Midsummer Night at Ópusztaszer Heritage Park

Ópusztaszer, June 19, 2010 — Celebrated in many cultures as the longest day of the year, Midsummer Night is called St. John’s Night in Hungary, after John the Baptist. Traditionally, this is the night when fires are ceremonially lit, and lads and girls jump over the flames for good health and love.

Enjoyment and celebration starts during the day at Ópusztaszer Heritage Park, and will last way into the night on June 19, 2010.

Program sampler:

Afternoon events

• International folk dances on the stage of the Open Air Museum, with the participation of Bulgarian, Czech, Romanian, Turkish and Hungarian performers
• Arts & crafts workshops
• The Szeged slippers – craft demonstration
• Short plays

In the evening

• The Open Air Museum at the light of oil lamps
• 7.00: Folk music concert
• Lighting of the bonfire
• 8.00 PM: historic class at the Interwar Period country schoolhouse
• 9.30 PM: Dance House /táncház/
• 10.00 PM: slide show at the country schoolhouse
• 12.00 midnight: bonfire jumping

Special “Feszty and His Age” guided tours at 6.30 PM and 9.30 PM

Historic General Store open till 11.00 PM.

Time: Saturday, June 19, 2010.

Evening passes:

• Entrance fee from 6.00 PM (Feszty-panorama not included): 896 HUF
• Entrance fee from 6.00 PM + “Feszty and His Age” guided tour (at 6.30 PM or 9.30 PM): 1250 HUF
• Guests arriving during the day need not purchase a separate evening pass.

For daytime admission prices and further information, visit the Heritage Park’s website at http://www.opusztaszer.hu/ or dial +36 62 275 133.

Address: H-6767 Ópusztaszer, Szoborkert 68.

Access: Between Budapest and Szeged on the M5 highway, less than 2-hours south of Budapest (10 km from the Kistelek exit).

Hungarian Pancake with Elderflower

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups Flour
• 2 1/2 cups Milk
• 7 oz Water or Carbonated Water
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Sugar
• Ca. 10 bigger Elder Flower
• Oil or Butter to grease

Preparation time: 3 hours

Difficulty: ☺☺

Preparation:

Wash the flowers or blossoms of the elder tree (Sambucus nigra), and strip them from the stalks.

In a large bowl, mix flour, salt and sugar. Combine well beaten eggs and milk. Add egg and milk gradually to flour mixture, beating to a thin smooth batter. Add the blossoms to the dough, stir in carefully.

Let batter sit for at least 1 hour.
Coat about an 8 ” pan with oil or butter. Ladle in just enough batter to cover bottom evenly. Brown lightly on both sides, and set aside. Continue this until batter is used up.
Keep the ready pancakes in warm oven.

Best with Elder Berry Syrup, or spread the pancakes with Elder Berry jam, or any kind of jam, too.

Hint:

• Avoid small bugs when picking the flowers.
• Only the blossomed flowers are good, easier to strip them from the stalks.
• Use hand mixer to get a smooth batter.
• The pancakes will be a bit thicker as usual, because of the flowers.

Enjoy!

Ópusztaszer, May 24, 2010 – A main holiday of Christianity, Pentecost is also a celebration that marks the culmination of spring, and welcomes summer. The second day of Pentecost (or Whit Monday) is a public holiday in Hungary, and in commemoration of spring, it is a festive time for young and old. The exotic sound of the bagpipe will set the tone to the holiday preparations on Saturday, and by Sunday women from Szegvár will arrive, to share the secret of the perfect wedding Milk Loaf.

Pentecost is, as the name denotes (Greek: pentēkostē), the fiftieth day of Easter, the celebration of a major event in the history of salvation, the descent of the Holy Spirit. Another name for Pentecost in English is Whitsunday or White Sunday, in reference to the white garments worn by the candidates for baptism on this feast. In the Szeged region, folk traditions linked to this holiday included taking a bath in the Tisza river on Pentecost Saturday. It was believed that if the cleansing occurred at daybreak, it would keep the bather safe of all illnesses.

At the dawn of red Pentecost, people would decorate their homes with greenery (bodzázás) – elder and willow branches – and would place a peony (pünködi rózsa) wreath on the entrance. Houses adorned in this manner were believed to be safe from the Wrath of God (lightning).

Children’s Pentecost Procession at Ópusztaszer Heritage Park

One of the most heart-warming moments of the Pentecost celebration was the children’s Pentecost Procession (pünkösdölés), in which the Pentecost Queen and her attendants, dressed in festive attire would walk from house to house, dancing and singing. This and other traditions will come alive on May 24, 2010 in the Open Air Museum of Ópusztaszer Heritage Park.

Program of events:

• 10.30: Decoration of the Skansen homes with greenery and flowers
• 11.00: Musical event promotion
• 11.30: Children’s Pentecost Procession
• 11.45: Outdoor dancing performed by the Scottish Country Dance Community
• 12.30: Choosing of a Pentecost King
• 13.30 Two legends (Két legenda), play about the Resurrection, performed by Impro Stúdió
• 14.30 Horseback archery demonstration at the Nomadic Park (separate entrance fee)
• 15.00 Visitor contests: strongest man (erős embör), most hard-working woman (dógos asszony), most skillful kid (ügyes gyerök)
• 15.45 „Uncle Steve’s Tales” („Pista bácsi” mesél)
• 16.00 Folk dance performance by Fonó Néptáncegyüttes

Folk music, family fun and merriment, crafts fair, and food and drinks round out the day.

Time: Monday, May 24, 2010. Gates open from 9 am to 6 pm.

For admission prices and further information, visit the Heritage Park’s website at http://www.opusztaszer.hu/ or dial +36 62 275 133.

Address: H-6767 Ópusztaszer, Szoborkert 68.

Access: Between Budapest and Szeged on the M5 highway, less than 2-hours south of Budapest (10 km from the Kistelek exit).

Recruitment Drive for Hungarian Highwaymen

Ópusztaszer Heritage Park announces its annual “outlaw recruitment”, organized in memory of Sándor Rózsa, the legendary Hungarian highwayman. Participants at the event may experience the fight between gendarmes and outlaws, may harden on bandits’ contests, or even become victims of looting….

Visitors get a chance to discover the ancient lifestyle of the plainsmen from authentic stories of herdsmen, as well as get hands-on experience and learn certain tricks of the trade. Craftsmen present the knacks of horseshoeing, traditional Hungarian cloak cutting and leather processing, while fair comedians amuse children and adults alike.

Wining and dining, merry-making, and a beautiful innkeeper’s wife invite the thirsty lads to the inn. And finally, the tournament on horseback will determine who’s the most skilled highwayman, who will take home the main award for the second time: a replica of the pig-foot weapon of the “Robber King”, Sándor Rózsa.

Gates open from 9 am to 6 pm. For admission prices and further information, visit the Heritage Park’s website at http://www.opusztaszer.hu/ or dial +36 62 275 133.

Address: H-6767 Ópusztaszer, Szoborkert 68.

Access: Between Budapest and Szeged on the M5 highway, less than 2-hours south of Budapest (10 km from the Kistelek exit).

Source: opusztaszer.hu

Horse shoeing

On April 4 and 5, 2010, Ópusztaszer Heritage Park’s Open Air Museum will be home for a traditional Hungarian Easter celebration, featuring such classics as blessing of customary Easter dishes, Easter egg decoration, and the ever popular “Dousing Monday”. The name “Dousing Monday” (vízbevető hétfő) comes from the old custom of young men going around the village and drenching the girls with buckets of water freshly drawn from the well. Chances are that visitors to the park will be able to capture that on their cameras, or even experience it themselves.

Plays, puppet shows, folk music and dance round out the day; and those not quite ready for spring break may even sit in for a class in the reconstructed country schoolhouse from the Interwar Period.

The Easter celebration at Ópusztaszer Heritage Park offers a relaxed, fun, and friendly spring getaway for the whole family. Gates open from 9 am to 6 pm. For admission prices and further information, visit the Heritage Park’s website at http://www.opusztaszer.hu/ or dial +36 62 275 133.

Address: H-6767 Ópusztaszer, Szoborkert 68.

Access: Between Budapest and Szeged on the M5 highway, less than 2-hours south of Budapest (10 km from the Kistelek exit).

Goulash

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 300 g beef chuck (stew meat, or shank meat)
• 3 medium size carrots (sliced)
• 2 medium size parsnips (sliced)
• 4-5 medium size potatoes (diced)
• 1 large onion (chopped)
• 1-2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
• Salt to taste
• 1 ½ tablespoons Hungarian paprika (made in Kalocsa or Szeged)
• 1 bell pepper (chopped)
• 2-3 large tomatoes or 1 (28 oz.) can tomatoes, crushed by hand
• 1/2 tsp. caraway seeds
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil or 300 g lard
• 1.5-2 liter water

Preparation time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Difficulty: ☺☺

Directions:

Cut meat to 1 inch pieces and set aside.
Heat the lard or oil in a heavy bottom saucepan. Add the onions and sauté until translucent. remove pan from fire, add Hungarian paprika and the meat, stir together and season with salt.
Add caraway seeds, the pepper, tomatoes, garlic, and the bay leaf, fill with 1,5-2 liter water, stir all together, cover and let cook on a low fire, adding more water as needed.
Adjust fire so the goulash simmers very gently, and let cook, stirring occasionally, until meat is tender.
When meat is almost done, remove the bay leaf, and add the sliced carrots, parsnips, and diced potatoes, and cook until tender. While the goulash is cooking, taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.

Hint:

• It is important to remember when using paprika that it has a high sugar content and burns easily. Add it only when liquid ingredients are present, and do not cook it over high heat for too long.

Enjoy!

French Toast in Hungarian way

Ingredients for about 4 servings:

• 8 slices of bread
• 4-5 eggs
• salt
• oil for frying

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Difficulty: ☺

Preparation:
Heat the oil in a frying pan. In a bigger bowl, or plate mix well the eggs and salt. Add the bread and soak, and then fry the saturated bread until it is golden brown on each side. Set breads on a paper towel to remove excess oil.
Serve with hot tea.

Hint:

• Use older bread instead of fresh bread.
• Always wash the eggs before using them.
• Fry carefully, so that the bread will not have raw eggs inside.
• Add 1 or 2 more eggs if necessary. Don’t forget to salt it.
• Add a little milk instead of eggs.
• Too hot oil will burn the bread outside, and leave it raw inside. If the oil is not hot enough, the bread will soak it up, and it will be too greasy. (In my grandmother’s time, people used to fry the bread only in fat, without the eggs, so it was very-very greasy. I don’t think anyone could eat something like that nowadays.)
• Leave the salt, and add sugar when you serve them.

Enjoy!

Borlovagok felvonulása

St. Vincent’s feast day is January 22, and traditionally it is celebrated on the closest Saturday to this date. We invite all wine lovers and friends to join hundreds of enthusiasts at this first fete in the year 2010 at Ópusztaszer National Memorial Park.

Tentative schedule:

11:30 Meeting at the main entrance; introduction of the wine orders

12:00-15:00:

• Procession to the Árpád Memorial;
• Welcoming new vignerons/members in the Confrerie;
• Cutting of the Vincent-vine;
• Introduction of wineries, and wine-tasting.
  

  Élő népzenés felvonulás

Background

Although Ópusztaszer is not part of a viticultural region at present, in the Middle Ages it may have belonged to one of the significant wine producing areas, for archeological findings revealed one of the largest wine cellars of the Great Plains among the utility buildings of the Medieval Monastery that stood here.

Local folklore maintains various practices to predict next year’s wine crop on Saint Vincent’s day. According to weather lore, mild temperature and melting snow on St. Vincent’s day, means abundant crops: Ha megcsordul Vince, tele lesz a pince (approximately: A moist St. Vincent’s day fills the cellar.)

In the National Memorial Park at Ópusztaszer prediction of the crop occurs with the cutting of a „Vincent vine”. If the tiny buds on it are intact, this is a sign that the vine has fared well through most of the winter, it did not freeze; there is hope for a merry harvest. The twig is later placed in water, the buds swell and break, and the number of shoots that appear will give more clues about the status of the vine.

A Borrend új tagjainak felavatása

The St. Vincent-day celebration at the National Memorial Park traditionally begins at noon, at the main entrance. Under the leadership of the Saint Vincent Chevaliers, the Hungarian wine orders walk in procession to the Árpád Memorial where the Chevaliers welcome new vignerons/members in the Confrerie in a colorful ceremonial. Cutting of the Vincent-vine occurs at the Szeged farm of the Open Air Museum, and the feast continues with the introduction of various wineries and wine-tasting. Live music and a cheerful crowd guarantee warmth and joy on this winter day for wine-lovers from near and far.

Tickets available at the main entrance.

Meringue Cookies

Ingredients:

3 egg whites

150-210 g confectioners’ sugar

pinch of salt

½ tsp lemon juice

Preparation time: 15 minutes + 60- 90 minutes of baking time

Difficulty: ☺☺

Directions:

Preheat oven to 150 ºC.

Put the egg whites into a big bowl; add salt and lemon juice. Start the mixer speed on low, than gradually increase the speed to medium-high, and slowly add the sugar to the egg whites. Increase speed to high and whip the egg whites until they fluff up and become glossy, and stiff peaks form when the whisk is lifted. Fill a pastry bag with the meringue cream. Place parchment paper or Silpat on a baking tray and pipe the meringue in regular mounds or circles. Put the cookies into the oven and bake it for 5 minutes, than turn off the oven to 100-120 ºC and bake the cookies for 60-90 minutes. Remove parchment paper from baking sheet and let meringues cool completely, than store it in an airtight container at room temperature.

Hint:

Add 50-70 g confectioners’ sugar to each egg whites.

Egg whites will not whip properly if there is any oil around so make sure your bowl and utensils are clean. Also, make sure that you have properly separated the whites and yolks.

Try it with vinegar instead of lemon juice.

Make colorful meringues by adding food colors and any kind of flavors.

Instead of using pastry bag, drop by teaspoons onto the cookie sheets.

Try not to move the pipe as you push the meringue out and nice, circular mounds will appear.

Enjoy!

Hungarian Pancakes

Ingredients for about 25 pcs.:

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups Flour
• 2 1/2 cups Milk
• 7 oz Water or Carbonated Water
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Sugar
• Oil or Butter to grease

For cheese spreading:

• 400 g farm cheese
• 2 eggs
• 4 Tbsp sour cream
• 100 g sugar
• 10 g vanillin sugar
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Butter to grease the pan

Preparation Time: 20 minutes + sit for 1 hour + 2 hours cooking time

Difficulty: ☺☺

Directions:
Mix flour, salt and sugar. Combine well beaten eggs and milk. Add egg and milk gradually to flour mixture, beating to a thin smooth batter. Let batter sit for at least 1 hour.
Coat about an 8 ” pan with oil or butter. Ladle in just enough batter to cover bottom evenly. Brown lightly on both sides, and set aside. Continue this until batter is used up.
Keep the ready pancakes in warm oven. Spread with different kinds of jams, cocoa-sugar or cinnamon-sugar mixture, or sweetened cottage cheese; roll up and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Cheese spreading:

Mix the farm cheese, egg yolks, sour cream, sugar, lemon zest. Beat the egg whites till stiff peaks form, than add to the mixture. Spread the pancakes with this cheese mixture and put it into a lightly greased pan. Spread the top of it with sour cream and put it in the oven for 15 minutes.

Serve it hot with powdered sugar or vanillin sugar.

Hint:

• Using electric mixer makes the preparation time faster.
• If the batter is too thick, add a little water or milk to it. If it is too thin, add an egg or a spoonful of flour mixed with milk.
• Try the pancakes with salty spreading instead of sweet.

Enjoy!