Dobrossy István: A miskolci vendégfogadók és a vendéglátás története 1745-1945 (Borsodi Kismonográfiák 21. Miskolc, 1985)

Those stealing the hats put their own caps on the head of the sleeping priests. After all it was the hospitality that left its mark on thefn not the stealing of the headwears. The city was often noisy from the second half of the 18 th century because of the feasts as the desire to gain the title of a free regal town made the magistrates entertain guests almost constantly. They hoped that it was the way to develop their town from a market town into a free regal town. But they did not succeed in it. It was in this period that the guilds flourished. The unusual, festive menu of its members reflects truly the range of dishes and the eating customs of the contemporary guest-entertaining in Miskolc. At the end of the 18th century the outstanding figures of the period of the enlightenment also visited our town and the youth of Miskolc organized "noisy banquets" for them. They tried to demonstrate and have it recognized that Miskolc took its share of receiving and spreading modern thoughts. At the beginning of the 19th century Kazinczy, Kossuth, Széchényi were the most famous guests of our town and many others who were imbued with and guided by the ideas of the national reform endeavours. We know from exact records that the Just confectionery was visited by Mrs. Déry from 1828, by Petőfi in 1843 and 1848, then by Mihály Tompa and Károly Vadnay, by General Paskievics in 1849, by Gábor Egressy till 1866, by Márton Lendvay in 1868, by Endre Latabár till 1873, by Kornélia Prielle in 1872 and by Lujza Blaha Mrs. Jókai née Róza Laborfalvi in 1875. During the war of independence in 1848-1849 the company of the Greek merchants of Miskolc attracted attention as they provided counter example of their traditional hospitality. They avoided meeting the commander-in-chief of the Russian army Duke Paskievics and his escort of high standing. In spite of the impolite gesture the Russians presented a perfectly made silver lamp with four glasses still hanging in the nave of the Greek church to the town. They used this church while they stayed in our town. After the failure of the struggle for independence Bozena Nemcová, the creator of Czech fiction travelled through Miskolc and its environments. She described our town, the life of its people, the so called "multitude", the hospitality of people in Miskolc, the market and eating customs so vividly that we used her work as a source in our study. Not only the manuscripts, diaries, the local press from the 19th century but also the historical studies present historical data important from our subject e.g. about the visitations of the king or the daily and weekly markets and monthly or seasonal multitude of those living in Miskolc and in the vicinity. During the visitations of the king in 1857 and 1881 though in opposition the town in spite of its loyalty to the ideas of 1848 was anxious to express its loyalty to the king referring to "hispitality". The people living in the countryside tried to sell their goods in the main street and at Búza square. Having done a good business they enjoyed the pleasant hospitality of Miskolc in the pubs and inns as much as the Slovak carriers carrying wood, lime, coal and glass or the village people going to farther places of pilgrimage did. The many-sided claim had to be satisfied differently. This is why the inns and pubs then the hotels, cafes and confectioneries were established in Miskolc together with the taverns offering hundreds of dishes. The "multitude" in town were also provided for by the bakers, pretzel-makers and roast-meat sellers and we do not forget about the Miskolc jelly known in the whole country. We also have to mention a local food speciality the so called "tarhonya" (granulated dried pastry made of flour and eggs) invented in Miskolc. After quoting these data incidentally we have to tell that despite its colourfulness there are few historical studies on the hospitality and the places of guest-entertaining in Miskolc. The studies about this topic are mainly about cultural history and the history of