Kothencz Kelemen (szerk.): Víz, ember, örökség. Tanulmányok a 90 éves született Solymos Ede tiszteletére - Bajai dolgozatok 21. (Baja, 2017)

Balázs Kovács Sándor: A hal szerepe a sárközi parasztság életében

Sándor Balázs Kovács The role of the fish in the life of the peasantry in Sárköz

Before the 20th century fish consumption was more wide-spread in the Sárköz because its agriculture was determined by the large flood area. The catches were beyond the needs of the population so the unnecessary fish and crab were sold in Szekszárd. Some fishes (the smaller ones) were used to fatten up pigs, others were dried for the winter.

Many kinds of fishes were known in the Sárköz, where (as the phrase goes) „roasted fish has been eaten with boiled fish”. Sometimes only the head or the back of the fish were consumed. Eating fish on Friday has belonged to the customs of the Calvinist community as well. In Ocsény in 1811 for example an order has forbidden to take out the fish from the village on Thursdays because it was meant as the inhabitant’s lunch for Friday. The simpliest way of making the fish was roasting. On the local markets (in Szekszárd and in Bátaszék) women have sold roasted fish. Names of local places show the importance of fishing in Sárköz as well.

[Translated by Péter Kovács]

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