Istvánovits Eszter (szerk.): A nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum Évkönyve 51. (Nyíregyháza, 2009)
Néprajz - D. Rácz Magdolna: Adatok az Észak-Tiszántúl népi táplálkozásához
D. Rácz Magdolna this, research records Ligetalja in Nyírség, Tiszahát, Erdőhát, Szamoshát in Szatmár, Rétoldal around Ecsed marshland or the tiny Palágyság. My smaller research area is in the region Ligetalja. This region shows an ethnically mixed picture. Beside the large number of Hungarian, Ukrainian, Romanian, German and Slovakian inhabitants, the number of the Gypsies is slowly growing. As for the religious division, the picture is quite varied. If we look at the historical counties, according to the data from the 19 th century, 7% of the inhabitants in Bereg county were Roman Catholics, 57% were Greek Catholics, 31% were Calvinists. In Szabolcs county 19% were Roman Catholics, 16% were Greek Catholics, 52% were Calvinists, 7% were Lutherans, 5% were Jewish. In Szatmár county 16% were Roman Catholics, 41% were Greek Catholics, 38% were Calvinists and 4% were Jewish. As for the present distribution, in the north part of Szabolcs, Bereg, Nyírség and in the great part of the Rétköz the inhabitants are Calvinists and people in the middle and southern parts of Nyírség are Greek and Roman Catholics. The natural geographical facts are very important among the factors influencing the nutrition culture. As for geomorphological point of view the Northeast Tisza Region has two main parts: Nyírség with talus lowlands covered with wind-blown sand and Tisza River’s floodplain. Both lands have several small areas that give perfect possibilities for agricultural cultivation. The natural endowments of the examined region did not suit for extensive animal husbandry and plant cultivation, so farmers mainly considered subsistence farming. The fields and natural sauces mainly provided the necessary fodder for the animals. The small fields, arable lands, the three-course rotational system gave limited options for cultivating forage. The collected plants and herbs played an important role in the nutrition culture in the 19th century till the mid-20th century. Forests, fields offered important vitamin sources and herbs for those who knew them well. In the period of scarcity people were driven to exploit these sources. Today the poor collect camomile, elder and acorn for sale. The herb products come back to fashion nowadays. They are available at the green pharmacies. Mushrooms are less known today, so before consumption they are examined by a mushroom specialist. Nearly in every village there were possibilities for fishing and loach-catching. Fish dishes were generally eaten in the fasting periods. To-date fish consumption has decreased and loaches have disappeared and these dishes are cherished only in memories. The game dishes were not common. They were occasional because hunting was quite risky. Their preparation was known in every household. Today game meat is available through the associations of hunters and poaching has not gone out of fashion. Preparation of game meat is widely known among men. Before the appearance of sugar consumption, honey played the role of sweetening. In our region the people remember the most ancient method of honey collecting when the beehives in the forest were spoiled. Every village had an apiarist who cultivated not only for his own need. As everywhere, among the floral origin food bread was the main nutrition. At the beginning it was made from rye-flour, later from the mixture of rye- and wheat-flour and the next step was to make purely it from wheat-flour but from the fasting period everybody can recall polenta bread from com-flour. Fermantive elements of bread were grain and hop-bran. Here as in the neighbouring areas griddle-cake as lepény, lángos and vakaró were made from the dough of bread. Today the growing number of bakeries offer wide and various choices of different bakery products. Keen housewives try again the domestic baking with the help of the modem kneader and bread-maker. Com was the basic ingredient of pulpy dishes. Corn porridge with various tastes (cottage cheese, jam, milk cabbage and so on) and polenta were made from it. Hulled barley and millet-pup 228
