The Eighth Hungarian Tribe, 1982 (9. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1982-05-01 / 5. szám

May, 1982

THE EIGHTH HUNGARIAN TRIBE

Page 5

LÁSZLÓ KÖNNYŰ:

Two-Way Traffic — Hungarian Influence on American Culture

Presented at the Hungarian Eighth Tribe Foundation Conference, August 22, 1981,

Ligonier, Pennsylvania

According to the melting pot theory, in the past, the immigrant was supposed to forget his heritage and assimilate to the American culture as soon as possible. When I studied immigration history at Kansas State University in 1966, the professor reprimanded me for advocating: not only does America influence immigrants, but immigrants also influence America! To prove my point, in 1967 I published my immigration study: “Hungarians in the USA(Five years later, in 1972, the United States Congress voted into law the subsidization of ethnic studies in America.)

In the fifth chapter of my book, I discuss Hungarian contributions to America. Acculturation means not only acceptance of the majority’s culture but also the harmonization of the two cultures — in this case, American and Hungarian. In other words, Hungarians and other immigrants also affect American culture. In the following paragraphs, I shall try to show some Hungarian contributions to American culture.

The Hungarian language contributed dozens of words to the English language. America’s name is a version of an early Hungarian saint, Saint Emeric (Imre/Emery, son of St. Stephen the first Christian king of Hungary) — in Italian: Amerigo, and in English: America. (Ameriga Vespucci was named by his father in honor of St. Emeric.) Quite a few Hungarian words in English are connected with the military, transportation, food, dance and music. Washington’s light cavalry or hussars (huszár) were organized in America by Colonel Michael Kovats of Hungarian origin. Dolman (dolmány) was their fancy jacket, and their headpiece was the shakolcsákó. When fighting, they used their sabellszablya. Beside their horses, they also used a seated wagon (coach), the Hungarian “kocsi”. Goulash is the meal of the Hungarian cowboy (gulyás), with paprika its principal seasoning.

In America about two dozen populated places and streets have Hungarian names. Named after the old Hungarian capital is Buda, Texas; Buda, Illinois; New Buda, Iowa; Budapest, Georgia; Balaton, Minnesota; Horasztyville, Wisconsin; Koszta Iowa; Kossuth in Indiana, New York, Pennsylvania,

and Mississippi. Kossuth County in Iowa. Kossuthville in Florida. Kossuth Street: St. Louis, Missouri, Millstadt Illinois, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, etc. Palatka, Florida, Szantoville, Virginia, Tolna North Dakota. Zagonyi Place, Springfield, Mo. Mindszent/ Square: Los Angeles, New Bruswick, New Jersey. Andrassy Street in Fairfield, Connecticut.

It is not accidental that one of the best known cookbooks, The Joy of Cooking, of which millions of copies have been sold, was written by Hungarians: Erma and Marian Rombauer. Also, nowdays, Louis Szathmary’s Chefs Secret Cookbook; George Lang’s The Cousine of Hungary; Emery Szego's The Hungarian Cookbook, and Paula Pogany’s The Art of Hungarian Cooking are all very popular in America. I have mentioned that one of the best known Hungarian dishes, the goulash, is seasoned by paprika. Paprika chicken is a stewed chicken dish with sour cream served with nokedli/noodles. Paprika fish is a boilec fish in a paprika-seasoned soup. Stuffed cabbage/töltött káposzta; stuffed green pepper/töltött paprika; the Sekler goulash/székely gulyás are well known, the last, a meat in creamed sourkraut.

Also very popular is the Hungarian strudel/rétes filled with cheese, cherries, apples or cabbage. Fine coffe cakes are nut and poppyseed rolls I diós és mákos kalács. The Hungarian crepes suzettes are called palacsinta (specialty in the Magic Pan restaurants), and the Hungarian pizzas are named lángos. The caramel-covered Dobos Torte I dobos torta is equally famous. Hungarian influences on the American diet are the fine wines brought to this country in the 1850’s and 1860’s by Augustin Haraszthy, father of the California wine industry: The Green Hungarian, Zinfandel and the Tokáy. The last is named after a famous Hungriaii wine district: T okaj.

Monumental contributions have been made to American music. The Hungarian instrument, called Cimbalom, is pronounced almost the same Cymbalum in English. Emery Deutsh and Albert Szirmay composed American opperettas; Sigmond Romberg and Miklós Rózsa composed music for films. Béla Bartók and Ernest Dohnanyi number among the great modern composers in America. It is interesting to note that at one time or another, Hungarians conducted the greatest American orchestras. Eugene Ormandy of the Philadelphia Symphony, George Szell of the Cleveland Symphony, Fritz Reiner and Paul Solti of the Chicago Philharmonic, Anton Dorati of the Minneapolis Symphony, László Halas and Tibor Sherly of the New York Opera, Zoltán Rozsnyai of the San Diego Philharmonic, Nándor