Kovács Zsuzsa: Göcsej Village Museum. Exhibition Guide (Zalaegerszeg, 2008)

Bushel This bushel was used to dry fruits and yeast. It was usually kept on the top of the oven. This was the best place for drying things; here the yeast or fruits spread out in the big flat bushel were heated steadily. This straw container, made from twisted straw bunches fastened with hazel sticks, were really popular utensils of the peasant households in the Western Trans-Danubia region. Bigger, bowl-shaped and cylindrical-shaped straw containers were also favoured here; these, according to their size, were kept in the kitchen or in the pantry. Beans, peas or eggs were stored in them. Water-benches with water jugs stood next to the oven, they were essential parts of the kitchen since water was needed all the time for cooking or washingup. On the wall there is a very practical piece of equipment: the lid rack, and beside the oven the spoon case to keep wooden spoons, knifes and forks in. On the berm of the oven, over a heap of embers, the food was slowly cooking. The 'lábas' ((pan) 'lábas' = a pot with legs) got its name from its three legs which made the pan higher so embers could go underneath. Pans with two handles had no legs so the embers were put around them to cook the food. Embers gave a continuous but not too strong a heat, so pans needed to be able to be heated up easily. Therefore the pan's wall was made very thin and the bigger ones were made even stronger with wiring, in order to prevent them from cracking. We can find a small room next to the kitchen, according to the museum story, the parents lived here. In this simple dwelling there are two chairs with 'violin-backs' near the table; on the hanging plate rack we can see decorated plates and on the bed there is a red bed cover with black patterns, this is called 'bécsi piros' ('Vienna red'). The finest bit of the room is the green glazed, cylindershaped 'szemeskáh/a' (tile stove).