Németh and Boldizsár László) will be preparing for the Easter Sunday event with a concert performance with a unique atmosphere. It is also of no little relevance that Mascagni himself rehearsed and conducted his opera in Budapest, and as rumour has it, its success here ignited it like a rocket on its way to becoming a worldwide sensation.

Bill to make Good Friday public holiday submitted to parliament

Budapest (MTI) – Ruling party lawmakers on Friday submitted a bill to parliament to make Good Friday a public holiday in Hungary.

Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén of the co-ruling Christian Democrats, Human Resources Minister Zoltán Balog and Economy Minister Mihály Varga, both of ruling Fidesz, filed a proposal to amend five laws and add Good Friday to the list of no-work days.

After the law enters force, Hungary will have the following work-free days: January 1, March 15, Good Friday, Easter Monday, May 1, Whit Monday, August 20, October 23, November 1 and December 25-26.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced at the 1956 memorial meeting of the synod of Hungarian Reformed Churches on October 14 that Good Friday is to be declared a public holiday in Hungary. Orbán said next year’s 500th anniversary of the start of the Protestant Reformation in Europe would be the right time to help believers celebrate Good Friday by declaring it a work-free day.

Here’s how people spent Easter in Hungary – Photo gallery

Although Easter is already gone, you can relive it by taking a look at these amazing photos. This is how people in Hungary, and in several Hungarian speaking area, celebrated Easter!

Photos: MTI 

Copy editor: bm

The people of New Zealand are eating Hungarian chocolate

The Diósgyőr factory of Nestlé is exporting chocolate figures to New Zealand, and many of them are Easter themed, hvg.hu writes.

Among all the factories the Nestlé group of companies own the Diósgyőr one is the only one which sells its products outside of Hungary as well and exports to 23 countries, most recently to New Zealand. The company has prepared for Easter, and exported chocolate bunnies, chocolate chicks, and other chocolate figures.

The factory has more than 600 employees and produced 4000 tons of chocolate figures (almost 67 million pieces) in the past year, and besides Brazil, Ecuador, and Japan, the United States also showed serious interest in the chocolate products this year.

According to the data of Nestlé Hungária Ltd. that are available to the public the company had a net 117,9 billion HUF revenue in the 2014 business year, which is 8 billion HUF more than it was in the preceding year. The company paid 2,55 billion HUF for taxes in total in 2014, which is almost 831 million HUF more than in 2013.

Nestlé is the world’s biggest holding company in the food industry, and they announced in the February of 2016 that the amount of tax they paid in 2015 has decreased to 9,07 billion CHF from 14,46 billion CHF paid in 2014. Nestlé has raised its dividend to 2,25 CHF/shares from 2,20 CHF/shares. The company is present in Hungary under the name Nestlé Hungária Ltd.

Copy editor: bm