2025

English Table of Contents 2025/1  

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Somogy Dance Ensemble celebrated its 75th jubilee in 2024.

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New column of Sebő Ferenc: Guests of Kassák-klub. In this first part he is writing about the poet Nagy László, who used to visit regularly the Kassák-klub.

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Interview with Szerényi Béla Jr – folk musician, leader of Magyar Banda. Szerényi Béla Jr grew up in an active family of dance house musicians. His father is a folk musician and master instrument maker. Béla Jr describes being so immersed and enthralled with folk music from early childhood that there was nothing else he could possibly have done with his life. Today his main instruments are hurdy gurdy, tárogató, e-flat clarinet and wooden shepherds flute. He has had formal music training but also learned from master musicians, and at home by osmosis. He also folk dances – though recently made a career choice to concentrate on music – especially authentic style traditional Hungarian folk music. His main project right now is his band – Magyar Banda. "…in this band we don’t restate music collected in the villages, we express our own current thoughts in the language we learned from the [village folk music] masters". Magyar Banda’s video clip known as "Csavargó" (look it up on the net) has sparked discussion in dance house circles. Szerényi B.jr claims ninety percent of the feedback about the clip has been positive. "…putting the bikini and folk music together is unusual – I think it tells alot about the status of our movement". For the last year and a half Szerényi B.jr and Magyar Banda have been working towards their own sound, or version of traditional folk music "without changing the authentic basic rhythm, accompaniment, melodic world, ornamentation". Interview by Grozdits Károly.

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From the programmes of the National Dance Theather.

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May the Zithers Sing Merrily! – Temporary exhibition in the Museum of Ethnography
The zither was once one of the most widespread and beloved folk instruments in the musical life of traditional Hungarian communities. Due to its simple structure, skilled villagers could craft it themselves, and it often accompanied home festivities and communal work occasions. Thanks to the revival of folk music movements and the folk music education that began in the 1990s, the zither is now experiencing a renaissance. It is frequently used in music activities starting from nursery school age, as it is relatively easy to learn to play, and thanks to the sympathetic strings, a simple accompaniment can instantly complement the melody.
The Museum of Ethnography houses around 3,000 folk instruments from all over the world in its various collections. The exhibition May the Zithers Sing Merrily! showcases a wide spectrum of zither types and runs from 23 January 2025 to 29 June 2025.

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Interview with singer Bognár Szilvia. Recent recipient of Hungary’s Prima Award, Szilvia grew up singing. She talks about singing with and learning in the Vas Folk Song Studio with Tanai Erzsébet during her secondary school years. She sang for three years with Anima Sound System, then in Budapest with Makám Ensemble. She talks about a 2007 recording "Szájról szájra" and about working with singers Herczku Ágnes and Szalóki Ágnes. She sang with Vándor Vokál for seven years; and has worked, amongst others, with Sebő Ferenc, Krulik Zoltán, Kiss Ferenc, the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble and Rost Andrea. Her style is versatile and elegant. She enjoys her students and teaching singing in the Department of Folk Music at the Liszt Academy of Music. She comments that she doesn’t necessarily want to still be singing on stage at the age of seventy-five (she’s no where near that yet!) "…I only want to be onstage as long as I can keep my voice in shape, and as along as I can speak to an audience this way." By Varga Veronika first published on: ’Ritmus és hang’ blog – 2025. Feb. 5.

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In the literary column of Széki Soós János this time we can read the poems of Fülöp M. Lóránd.

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Sebő Ferenc is remembering of music scientist, artist and teacher Dobszay László, who was born 90 years ago.

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Living Dance Archive – Series of the Hungarian National Dance Ensemble. After the iconic pieces of the series (Bonchida, three times; Gyimes; Kalotaszeg; Mezőség and Szatmár) there is a new part called Storm Corner. By Abdulwahab Nadia.

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Székely Traditions – Part 4. The inspiration for this college diploma project towards a degree in the department of education, sociology, and Rom language at Apor Catholic College in Hungary – has been this student’s desire to explore her own Székely heritage. Part 4 of her paper continues a survey of Transylvanian Székely folk traditions with descriptions of customs for: the Carnival period (approximately 6 weeks between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday), feather pulling/plucking parties, and customs around the spring name days: Gergely, Sándor-József-Benedek, March 25th, April 1st, Tibor, Saint György’s day, Saint Márk’s day (blessing the wheat), May 1st and May 12,13,14 (Szervác, Pongrác, Bonifác), and May 25th Orbán name day. These customs were presumably practiced mainly in ’former times’ and were related to traditions around subsistence farming, animal husbandry, religion (Christian) and social life in the small close-knit Székely village communities. Includes bibliography, sources. By Simó Ilona.

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Arany Piroska writes short stories – in a more or less folk tale style. She was born in 1931 in the eastern Hungarian town of Derecske where she attended elementary and secondary school, later earning a teaching diploma in Debrecen and Nyíregyháza. She worked as an elementary school teacher in Derecske for some years. In 1993, she moved to Győr in Western Hungary. In 1998 she completed a writing course in Budapest. Since the 1960s she has been writing down stories she heard in her home village from her grandparents and extended family. This issue of folkMAGazin publishes a story from her book “Kendőmesék” (Magyar Kultúra Kiadó. Győr, 2008.) “Kendő” is the Hungarian word for the headscarf worn by rural married women in this part of the world. The stories reveal the inner thoughts of women from an unspecified time and place along with the ups and downs, gossip, intense social pressure and social life in a Hungarian village community. "A person can never be too careful – the world is full of enemies. And headscarves. Seen from behind them in the church, the women’s rows were all headscarves. Beautiful scarves stored carefully in the wardrobe for holiday wear: cashmere, silk, with roses, whatever looked best on its owner, or the best within their means….” Printed here is “Stolen headscarf” a story about a poor family, their better-off relatives that lived across the street and the disappearance of a favorite silk headscarf.

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Lajtha László Award recipient Liber Endre is a folk musician – he plays viola and cymbalom with Tükrös and other bands. But he is also an active folk and world music promoter/producer. He is artistic director of both Hangvető Music and the Lajtha Ház – a cultural center in the town of Bicske, Hungary named after Hungarian composer and musicologist Lajtha László. Liber Endre has been an organizer of numerous significant world, folk and other music events over the last decades.

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Fügedi János, retired senior researcher at the Institute of Musicology, died on January 31, 2025, at the age of 71. With his departure, we lost an outstanding figure of the last decades of Hungarian and international ethnochoreology, who researched the movement forms of folk dance with the thoroughness and consistency of a natural scientist, while never losing his love for folk culture, one of the fruits of which is still alive today. Announcement by Research Center for the Humanities Institute for Musicology.

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Erdélyi Tibor, Kossuth-award winning artist, Master of Folk Arts and eternal member of the Hungarian State Folk Ensembel, has died at his age of ninety-three.

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Navratil Andrea – folk singer, story teller, folk music educator, environmental protectionist received the Hungarian Heritage Award on December 14, 2024. Her work and talents have previously been recognized with a Liszt Ferenc Award. "Singing, love of nature, respect for the knowledge preserved by the traditional peasant world – have all been part of my life since childhood." Printed here is the laudation presented by Agócs Gergely at the awards event.

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Results of the 27th National Solo Dance Competition. Photos by Majnik Zsolt.

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Hungary's csárdás dance tradition has been officially added to UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. A celebration was held at Budapest’s Hungarian Heritage House on January 23rd, 2025. Csárdás is described as "a dynamic, continuously developing practice which is deeply interwinned with community identity and cohesion." Csárdás is a dance that evolved from Hungarian recuiting practices in the 18th century – many local versions of csárdás are danced today all over the Hungarian language area including Hungary, Transylvania, Transcarpathia, ’Upper Hungary’ (in Slovakia) and Voivodina. From Farkas Zoltán Batyu’s statement at the event: "Behind the csárdás are the people – reflected in the dance is their life, their souls and their sense of belonging. Thanks is due especially to Hungarian dance ethnographer Martin György and his field work teams whose research starting in the 1950s made it possible for the next generations to learn these dances." Published here is a speech given by Csonka-Takács Eszter at the celebration.

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„his mother tongue is Hungarian...” – a short part of a novel written by a Transyvanian writer, Ignácz Rózsa.

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New CD release – Tatros Ensemble: [Pillanat] Moment

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„Tedd ki a pontot!” – call for children's, youth and adult singles competitions

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Young Master of Folk Arts 2025 – call for applications

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From the programmes of the Palace of Arts.

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From the programmes of the Hungarian House of Music.

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Traditional Hungarian food – what Hungarians do with thick cooked porridge? We hear about the many colorful names for dishes using porridge cooked from various grains. Chunks of cooked porridge are often dipped in egg, rolled in breadcumbs and fried. There are many variations thereof. This can be either a sweet or savory meal – a dessert or main dish. Grains often used are farina wheat or rice. There are plenty of references to and recipes for this kind of dish from the mid 1800s onwards, and they are still prepared today. Recipes provided here: fried rice pudding, farina sausagettes with wine, rice sausagettes with wine foam, rice ’sausages’ with chocolate, rice ’pears’, fried cooked farina wheat. By ethnographer and traditional foods specialist Juhász Katalin.

English Table of Contents 2025/2  

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Exhibition: Hungarian Heritage House in Budapest: ’Folk Fashion – Divat a folklór’ "The goal of the exhibit is to present the ongoing exchange between folk art and fashion…" On exhibition are pieces from the textile collections of the Hungarian Heritage House, the Hungarian Museum of Industrial Arts and private collections. Notably the exhibit includes certain dresses highlighting this aspect of fashion that were worn by folk singers Sebestyén Márta and Herczku Ágnes on illustrious occasions. Four Hungarian regions famous for folk art are highlighted: Matyó, Sárköz, Kalocsa and Kalotaszeg. The exhibition will be open from February 13th to October 30th, 2025 (closed between July 28th and Aug 18th). Curated by Dr. Czingel Szilvia.

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Kassák Klub Guests – Sebő Ferenc’ column – WEÖRES SÁNDOR. This second installment in Sebő’s series, tells about the time in 1975 when Hungarian poet and writer Weöres Sándor was guest at the Kassák Klub dance house to speak with the young people there. The ’Kassák Klub’ was Sebő Ensemble’s regular gig from 1973 onward. It was held at the Kassák community center in Budapest’s 14th district where the practice was to hold a ’dance house’ (with live music and folk dancing). During the breaks there were related cultural events in an apparantly relaxed format – such as conversations with writers, performances by other musicians, art exhibitions, etc. Weöres Sándor (1913–1989) was a Hungarian poet, writer, literary translator, philosopher, literary historian and museologist. At the Kassák Klub he spoke about the rhythm of his poems that Sebő Ensemble had chosen to set to music. Sebő writes here that earlier on when asked to set certain Weöres poems to music, he had asked, ‘Why those? They are already music’. At Kassák Klub they asked Weöres about a work of his called ‘Psyché’ – which had received some tough criticism. Weöres described it as ‘the work of an imaginary woman…with it I wanted to present the literary language and spirit of the end of 18th, beginning of the 19th century’. Also mentioned here in Sebő’s recollections is Kodály’s interest in Weöres’ work – [Kodály:] "…Weöres is one of the few Hungarian poets who seem to know that Hungarian poetry should not lose touch with its ties to Hungarian music." Weöres also spoke about the ‘Cseremisz’ (Mari or Cheremissan) songs Kodály had asked him to work with that had become so popular with Hungarian school children. By Sebő Ferenc.

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Budapest’s Bihari János Ensemble celebrates 70 years – A founder of the ensemble, the late Novák Ferenc is quoted here ’…Our goal was to create an ensemble and workshop which would be capable of creating works from the vocabulary of folk dances of Hungary and the Carpathian Basin – to bring human and social ideas and/or literary themes to the stage.’ "That was in 1954 and those kinds of goals seemed even then to be a large undertaking…How can I single out particular episodes, choreographies, successes…particular people who have contributed – those still alive and those that have passed on – the 100s of dancers and musicians?…How can I list the works that have touched me?…the details are not necessary: the essence is in the whole…’You always need a group’!” Mihályi Gábor (dance director of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble) wishes the Bihari a happy birthday.

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New publication: Fehér Anikó: Vágják az erdei utat – [songs from an informant from Transylvania’s Mezőség Region – Szász István "Bődi"]. A joint publication of the Hungarian Academy of Arts’ Art Theory and Methods Research Institute and Napkút Kiadó, Budapest. 2024. Fehér Anikó presents Szász István "Bődi"’s repertoire, life, melodies and performing style in a monographical format. "The biography and repertoire are a beautiful demonstration of how Hungarian folk music changed in peasant life of the 20th century". The publication presents the life of Szász István and his environment with analysis of his repertoire and detailed information on style and keys. There are 100 folk songs including soldier’s songs, love songs, and ballads. The publication includes Fehér Anikó’s transcriptions of the songs, recordings, notes from her personal meetings with her informant…a slice from the life of a representative of a lost tradition. Also described here is the perhaps surprising 21st century way Fehér Anikó first came in contact with her informant: he actually contacted HER via the internet…Published here are recommendations for this volume by Gubinecz Ákos.

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Rácz Mihály reviews 14 Hungarian folk, jazz and world music recordings released in 2024. Though the number of recordings released in Hungary has decreased significantly in the last years – Hungary does still produce them. Of the 14 albums reviewed here (all positive reviews), 11 are released on the Fonó label. These are ’Rácz’s best of 2024’ – so it’s worth looking at the names of the recordings in the article in Hungarian or go to www.langolo.hu where this list was published on Dec. 18, 2024.

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Exhibition – Budapest’s Museum of Ethnography – Photographs from the early 1860s of traditional costume in 36 communities where Hungarians lived at the time – when Hungary was a region that belonged to the Austrian Empire and did not yet exist as a separate country. The photographs were originally exhibited at the 1862 World’s Fair in London – where they have been more or less lost in the archives of the Victoria and Albert Museum ever since. This is the first time the photographs can be seen in Hungary. Open from March 5 through September 15, 2025. Announcement from the Museum of Ethnography.

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Interview with Lukács Miklós – musician, cymbalom player. Lukács talks about his instrument and possible paths onward. He says, "…I like my instrument and have not yet found any other one that interests me, so I’ll stick with this one. The cymbalom is an important instrument in Central and Eastern Europe. Tradition has kept it alive. Before, locally the instrumental music traditions were passed down from the fathers, grandfathers, great grandfathers along with the complete circle of music tradition that accompanied a person’s life from birth to death. But people have moved out of this tradition-filled life…not only have thought processes changed, but traditions and so the music and the role of the band as well. This has ended. As the cymbalom’s special role in local traditional life disappears, the existence of the cymbalom is in danger. So, if the restaurant bands disappear, since there is less and less need for them, that’ll mean a quarter or a third of cymbalom music disappears…the problem is the cymbalom doesn’t yet have a true place in the music of the 21st century…one doesn’t have to dig deep to find information on, say the violin, piano, electric guitar, but the cymbalom isn’t in that situation; we have to bring our instrument out of its information void…we would like to move beyond a need for a little Hungarian sound or Eastern European color. I would like for the instrument to be known for its very own independent, striking character. I believe that my life will be dedicated to this. I can’t and don’t want to lock myself into one particular musical segment, be that folk, classical, or contemporary music. I have several chamber music performances coming up, Haydn, Eötvös concerts, and jazz…I’ll go to places I’ve never been – to Korea and Japan….The musical traditions of my instrument are deeply embedded in my identity which is of course for me a thing of value. However I am on a path which consciously breaks from the usual conventions. ….I think of my instrument as a tool for the universal language of music – and it is valid for any style…” Interview by Grozdits Károly.

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Literary column of Széki Soós János – poems by Bágyi Bencze Jakab

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Nyírség Folk Dance Ensemble celebrated 50 years with a gala performance bringing 4 age groups and over 300 dancers (including 100 members of 5 childrens groups) to the stage on November 30th, 2024. "Reflections of our soul and so many beautiful years could be seen and heard on the stage in song, dance, and music, in pictures, on film, along with our sweat, our joy, and our sorrows, our families, and our solos, in the greetings, verse, and rhythmic yells…" "The Nyírség dancers, where ever life has taken them, usually return every five years to participate in these gala performances. We build these performances from our roots in the most beautiful Hungarian traditions… The ’Nyírség family’ is now putting together a book to be published sometime in the first half of 2025. By Demarcsek György.

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Report on the Bulgarian Surva Festival held January 24-26, 2025 in Pernik, Bulgaria. Every year this festival brings together traditional Bulgarian maskarade groups that practice an ancient tradition which evolved to chase away the winter and evil spirits and welcome spring. This festival as such was held the first time in 1966. It became an international event in 1985. Step by step the festival became more established until 2016 when it was added to UNESCO’s list of world heritage traditions. This year there were more than 12 thousand participants and 250 musicians. Traditionally it was only unmarried men that dressed in masks, wore large bells on their waists and paraded with rhythmic steps through town with a band. The basic band of Roma musicians included 1 to 3 drums, 2 zurnas, saxophone or clarinet. Includes background information on the tradition and more on the festival. By Trifusz Péter – with photos.

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Benedek Krisztina of Gödöllő, Hungary received a certificate of recognition as an excellent performer and teacher of folk dance, folk song, author of numerous publications for children, organizer and leader of many, many folk programs for children. She receives this certificate from the Hungarian Academy of Arts’ – Art Theory sector. She has been leader of tradition preserving folk dance groups in Hungary’s Galga and Rákos regions. She has developed her own methods for teaching and inspiring children using active or experiential instruction techniques for passing on traditional rhymes, games, songs and tales. Report by Festő Boglárka principal of Gödöllő’s Damjanich János Elementary School.

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Interview with musician, singer Laposa Julcsi about her album "Tudod-e édesem" (released January 2024). Love is the main theme of this recording of songs based in folk music, that ’soar into world music’. Previously known for her children’s publications, Laposa Julcsi’s new recording for an adult audience is in a more lyrical, thoughtful mood. The songs tell about a girl’s intense feelings as she grows from girlhood into womanhood. The recording features traditional the folk instruments with piano, guitar and cajon and includes songs in the Slovak and Slovienian languages with French influences in the music. Originally from the village of Tekenye in Southwestern Hungary where she describes "... an organic part of the village culture is to sing [so-called] ’Hungarian Nóta’ tunes with an accordionist during the annual grape harvest parade." In addition to her music, Julcsi now works in economics and cultural diplomacy. Interview by Kertész Dalma.

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List of those from dance house circles who recieved awards at the March 15th national holiday.

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Márta Sebestyén: I Sing My Song... – Programme of House of Music
The globally renowned performer Márta Sebestyén, recipient of the Kossuth, Liszt, and UNESCO awards, has represented Hungarian folk music traditions for five decades, whose commitment not only made her known in Hungary but worldwide. She performs traditional folk elements with her unique, distinctive sound, thus contributing to the international recognition of Hungarian musical culture. The musical heritage created by Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály is an important foundation in her work. The perspective of the two composers, which builds on the collection and authentic presentation of folk music, has a decisive impact on her performances. She has not only preserved the folk music traditions but also created a unique style by presenting these traditions in new forms on stage.

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Arany Piroska writes short stories – in a more or less folk tale style. She was born in 1931 in the eastern Hungarian town of Derecske where she attended elementary and secondary school, later earning a teaching diploma in Debrecen and Nyíregyháza. She worked as an elementary school teacher in Derecske for some years. In 1993, she moved to Győr in Western Hungary. In 1998 she completed a writing course in Budapest. Since the 1960s she has been writing down stories she heard in her home village from her grandparents and extended family. This issue of folkMAGazin publishes a story from her book “Kendőmesék” (Magyar Kultúra Kiadó. Győr, 2008.) “Kendő” is the Hungarian word for the headscarf worn by rural married women in this part of the world. The stories reveal the inner thoughts of women from an unspecified time and place along with the ups and downs, gossip, intense social pressure and social life in a Hungarian village community. "A person can never be too careful – the world is full of enemies. And headscarves. Seen from behind them in the church, the women’s rows were all headscarves. Beautiful scarves stored carefully in the wardrobe for holiday wear: cashmere, silk, with roses, whatever looked best on its owner, or the best within their means….” “Church headscarf” is also about a treasured headscarf. Only two women had that scarf in the village: the woman telling the story and the dead wife of the local clergyman.

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Eredics Gábor became honorary professor of the Hungarian Academy of Music. Announcement by lfze.hu.

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Folk Dance House Day 2025
Featuring students and professors of the Folk Music Department of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music.

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A retrospective folk dance performance celebrating the 80th birthday and life work of choreographer Varga Zoltán was held on November 24, 2024 at Budapest’s Hungarian Heritage House. Also celebrating 60 years of work in his field, this portrait program presented a selection of Varga’s best choreographies including: Szegényes, Zempléni karikázó, Héjsza, Keménytelki táncok, Turáni induló, Skandálás, Táncszók, Regölés performed by members of groups he has worked with. Varga Zoltán started in 1964 as a member of Budapest’s Bartók Béla Folk Dance Ensemble; first he was a student of, then assistant to Timár Sándor and Vásárhelyi László. From 1981 for 10 years he directed the Bartók Ensemble, then he went on to develop the folk dance program at the school for the arts in Fót, Hungary. He and his wife Lőrincz Beáta founded and directed the Cédrus Folk Dance Ensemble and established a related school for the arts in Solymár, Hungary. He is known as one of a so-called ’3rd generation’ of Hungarian folk dance choreographers along with Zsuráfszky Zoltán and Farkas Zoltán Batyu. Varga has done extensive folk dance collection work in villages in Hungary, Slovakia and Transylvania and has been dedicated to presentation of authentic folk dance for stage. Varga’s "stage compositions avoid loud, shrill colors and moods; rather they are sensitive, lyrical, and thoughful; his is always a respectful statement of the archival material…containing important personal points of view". Report by M. Nagy Emese.

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"Pitykegomb" – the handmade metal buttons found mainly on men’s Hungarian traditional costume. 10 years ago a Hungarian ethnographer and a museum collection manager embarked on a joint project researching this kind of traditional decorative button. Over the last ten years they have searched: the collections of 20 museums, more than 40 private collections and the written works of Hungarian traditional costume experts for information on, and examples of these buttons. A grant from the Hungarian Academy of Arts has helped them continue their project and make their work known to the public: online information can now be found by searching "magyar pitykegomb". The project is still ongoing. By Barsi Csaba and Simándi László.

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"Pitykegomb" – the handmade metal buttons found mainly on men’s Hungarian traditional costume. 10 years ago a Hungarian ethnographer and a museum collection manager embarked on a joint project researching this kind of traditional decorative button. Over the last ten years they have searched: the collections of 20 museums, more than 40 private collections and the written works of Hungarian traditional costume experts for information on, and examples of these buttons. A grant from the Hungarian Academy of Arts has helped them continue their project and make their work known to the public: online information can now be found by searching "magyar pitykegomb". The project is still ongoing. By Barsi Csaba and Simándi László.

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The tradition preserving life of Mrs. Cerankó István Mihók Margit of Magyarbőd/Bidovce (Kassa/Kosice Region – Southeastern Slovakia). Born in 1931 in the village of Magyarbőd, "Margit néni" (as she is referred to here) completed 8 years of elementary school there. This is a study of Margit néni’s life and the traditional singing, music and dance life of Magyarbőd on the basis of her descriptions and stories. The karikázó (women’s circle dance) of this village is described as well as the polyphonic singing style typical there. The information here has been collected and written by Kupec Zsófia who was born and raised in the nearby village of Nagyida/Veľká Ida in the same region of Eastern Slovakia. Zsófia is the artistic director of the Ilosvai Selymes Péter Folk Dance Ensemble of Nagyida and works at the Cultural Center of Kassa/Kosice County. On the basis of this study, in 2024 she was awarded the title of Young Master of Folk Arts. By Kupec Zsófi.

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The Hungarian Sea – a short story from 1910 by Czech writer Jaroslav Hašek. This humorous story is about the fictional mayor of a fictional town near the shores of Hungary’s (real) Lake Balaton. The mayor – usually in the local pub and from behind many glasses of wine – endlessly defends his Balaton as THE deepest and largest body of water in the world. If necessary any souls (travellers from abroad, local figures) challenging his point of view would be beaten or perhaps only run out of the pub. New Hungarian translations of some of this writer’s works were published in 2024.

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Hungarian cuisine: Jókai Mór and Hungarian culinary tradition: Jókai the ethnographer, Jókai the gourmet. Jókai Mór (Komárom, 1825 – Budapest, 1904) was a Hungarian novelist, dramatist and revolutionary. Most Hungarians have heard of ‘Jókai bean soup’ – but this article is not about this dish – rather it describes eating habits of Jókai’s day, his relationship to food, names some of his favorite dishes. As a writer Jókai considered ethnography a ‘colleague’; he was amongst the contributors to a series of handbooks presenting various ethnic groups. He wrote chapters on eating customs, table settings, stove types, the indoor heating/cooking ovens of the Hungarian plains, legendary restaurants. He recognized the importance of culinary identity and gastronomy as an organic part of a national culture. He listed 36 typical Hungarian dishes he felt should be written down. Jókai was a gourmet, one who truly enjoyed his food. He lived the typical middle class life of his time: people basically ate what they could produce on their own farm. In 1853 Jókai used the honorarium earned from one of his works to buy a house and garden area on Budapest’s Svábhegy – where he set up a complete farm with full-on garden, orchard, vineyards and farm animals to feed his family and guests. He wrote, ‘the basis of a happy marriage is the kitchen, the food – in that my wife is unsurpassable…’ Also described is Mrs Jókai’s coffee…not only was coffee freshly roasted every day, but the manner of making coffee was extraordinary. One started at 5am to make the coffee and fresh brioche for breakfast. By ethnographer Juhász Katalin.