Amerikai Magyar Hírlap, 2014 (26. évfolyam, 1-39. szám)

2014-09-19 / 36. szám

Hungarian Journal Germany Says ‘Danke’ to Hungary ‘Danke Ungarn’ is how Ger­many is thanking Hungary on the billboards installed throughout the country, an expression of gratitude for helping German unification by opening up the Hungarian-Austrian border to East Germans 25 years ago this Thursday. The Hungarian government decided Sept. 11, 1989 to let East German citizens flee from Hungary to Austria and then to West Ger­many. By then, East Germans, who otherwise had customarily vaca­tioned at Hungary’s Lake Balaton, had been waiting by the thousands in several Hungarian refugee camps to get a West German passport to cross the border. That was the first time that a member country of the then-Soviet bloc had opened up its ‘Iron Curtain’ borders to the West. Elsewhere in the bloc, communism was collapsing and Soviet domination was ending. “This was the high point, and a peaceful one, of that eventful year and historic summer,” Lieselore Cyrus, Germany’s ambassador to Budapest, said when unveiling the billboard. Hungary had started to dismantle its physical iron curtain—a border with barbed wires—with Austria in May that year and had already opened up its Austrian border for a few hours in June. An estimated 50,000 to 70,000 East Germans fled to West Germany with the help of Hungary that summer. “With those events, Hungarians had demonstrated their great courage and a big heart. We wish to express our heartfelt thanks for that,” Ms. Cyrus said.The border-opening was also a symbolic act that heralded the transformation of several countries of the Eastern Bloc to a market economy from a command economy, alongside their evolution into Western-style democracies. “This day marks the start of those huge social changes that have taken place in the countries of the former Eastern bloc over the past 25 years,” said Dale A. Martin, president of the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce. Today, most of the former Soviet bloc countries in Europe are full members of the European Union. Due to market and structural overhauls as well as sizeable foreign investment, living standards have generally improved considerably in the region. “The impetus for the positive changes came from the Sept. 11 events at the Hungarian-Austrian border” in 1989, Mr. Martin said. Twenty-five years later, the two countries are in the passport-free Schengen area with no border checks. blogs.wsj.com Toronto food truck sells Hungarian chimney cakes Ever heard of a chimney cake? You can grab one for yourself from Chimney Stax Baking Co., which just might be the first business (and certainly the first food truck) in Toronto to serve the eastern European treat. The founders are hoping the snack will catch on in the city - not only is it a brand-new concept to many Toronto diners, but the baked-dough spirals are completely vegan. Chimney Stax specializes in a sweet baked treat you won’t find at any other food truck - or restaurant, for that matter - in the city. The brand-new truck serves up massive spirals of freshly-baked vegan dough rolled in sprinkles, cinnamon, and other sweet toppings, pairing a slightly-crunchy outside with a chewy, elastic interior. As co-owner Matthew Lindzon tells it, the chimney stack, or “chimney cake”, is actually a traditional wedding treat that originated in Hungary in the 1600s and spread through Eastern Europe. Lindzon, who opened the. truck with Zach Fiksel, a friend from Ryerson’s business program, first learned about the snack on a trip to Austria last fall. “I was wandering through a Christmas market, stumbled upon these delicious tubes of dough, and I thought - what IS this? This has to come to Toronto.” As the duo discovered, you can find chimney stacks in plenty of other cities across North America, Europe and Australia, but the trend hadn’t yet spread to Toronto (the closest they got was a shopping mall in Kitchener). “We said, it’s catching on in cities - we need to be on this curve,” Lindzon said. Lindzon and Fiksel felt appetites in Toronto would be high for the treat. Novelty aside, “there’s such a great spot in the market for it - they’re vegan, they’re baked, and everything we’ve got for desserts are deep, deep-fried and overloaded with fat and carbs and all that stuff.” So far, Lindzon says, they’ve had a few folks from Eastern Europe recognize the treat from back home. Mostly, though, they’ve been introducing the treat to brand-new diners. “It’s a lot of fun. It’s great seeing the reaction bn their faces - they get that coiled Chimney Stack and pop it in their mouth, and they taste how great it is,” he says. “People tell us they have trouble finding snacks around the city that they can enjoy. They can have our treat. We’re hoping that it’ll catch on.” torontofoodtrucks. ca/chimney-stax-food-truck-toronto Unusual Footballing Success for Hungary Hungarian team ‘Testvériség SE’ won the Budapest Interconti­nental Button Football Cup on Sunday, playing against Brazilian side ‘Vasco De Gama’. The European Champion’s League winner and South American Cup winner battled it out in a rather one-sided match, resulting 32-0, although Brazil found grace in defeat and will host the next year’s cup final. The final took place at the Hungarian Button Football Association’s Viola street headquarters, as the two-day event featured several compe­titions. On Saturday the Brazilian guests competed against a Hungarian team in their new 12-touch rule in a showmatch, where the Hungar­ian team ‘Tiszavasvári SE’ came close to beating Brazil at their own game. The main attraction was the Sunday’s cup final, where button foot­ball players had a chance to decide which is the best club in the world. The final showdown featured 4-4 players on each sides, every player competing one another, resulted in a definite score, with Hungary win­ning all matchups. Button football (gombfoci, szektrorlabda) is a football simulation game played on a table-top using concave “disks” or “buttons” as play­ers. Board dimensions, markings, and rules of play are modeled to simulate standard football. It is popular throughout all of Brazil, and Hungary as well as other countries in Europe, hungarytoday.hu HEADLINING MARY CUTLER IN HER COLE PORTER and others REPERTOIRE CilllBT Come and join us for a great program! Enjoy exiting talents in music, dance and drama. September 21 Sunday at 2:30 PM United Magyar House 1975 West Washington Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90018 REFRESHMENTS Ample enclosed parking lot! Entrant« on Ardmore Suggested donation (SIO) will support our scholarships to young artists. 0 / hope to see you there! Thank you Jar supporting our cause.’ 1 tidv JLmst f President you» a PIANO VIRTUOSOS ANOONt « ZORUAS 1 MÖVlK STA« Advertise your business in the HÍRLAP’ ^ U widely read by the Hungarian community! rJ Szeptember 19,2014 / 0 jj

Next

/
  • Layout
  • Zoom
  • Rotation
Thumbnails
Contents