March 17, 2008 by Vándorló Budapest

Thankfully we have survived March 15th yet again. Like previous years the March 15th 'celebration' of past glory was hijacked and turned into a political dirge by pen-pushing heroes of new.

Despite Orbán's victory parade the events were, and are, largely predictable. We will be back here again next year. It is after all how Hungarians like to spend their free time, crowding together and complaining about everyone else who doesn't agree with everything they say. The object is never progress, it is always to 'win'. Compromise is about as dirty a word in Hungarian life and politics as you can get.

This time of the year always brings to mind Rakovszky Zsuzsa's poem Fehér-Fekete:

Egy fehér-
fekete logika - érv-ellenérv -
őről, s zsarol, hogy el kell döntenem:
egész-igen, vagy az egészre: nem.

It's a black and
white logic - thesis and antithesis -
that wracks and tears at me to choose:
embrace it all, or to everything, no.

(translation note: deepest apologies to the poet, it's only here to guide. Please take the time to read the original or a translation that wasn't just done off the top of my head.)

But you might have been forgiven for thinking that the whole of the weekend and series of demonstrations/rallies were a dead loss. Well not all. From the most unexpected corner came a sign of some clear thinking. It seems the path to the future health and prosperity of Hungary has finally been worked out by those hyper intelligent members of the right. The basic plan is a return to old style Hungarian values and traditions. Which in their books means a return to mother nature and hunter-gathering lifestyle. No kidding.

On Saturday, whilst the various members of the leading parties were doing their peacock walks around town the far right members of Jobbik gathered in Erzsébet Square for an all in hate-fest. During which, however, a Fogyasztóvédelmi kommandó (something like 'Commando in charge of protecting consumption') pointed out that the quality of supermarket food fruit and veg was basically, well, it wasn't good.

Actually I'm with them on this, the quality of veg and fruit in the supermarkets here is criminal and it wasn't always like this. The tomatoes and fruit here is just as rock hard and unripe as anywhere else in Europe now, special thanks to Tesco and the others. I'm not a big fan of advocating commando style back to nature foraging for food, however. My main reason is selfishness. I just don't want you amateurs getting in on the game. The last thing I need is the forests full of hunter-gatherers striping my carefully mapped hunting grounds of all their free food.

That said there is a lot of free food on offer here right in the heart of Budapest. Last year I made the (hopefully temporary) move up into Buda. And noticed, to my delight, that life really is richer up here. My apartment has a communal garden in which there are, wait for this, walnut, almond, cherry trees and one pomegranate tree; in addition to some brambles that must have started life long ago in the 60's as cultivated varieties.

But the current residents just can't be bothered, so they let all this seasonal bounty rot on the vine (or branch). Well they did until I turned up. So anyway, as my part to help Hungarians find their way back to nature here is my contribution to the yet to be compiled 'Book of Magyar Munchies from the Wild'.

Using pomegranates and walnuts together is a very Persian and Armenian thing so you could have the Persian recipe of 'Khoreshe Fessenjan' which is chicken covered with pomegranate and walnut sauce, but how about just some simple Armenian pomegranate and walnut paté:

Measure Ingredient
2 Pomegranates
¼ cup Chopped walnuts (1oz) lightly toasted
¾ cup (to 1 cup) bread crumbs
2 cup Red bell pepper finely chopped (2 small or 1 large)
2 tablespoon Lemon juice or to taste
½ teaspoon (to 1 tsp) red pepper flakes soaked in
1 tablespoon Hot water
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoon Cilantro, coarsely chopped

1. Cut one of the pomegranates in half and juice on a citrus reamer. You should have ¬ cup juice. Break the other pomegranate apart and extract the seeds, Reserve half of the seeds for garnish. 2. Grind the walnuts and 3/4 cup bread crumbs in a food processor. Grind in half the pomegranate seeds and the bell pepper, pomegranate juice, lemon juice, pepper flakes, cumin, salt and pepper. The mixture should be the consistency of soft ice cream; add bread crumbs as necessary. Correct the seasoning, adding salt, cumin, or lemon juice. The pat? should be highly seasoned. 3. Transfer the paté to a bowl and sprinkle with cilantro and the remaining pomegranate seeds. Arrange pita chips around the pat? and serve at once. Makes enough to serve 4-6.

Useful Vocabularly

• "Bolti bűnözés": shop crimes, the phrase mirrors that of corportate crime ('társasági bűnözés'), which gives you an idea of how serious they think you should take this.
• Gránátalma: pomegranate
• Kiegyezés: compromise or conciliation. They have a word for it, so it's not completely alien.