Magyar News, 1991. szeptember-1992. augusztus (2. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1992-07-01 / 11-12. szám
HI SIS! Isn’t this the way you greet your sister? Well we just got a new sister. “We” really stands for the people in Fairfield, but I am sure that they will share their new found relative with all of us, especially with the Hungarian community of this area. A couple of weeks ago Fairfield’s First Selectman Jacquelyn Durrell announced that she is establishing a sister city relation with Tatabanya, Hungary. Tatabanya is a mining town with a population exceeding 60,000. A half a century ago it was a small settlement. It developed into a major mining town, incorporating many others in the area. Today it spreads 10 As the saying goes: Every bad happening has a salt of good in it. This should be valid about the century and a half of Turkish occupation over Hungary. One thing that had a lasting effect on the Hungarian life style was the red pepper, paprika, used as a spice or condiment. The Turks used it freshly picked or in it’s dried stage. They used whole peppers or broken pieces. This is quite different to the way the Hungarians made it known to the world, which was in a powder form. But before the Hungarians developed this method, they had to obtain the plant and learn how to grow it. Throughout the hundred and fifty years of occupancy, many Hungarians worked for the Turks as servants or slaves. Some of these were cultivating Turkish gardens and within them the paprika plants grew. Shepherds and peasants were on the other side of the fence and had more human contact with the Turkish soldiers. The well known Hungarian hospitality was taking a toll on the fearsome soldiers, taming and finally converting them, probably with the consumption of the wine, which was declared to be a mortal sin by the Prophet Mohammed. Slowly the Hungarians were conquering the Turks and in exchange were getting favors from them, like paprika seeds. At the end of the occupation, many Turkish soldiers stayed and became part of the Hungarian populous. Circumstances like these brought about the fact that the use of paprika started among the common people. Herdsmen sprinkled their tasty slices of bacon with paprika and seasoned the savory stews they cooked in cauldrons over an open fire with the red spice. The fishermen followed in the herdsmen’s footsteps adding a new dimension of taste to their fish dishes. There are a lot of stories and legends of how the precious seeds of the paprika plants were obtained from the Turks. I would like to tell you just one, a very romantic story. It is about Ilonka, a water-carrier girl who miles long between two mountain ranges. The mines produce 10 thousand tons of coal every day. Its industry makes coal briquettes, cement, carbide, aluminum, electricity, and bricks. Tatabanya is surrounded by tourist places. There is an old royal hunting castle, built in Gothic style. It is enclosed and protected by water, lakes, creeks and springs. These are the haven for the artists. They share the place with sportsmen training for the big events. It shouldn’t be difficult for the people of Tatabanya to learn some English. They should be able to say: “HI SIS” to Fairfield and Jackie Durrell. Good idea. was captured by Mehmed, the Pasha of Buda, in the course of his skirmishes. He took the girl by force and put her into his harem. This ancient building is still standing in the Castle Hill district of Budapest, and is called the Turkish House. If s narrow windows opened to an oriental style inner court, and that was the only thing all the slave girls of the Pasha were able to see. But there was a secret passageway under the ground that lead from the cellar to beyond the Castle walls. Ilonka, whose heart was throbbing for a young Hungarian lad outside the walls, discovered Sie secret passage and from there on, under the silent darkness of the nights, she sneaked out to meet her beloved to whom her love belonged forever. Through this corridor, Ilonka carried paprika seeds and the secrets of paprika cultivation to the gardeners of the southern slopes of the Buda hills. Ilonka had still more to do. When the Christian armies began the siege of Buda Castle, a small group of Hungarian warriors made a surprising attack on the defending Turks by using Ilonka’s secret subterranean passage. The Turks left the country, but the paprika stayed and flourished freely through the land. It took a long time for it to be accepted by the town people and the gentry. The nobility, despite the fact that turtle meat, pheasant cooked with crayfish and other delicacies were a normal part of their menu, were the last to acknowledge paprika. The Paprikas Chicken appeared on the menu of the National Casino, the exclusive club of the Hungarian House of Lords, in 1844. This dish became a favorite of the popular and beautiful Queen Elizabeth, who often visited Hungary. Since a queen couldn’t be wrong, the paprika finally won acceptance over all segments of the Hungarian population and was used in shaping the Hungarian cuisine. It was itself transformed and started out on a more significant victory conquering the whole world. (CMB) Margaret Fekete Csóványos Some Flowers There's nothing that's as sweet to me. As sweet as just a flower can toe. Forget-me-nots are truly blue— I like them most, indeed. I do. There's nothing that's as sweet to me As lilacs, tulips and sweet pea. Orchids, phlox, narcissus white. Make my garden a perfect sight. There's nothing that's as sweet to me As laurel pink and rosemary. Jonquils, violets, chrysanthemums Are lovely as sweet-williams. There's nothing that's as sweet to me As clover white and red poppy. If it's red or white, the carnation Is a heavenly creation. There's nothing that's as sweet to me As sweet as just a flower can be. My pen can only write its name. Nature, alone, creates it for fame. 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