Cseri Miklós - Sári Zsolt (szerk.): Szerencsemalac, A mangalica. Skanzen füzetek 2. (Szentendre, Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum, 2009)

Pork in the Hungarian kitchen Pork has become popular in Hungary in the 19th century. Consumption of beef prevailed in the middle-ages and early modern times but this changed by the end of the 19th century. Between 1934 and 1938 the population consumed 45 % pork and 22 % beef. This change is due to an effectively changed consumer behaviour; and by the end of the 20th century Hungary is considered as a mainly pork consumer country in Europe. Pork became popular in the Hungarian kitchen due to its preservation methods: salting, smoking or frying. Salted meat was kept in Transdanubia without smoking till next summer: the pork was fried in its own fat and kept in a wooden vat submerged in fat. Bacon was much appreciated because a hardworking man judges the foodstuffs according to their energy supply. Therefore bacon was the staple breakfast of farmers. The goulash type dishes are made of meat cut in small pieces cooked with different seasonings in some water The uncountable varieties of the dish are traced back to two basic ways of preparation. The most archaic way is to cook the meat in its own juice without fat, onions and water till it is soft. This has different names in Hungarian: a gulyásos, gulyáshús, gulyásos hús, pa- rázshús, pörkölt. The other way is to cook the meat on fried onions in a bit of water This is called paprikás. Originally it was prepared with beef, veal and mutton but later pork became an accepted ingredient too. Frying cutlets of meat is an old tradition but only one of the many possibilities to prepare meat. Cutlets were