A smell, an interesting hybrid of sausages and straw, wafted my way as I entered City Park last weekend. No longer was the ice rink the place to be as the Mangalica Festival was in town; a dedication to Hungary’s most famous (and most tasty) pig.
Now this curly-haired hog, the Mangalica (that’s Mong-a-lit-sa), descended directly from wild boar and is now bred primarily in Hungary and the Balkans. Translated literally their name means “hog with a lot of lard”, which is strange as there is a popular belief that the meat is lower in saturated fat than other pork (though I doubt this).
As you’ve probably guessed, the Mangalica Festival was a celebration of this woolly hog and was an opportunity for the Hungarians to showcase their traditional and mostly handmade products in the surrounding market stalls. Wicker seemed to be a common theme, and my friend who was visiting Budapest for the first time, decided that she must take a basket back to England as it was “so Hungarian.” First I’d heard about it.
Anyway, edibles are far more my thing so I was pretty chuffed to see the array of exquisite handmade sweets on offer as well as a Töki Pompos stand and a constant flow of mulled wine. But we hadn’t even ventured inside the Vajdahunyad Castle walls yet.
Inside, the celebration was already in full swing, with Hungarian celebrity types entertaining the crowd on the main stage. After just a couple of minutes, I had seen the first pig, rotating on a skewer with an apple in its mouth, which was nevertheless appealing-looking. In fact the place was heaving with culinary temptations: blood sausages sizzling in fat, cured hams hanging from the roofs of stalls, pork steaks browning on griddles. And then suddenly, I was brought back down to earth. One or the organizers, clad in medieval dress no less (as were most of the exhibitors), walked by pushing a wheelbarrow filled with straw. But there wasn’t just straw in there; nestled in the center lay a tiny black and furry Mangalica piglet. I went weak at the knees as did my boyfriend and our companions from back home.
Funnily enough, after that I decided not to sample any of the meats on offer, although those who presumably hadn’t seen the piglet, happily munched away at the rustic dining area outside. Instead, I ventured over to the series of pig pens. In each one, there were at least four Mangalicas, ginger, black or white rooting around in the straw, snorting, cavorting, snuffling…doing whatever it is pigs do. They really were quite something.
After a few hours at the festival, which was free by the way, I left from another entrance and watched as kids got pony rides and others played on old-fashioned (that is, hand-operated) fairground rides. Budapest, hosts a lot of festivals but this one will certainly stick in my mind: back home I even caught my boyfriend googling “buying a piglet”. But we’ve eaten pork since, so I think everything is going to be OK, that we will continue to live pig-free and that the festival will repeat itself annually, allowing ourselves to marvel at the adorable Mangalica once again.
Joanna Singleton