First, I would would be remiss if I did not inform the world that Gorgonzola in Marscapone Gelato is every bit as delicious as you might imagine. Overall it has a nice creamy taste with just the right hint of Gorgonzola to make it interesting. If you can’t imagine it, then I suggest you try it. I recommend Artigiana Gelati by Moszkva tér (they’re not open on Mondays).
Now on to the news.
At the beginning of the month we sent to SzeptEmber Feszt. This took place in Népliget, or people’s park, which is a large park in Pest containing a planetarium. It reminded of a fair without exhibits: lots of delicious expensive food, lots of stuff to buy, a carnival for the kids, and even a petting zoo with Avery’s favorite—llamas. They even had used book stands which is something I’ve never seen at an American fair.
They were several bands playing which is where we were introduced to Delhusa Gjon. Rachel and I both thought he was pretty good, and one of the band members was playing an electric mandolin, so that was neat. We’re pretty sure he performed Nika se perimeno which seems to be one of his first hits—from 1979. Incidentally, I think the title may be Greek, and may mean something like Nika, I Wait for You. Most of the lyrics are in Hungarian. I have no idea what they mean.
The draw of SzeptEmber Feszt is the pörkölt. Pörkölt is translated stew, but to me stew is more soupy than pörkölt is. SzeptEmber Feszt has a big pörkölt cookoff, and they have several kinds that you can try (for a small fee). These include varied flavors as goat, goose liver, sturgeon and cock’s crest. We ate some of the official pincepörkölt főtt burgonyával (cellar stew with potatoes), some sauerkraut-ish pörkölt which was free, and some plum pörkölt which was the best but expensive (and not official). I’m not quite sure it was worth waiting in line for as long as we did, but it was good. They cook the pörkölt over little fires as you can see from last year’s pictures. We also had some kürtőskalács (of course) and got some helium balloons that Avery loved.
We had actually tried to go to SzeptEmber Feszt the day before we actually made it. We went too early in the day and nothing was really going on, so to salvage the trip we stopped by the Great Market Hall on the way home. We had heard it has a basement and, in fact, it does. In said basement you can find fish, asian food, and pickled items of all sorts, as well as a cheese store and a Match grocery store. We bought a pickle stuffed with garlic, some sauerkraut, and some sauerkraut leaves so that Rachel could make stuffed cabbage a few days later. Mmm. Delicious.
Raven 