William Penn Life, 2013 (48. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

2013-02-01 / 2. szám

Tibor's Take with Tibor Check, Jr.

Reviving a family tradition

THIS MONTH, I'm sending out a special salute to the many club volunteers, unpaid workers and church members who donate their time, expertise and energy to maintaining Magyar customs and traditions by making and selling the great foods unique to our homeland.

Most American-Magyars know of dobos törte, csiga, töltött káposzta, kalács, kolbász or hurka. Each in its own way is difficult and time-consuming to prepare and craft.

Many readers out there no longer make or have never prepared these foods. I have heard a long list of excuses and explanations for why people do not cook these and other Magyar treats. Some legitimate explanations include: "I can't do it anymore"; or, "It's not feasible to make it for just for myself"; or, "I don't make kalács because of health concerns"; or, "I can't make great chicken paprikás, so I buy it from the Youngstown American-Hungarian Club."

Some other, less credible reasons include: "I never tried to make it because my anyám always made it and I was not interested in the lengthy cooking process"; or,

"It is too hard to follow the recipes"; or, "Nagy Turul Supermarket makes kifli that are good and cheap!" In some cases-and saddest of all—the person has a total lack of Hungarian pride. They simply aren't interested in the foods of their ancestors.

Before I continue, I offer my deepest respect to the culinary masters of Transdanubian cuisine, such as Chefs Béla, Vilmos and dearly departed Louis, to name a few. Pastry masters Atilla Farkas, Miska and the crew at Tommy's make delights better than what are offered at the finest shoppes in Hungary. Some Magyar recipes require special training and techniques. Learning to successfully create these culinary masterpieces requires decades of continuous practice. I thank them all for their contributions, including those we enjoy eating and those we enjoy reading.

With that in mind, I wonder what would happen if, suddenly, there was nobody making a certain Magyar food? Take, for instance, hurka. There are a few establishments today that offer anything resembling this pork and rice sausage.

I grew up enjoying hurka made by the Holy Name Society of St. Stephen Church in Youngstown. After years of tweeking and perfecting their recipe and technique—led by Sándor Tollas and Edward Gabrick-the members created some truly fantastic hurka. The American-Hungarian Club of Youngstown made a sausage of similar high quality, thanks to Frank Tobias and Mrs. George Nemeth. Other groups and churches made hurka as well. The nowshuttered Our Lady of Hungary made their own delicious and distinctive hurka. My apa told me that he remembers the Campbell Magyar Club making on the same weekend not only hurka but also kolbász.

I heard stories of 3,000 pounds of hurka being made over a three-day period. Mr. Gabrick once told me that

a local motorcycle club had a standing order for 100 pounds whenever it was made.

I was fortunate enough to be a helper in making hurka with these various clubs and churches.

The camaraderie and social bonding we shared during these sausage-making sessions could never be duplicated.

Sadly, within the last five years, Youngstown has gone from two groups making hurka to none. The end of hurka making was not due to lack of demand for the product. Making more than a ton of this specialty sausage is exhaustive and labor intensive, and there were simply too few workers willing or able to help make it in such large quantities.

If you have ever made hurka, you know it is 20 times more difficult to produce than kolbász. As many of you know hurka making is a cold weather task. As long as it is cold outside, making 2,200 pounds of sausage is more manageable when considering refrigeration. If a balmy winter thaw occurs, a new headache begins in an attempt to prevent spoilage.

Considering how difficult it is to make hurka, I wonder how they were able to sell it for under $4 a pound. Without volunteer labor, the price would double at least.

I could present many other examples of small groups of dedicated American-Magyars who make Hungarian treats. Suffice it to say that without them, our most treasured link to our ancestry could be lost. It is not enough that we support the cooking endeavors of our Magyar clubs and churches by purchasing their products, we must also lend a helping hand in the production of these beloved foods.

In my area, I can point out where the last known examples of particular Magyar foods are available:

Csiga - The Hungarian Reformed Church of Walton Hills is the only place that is still making these snail shaped noodles. It takes hundreds of individually hand-6 0 February 2013 0 William Penn Life