This interesting annual culinary festival has been held in the Hungarian capital of Budapest since February 2008. The feature of this festival is that it is dedicated to only one product, or rather one sort of meat of a rare breed of Hungarian pig - mangalitsa. This year mangalitsa festival will be held from 3 to 5 February on the Szabadság square. Cattle-breeding companies and leading producers of mangalitsa meat will take part in the festival. And the best restaurants in Budapest will present thousands of various dishes. The festival visitors will be able to try different kinds of bacon, ham, frankfurters, sausages and mangalitsa stew, as well as traditional Hungarian delicacies such as strudel, perkelt and langosh. The world-famous Serrano ham is mostly made from meat of the Hungarian mangalitsa.
And of course, guests can expect a rich entertainment program. Among the traditional events are culinary contests, sausage production competitions, crafts fair, folk dancing and musician concerts. In addition, mangalitsa show will be held during the festival. This breed of pigs greatly differs from others. They have thick long hair that curls in winter like a sheep. They are even sometimes called "woolen pigs". In total there are four species of these pigs differing in color - black, red, white and mixed.
Mangalitsa meat is healthier than common pork. It is believed that the reason for this is keeping features and diet, for which other species are not adapted. This breed is gaining weight more naturally and slowly, so fat and meat have a light structure and a special taste, which so highly valued by the gourmets around the world.
Ilya Kozlovskiy
Date: 29/01/2012
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