Cherries are not the only fruit
There is always some weird stuff going on in the garden. Spring had the woodpeckers out in force each morning and late afternoon, sounding like the noise of distant road drills. Right now it's the emergence of pomegranate blossom.
I know, it doesn't sound much like Budapest, but this is Buda, the hilly side of town. The bit that forms a backdrop to the castle district. Up here we get woken up by the raucous din of warblers, chaffinches... fighting over their mating and nesting territories. It's noisy, but you can get use to it.
I'm trying my best to pick the two cherry trees clean of fruit before they are go over. I'm getting through about a breakfast bowl a cherries a day so far and have rediscovered my childhood talent for scaling trees effortlessly. For the first few days it was great, but I'm beginning to hate the prospect of eating any more cherries. So I've taken to giving the things away in big bags. It's retarded, I know, but I just can't let the stuff go to waste.
Elsewhere in the garden the walnuts are coming along. The English word 'walnut' comes from an Old English word meaning "foreign nut" ('wealhhnutu' - wealh meaning "foreign"). I was a bit slow on the uptake last Autumn, as I had never had the opportunity to collect walnuts straight from the tree. This meant I picked some too early and was put off by the bitter taste of the unripe nut oils.
I was a bit over eager as I know the nut oil is much higher in omega-3 when fresh and young. It's also meant to have preventative properties against the onset of Alzheimer's. Anyway, by the time I tried them again, half had already gone. The ones I did manage to collect managed to last me through till early May. Which meant suffering for about 3 weeks while the garden never offered anything free to eat.
But while I never made full use of the bounty offered by the walnuts, I completely missed out on the almonds before it was too late. Truth is, I hadn't got a clue they were there even though there are 5 of the things scattered front and back. I just never expected to see an almond tree and especially one full of nuts.
Two of the trees are currently doing battle with a form of wood ear or cloud ear mushroom (Auricularia auricula-judae), which is that jelly-like mushroom that Chinese love and westerners seem to hate - and I'm indifferent to, but it's fun to pick and eat occasionally. Always worth trying to serve them to unsuspecting guests to see their reaction.
But as you can see, the almond trees are pretty packed with nuts, so I'm collecting new recipes to try out. Particularly those that use almonds and pomegranate or walnuts and pomegranate.
Of all the trees in the garden the pomegranate was the last to come
into leaf and the last to blossom. It's not much of a tree all told, more of a straggly bush or shrub and stands about 5 meters tall. But it is a wonder that the thing is here at all. It's not the hardiest of plants, so can only cope down to about -10C, so that it has managed to get through all the Winters unscathed is great.
As the plant was the last to come into leaf (starting as late as April), the blossom buds only really started to show up 10 days ago.
They all bare an uncanny resemblance to a viper's head when looked at head on.
About 4 days ago these buds broke open and the blossom has started to emerge, ranging from deep orange through to blood red.
I know of no others anywhere round here, so I am pretty certain that the tree is self pollinating. I am also experimenting with some pomegranate seeds I collected last year to see if I can get some to grow. Only recently I found out the best method of propagation is by hardwood cuttings taken in Autumn, leaves removed and buried 2/3rds into soil.
Useful Vocabulary
- Az élet nem habos torta - life isn't a bowl of cherries
- Kiválasztja a legjobbat - cherry pick
- Hullott gyümölcs - windfall (this is the literal meaning of windfallen fruit)
- Váratlan szerencse - windfall (this is the meaning of unexpected gift, blessing...)
- Fafüle gomba - wood ear mushroom
- Bogarat tett a fülébe - plant the seed of an idea (the Hungarian literally means "put a beatle in someone's ear")
- Potyázik - to freeload
- "A dolgok természetéb?l következik, hogy..." - it is in the nature of things that...
Confessional
Look, I've got a bit of an embarrassing confession to make and I thought I'd use the start of the New Year to clear my conscience. The truth is I don't think customer service in Hungary is at all bad. In fact, most of the time it's pretty good. Can't tell you what a weight has been lifted by admitting that. It's been eating at me for a while, because I do join in when the griping starts. It's hard not to. There are crappy people out there with crappy attitudes. But there are fewer than there use to be and generally, most people are either helpful or are victims of the same circumstances. Let me put it another way. Looking at comparative guides for Budapest and Prague, "Time Out" Budapest
Words for the day
- néni: means 'aunty', but used to describe a class of older women who generally dress in subfusc or black colors and have a terrifying reputation for getting what they want irrespective of who they have to knock off their feet to get it. I find the adoption of a southpaw stance the best form of defence.
- goromba/nyers ember: a brusque, rude or impolite person (slightly formal)
- kontroll: the ticket inspectors on public transport
Convergent Evolution, an economic necessity?
So Budapest is slowly becoming a clone of just about every other international city. 2007 has the open threat of Gucci, Starbucks, the Body Shop and Burberry littering the high street (typically along Andrassy), joining last year's entrants Louis Vuitton, Schlecker, Mevida, L'Occitane and Tally Weijl. Personally, one of the few decent places is the Apple Center opened at Andrássy út 4. A visit there almost makes up for the close of the Goethe Institute at 24 (now to be found at Ráday utca 58) - which Louis Vuitton supplanted. Intellect was never much of a match for shallow chic. Along with the magnificent reopening of the New York Cafe in May last year, Budapest is looking more like the gem we have always known it was. All of which is, of course, good news. But depressing, too. For example, just taking the New York Cafe as an example. This place was once one of the centers of literary life in mitteleurope. Now, judging by the window displays it is a designer bag shop, with the threat of a more overt display of ostentatious tack to come (there are signs warning of an 'outlet shop' opening soon). But what this all does mean is that there is money about town. Not only from passing tourists, but from increasingly wealthy locals. The rate of change never ceases to astonish me. Blink and another shopping mall has bulldozered your local bakery out of existence - though you now have a convenient range of international franchises from which to get your morning danish. Truth is, I almost completely love the change. I've managed a parallel existence to consumerism in other cities and it's kind of great to have the choice here too. The cafe culture is alive and well, thriving in new hot spots around the city. So, let Andrássy be theirs. The sooner it is fully cloned and assimilated the better.
Word for the day
So, here's some useful vocab. to throw around:- 'ízléstelen' meaning tasteless.
- 'lompos' meaning tacky, with an undercurrent of untidiness. When used to describe a person it approximates to 'sleazy'
- 'giccses' meaning cheesy.
- 'kirívó' meaning showy or ostentatious.
