CONVERSATION W/ VLADIMIR ANDRASSY—How appropriate it is that the interview is taking place on a sloping hillside just in front of the Teahouse. For we have entered a slanted, fairytale-kind of world, drinking the teas offered to us by the House, and it is just after the first few sentences that I realize that I […]

Barley/ Árpa / Gerste / Orge / Cebada / Orzo—Basking in the sun of yesterday’s column, today’s issue is about mud. Now that we can look back on it from under half-closed eyelids shimmering under the sun or from the coolness of shades as our body is bronzed. Barley is a crop that grows in […]

Corn / Kukorica / Mais / Maïs/ Maiz–Now that the sun is officially back to shine down upon us, caress our backs and turn our faces and days golden, we are turning our clear eyes towards it. So today we will be looking at sun drying and at corn, perhaps the most sun-loving of all […]

Reis / Rizs / Riz / Arroz / Riso—Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa (Asian rice) or Oryza glaberrima (African rice). As a cereal grain, it is the most widely consumed staple food for a large part of the world’s human population, especially in Asia. It is the grain with the […]

Oat / Zab / Hafer / Avoine / Avena—I am not a horse!—goes the local saying, when one mentions oats in Hungary, looked down-upon as horse fodder by the local people whose stomach are generally used to more earthy, heavy stuff (think goulash). As if horses were not majestic, beautiful, sensitive, and very very strong!

Rye / Rozs / Seigle / Roggen / Centeno / Segale—One day a young wondering organ maker one day arrived in Pécs for his apprentice year at the city’s famous organ manufacture. Yes it all sounds a bit medieval, and it probably is. Talk is of mead, of „Viking-spirited” beer, of slow processes, but also […]

Millet / Köles / Hirse / mijo /miglio—Fáni is a gentle giant with a huge rasta frond encircling his head. He lives in Hosszúhetény, a village in Southern Hungary and is an avid forager in Wales in the autumns. There are many topics going on in this year’s cooking grove, but the main, underlying current […]

Wheat / Búza / Weizen / Blé / Trigo / Grano–Watching Vera kneading dough you understand what it’s all about. She takes two loaves and rolls them with the flat of her palm against the weathered wooden board and against each other, carressing them whilst gently but firmly working out the air from both. The […]