A budding community

of people happy to see each other again. The human ability to make connections and build relationships - and the joy this brings was clear from the moment I arrived yesterday. Smiling faces of producers greeted me and were on their faces when bid their goodbyes.

And I love this...

 

I would like to share a few gems I heard yesterday, the third market...

"It is so great to see each other again"

"I love my necklace and wear it every market. She is making matching earrings for me too."

"How wonderful that at last something is happening here in the Tokaj region and we need not wait for the state to do it." (This is expressed by many.)

"The quality of the goods is so high - there is no kitsch or plastic" - and we aim to keep it this way with a careful selection process (4 of the 7 organisers have to agree)

"My son loves cycling, so he goes out to the forest to collect the blackberries, sloes and elderflower. And I am still fit enough to go up the hills, down into the valleys - and I love it. We do not write that our jams and syrups are organic, but we know the fruits come from clean areas because we harvest them all."

"The market will soon outgrow itself" - so we will make some more space in the carpark to extend the area (and the police and their transport expert will join us this week to work out the best way to organise the traffic)

And from the volunteer community police woman whose face was shining after wandering around, who comes from the extremely deprived neighbouring village, "My mother crochets, my son is a smith and my daughter does embroidery. How can we join?"

10 Years as part of the World Heritage

The Tokaj Wine Region has been part of the World Heritage, a Historic Cultural Landscape, since 2002, thus we thought it appropriate to celebrate this with the market too. Dr András Takacs, head of the Tokaj-Hegyalja Programme Office, will lead a talk and discussion relating to the region's past, present and future, held in the cool of the historic cellar under the Wine Boutique.

We will also be joined by master smiths and a cooper demonstrating their crafts, as well as a keen ornithologist who will offer his knowledge - and his telescope! There's a play area for children and the chance to explore the splendid Disznókő estate (on your own or on a guided tour that will take you up through the vineyards and then down into cellars both new and old).

Of course, a fair is not a fair without music - this time a player of the traditional tárogató (similar to a clarinet), and no less than two accordion players - one of them accompanied by a sweet voice. What a treat! As is the wine tasting which promises to be a real gem, reaching much further back into the past, linking past and present, founded upon the first vineyard classification in the world which happened here in this region in the 1730s. Significant areas of Disznókő vineyards, for example, were then classified as premier cru / first growth.

The blend of old and new... Reinventing the past - or a contemporary interpretation? It's for you to experience.

"Hetedhéthatár" single-vineyard wines talk and tasting

Ever wanted to know more about single vineyard wines? Well, here is your chance. Tokaji wine expert László Alkonyi, author of several influential books about the region and blogger, has just released his most recent work, a guidebook and map to the vineyards of the Tokaji Wine Region - the first place in the world where a system of vineyard classification was introduced (in the 1730s!). László will open the tasting at 11am with a short talk, and together with his map he will help us better understand the mysteries of terroir, and its influence on the wines. The title? Hetedhéthatár refers to a mythical land, so it's certainly appropriate for the magical land of Tokaj.

László suggested a number of superb wineries, large and small, to invite to the Tokaj-Hegyalja Tasting (held in parallel with the Tokaj-Hegyalja Market) on the 10th June. We are delighted to announce that the following will be joining us:

AZ Nektar

Bartha 

Bott Winery

Zoltán Demeter

Disznókő

Erzsébet Pince

Tokaj Kikelet

Török Béla 

We are very excited. What a wonderful opportunity to meet the winemakers who will present their single vineyard wines! A shared space for us to taste some of the best the land has to offer - with a little help from skilled hands too, of course.

It promises to be a wonderful tasting, so do come and join us if you can.

Date -10th June 2012

Time - 11am - 3pm (the market is from 10am to 5pm)

Venue - the Sárga Borház Restaurant function room at the Disznókő estate

A cheese fest

With most of the top local cheese producers who all came from less than 40km away (and two less than 10!). 

Cheese Row

They brought fresh and mature,
soft and hard, 

 plain and with herbs, from cow,


sheep

 and goat too. 
Even thick and creamy yoghurts mixed with fruits. Yum!

The Health and Safety inspectors came to visit and were delightful with their friendly and helpful approach. They spoke to each of the food producers, checking everything was in order, and giving advice as to how to make sure they can keep to all the regulations. A positive way to introduce themselves certainly.

And I think this was possibly everyone' favourite - the handcrafted wooden merry-go-round. Just a shame I'm not small enough to fit in one of the buckets!

So here are some photos to remind you of what was there - or give you a taster of what you might see if you can join us next time on Sunday June 10th to celebrate the 10th anniversary for Tokaj-Hegyalja as a World Heritage Site.

Sunday May 13th is already nearly here

and with it the next Tokaj-Hegyalja market with even more to savour and experience. Artisans keen to join the market phone almost every day - a new goat cheese maker from Komlóska setting out on the cheese road who may not be have all her papers for this market, but who would love to join us next time. The "Hungarian pizza" maker who will use market products as toppings. A local baker and candlestickmaker... Maybe an exaggeration, but who knows!

So this theme is Cheese. And with an abundance of milk after the birth of calves, lambs and kids in the region there promises to be some delicious cheeses to taste from the very fresh to mature blue cheeses, properly smoked cheeses and hand-rolled paranyica. There will also be a wine tasting in the function room above the Sárga Borház where we will be joined by some of the region's top winemakers. So visitors really have a chance to explore Tokaj at its gateway, a fine introduction to some of the gastronomic treasures on offer here.

Disznókő wines will be on offer - with cheeses we think comlement the various winesThe traditional fusion of wine and cheese - and fairer than simply choosing "the best cheese". Was it ever going to be possible to do that? The wine tasting will start at 10.30 and tickets will be available in the Disznókő wine boutique.

This time we will also have a children's play area as well as a wooden merry-go-round. I haven't yet seen it but, looking at the quality of László Czegle's wooden creations, it promises to be both beautiful and fun for children. An ornithologist will join us too so there will be the chance to take a peek into the local bird life with an expert. There is also the "estate exploration" too - a guided chance to discover the Disznókő vineyards as the vines are starting to burst forth. You can also join a tour which finishes with a tasting of 6 Disznókő wines in the historic cellar under the Sárga Borház - the original press house for the estate. As well as live music. A jazz/folk band will be joining us this time so maybe there will even the chance to dance again!

So, we welcome old friends and new - for a stranger is only a friend you do not yet know!
Sunday 13th May - this Sunday from 10am with extended opening hours as requested. The fun and seriousness will play out until 5pm. I look forward to meeting you there.

Wow - what a reaction!

Visitors and stall holders (not to mention the organisers) were all delighted with the market held yesterday. A fantastic atmosphere, people glad to see old friends and to meet new ones, an exchange of products and ideas, a chance to taste foods and wines from some of the top winemakers - and of course meet the people who put their time and energy into creating their products. Not to mention the live music throughout provided by Agyagbanda who got both children and adults to dance.

And the first post market article is already up (in Hungarian). You can see some great photos.

It was the first market, and so obviously there are many lessons to be learned. Today we will sit down to discus how we can play our part in making this new tradition even better, even more fun and even more successful for all. We will certainly invite more food producers. The baker, health certificate in hand will be able to join us with fresh bakery goods - including the national favourite túrós battyú (sweet cottage cheese pocket) and other delights. A woman from the next town who will bring rétes, the Hungarian strudel, commonly made with poppy seeds, apple and my favourite, sour cherry. Another local fave is the oven-baked kényer lángos, the Hungarian pizza! The toppings will come from the market too - a selection from the superb cheeses and meats on offer. Just like Mum who told of the "Best Piemaker" who bought the cheese from another stallholder on the Castlefield market and made what Mum called the most delicious cheese and onion pie she'd ever eaten. Now Mum is an experienced pie taster and a lover of the good old cheese 'n onion delicacy, so she should know...

Talking of cheeses, the next market (13th May) will be centred around this fabulous food and we will have new arrivals next time as the guru of the Hungarian cheese revival, Enikő Balla, will bring her goat cheese and the organic Gonda farm of Erdőbénye their sheep cheese, as they will have more milk to work with. Hopefully also a lovely woman who keeps sheep who, when I asked her in January if she could come, said they were thinking of selling their animals as it was hard to find a market for her cheese. I met her at the Sárospatak market on Saturday, selling her fresh cheese, and she said she'd love to come. Did the market play a part in her deciding not to sell? Well partly, yes, it did And I'm delighted as she takes great care of her animals (who graze in fresh pastures by the Bodrog river), making delicious fresh cheese perfect just with a little salt and pepper, and spring greens (tender spring onions or bear ramsons is my suggestion).

My cheese-making friend Ildi makes a whole range from plain to herby (including chili and summer savoury, basil and garlic), smoked naturally cured in the smoke house, and even mozzarella and paranyica/parenica. The latter takes the art of handcraft one step further as slices of the basic cheese are heated and folded many times to give a distinctive texture that means the cheese becomes stringy, not unlike mozzarella - great fun can be had unwinding it - and the children have even been known to have competitions about who can eat to the middle first. Ildi has said she is willing to demonstrate the art of paranyica making, so people can see one step back into the food making, and maybe even try their own hand at the craft. She has long wanted to try the mozzarella with the horn of plenty mushroom we picked last year, and since a gastro friend recommended it would be better warmed, we hope the restaurant/gastroblogger will find a way of preparing this. The film will probably be about cheese preparation to give people another glimpse into the wonderful world of the holy cow, and of course, sheep and goat too! And will Camilla maybe joining us too. A hand-fed lamb who is incredibly friendly - and who has even had a trip up to the Füzer Castle! Please let us know if you are a cheese specialist - or know one... a chef, journalist, cheese lover, and if you have any ideas

Another part of our cheese extravangza (and May is a perfect time for cheese with the plentiful milk around after the birth of the new generation) will be cheese and wine together. The classic pairing. that the so many of us enjoy. What do the winemakers have in mind as favourites for their wines? Well, join us to find out. There will be another wine tasting in parallel with the market - and many of the best have shown their intention to join us, as well as their support for the market. The title for the tasting will be released next week.

Other sausage and cured meat producers have already said they will be at the next market alongside the delightful older couple who raise their own mangalica pigs (the traditional Hungarian swine, smaller and hairier like so many old breeds!), and the kényerlángos (Hungarian pizza) will have toppings fresh from the market - so the circles of business are already rippling out. We hope to have more vegetable growers too and, in order to make this happen, I will be speaking to the local authority in charge of issuing the papers people need and, along with Tourist Information girl we hope to encourage the most local of locals to join us with the produce from their gardens.

Why an artisan market in Tokaj-Hegyalja?

Well, the idea started with a conversation in the Arany Kaviár in Budapest a couple of years ago and has been developed into a fully-fledged market about to start this weekend, the first regular market of its kind to be held in Tokaj-Hegyalja. It is guided by a team of women passionate about local food and handcrafts who wish to ensure that consumers (you and me) can regularly meet the producers of quality products produced locally with care and love. Markets provide an alternative form of shopping for people disillusioned with mass-produced food and other goods to access local products direct from their maker and to find out more about how they were actually made, re-establishing the traditional link. They also ensures a stable outlet for producers, meaning they do not have to travel far to sell their wares and, in the grander scheme, allows more money to remain within the local economy.

And what about the producers themselves? Well, over 40 will join us for the first market and new applicants are appearing daily! News spread fast on the grapevine! Small producers of high quality food and non-food products, artisans who take great care in making the best they can, usually from their own or local materials. There will be cheese (cow, sheep and goat), cured meats and sausages, honey, oils, vinegars (from Tokaj wines too), spelt and other bakery goods, organic foods, jams, syrups and hopefully home-dried fruits too. But maybe we'll have to wait for the new season...

Craftsmen and women will bring their ceramics, hand-carved wooden objects and toys (and a swing too if the weather is fine), felt, embroidery, jewellery, designer clothes, leatherwork, wrought iron, and - of course this is the Zemplén after all, home to some of the finest oak barrels in the world - barrels too.

As you can see a fine display of the creative locals ready to show their wares to you and others.

We have received many messages and gestures of support and encouragement by those delighted to see the first shoots of a venture for the community smaller and wider. We have been delighted with the response from the artisans who have come forward in ever increasing numbers to participate in what promises to be a fun and exciting meeting of minds and hearts. The authorities have also been extremely helpful in setting up the market - and the local waste management company offered 3 selective bins for the rubbish. All of their own accord, they rang back to say that actually they felt this fitted better with the spirit of the market! How right they are.

To add to the true spirit of the fair, we have invited a popular local folk band who will play throughout, as well as holding a couple of dance houses for children (though I'm sure enthusiastic adults can also join in!). There will be a film showing too and the opportunity to explore the vineyards, climb to the top of the estate and enjoy the fabulous view of the Toka Hill, out over the Great Hungarian Plain and round to the historic centre of Mád. We suggest kite enthusiasts bring along their kites to try out the flying at the top where the air is always moving (that is one of the factors in the estate being an excellent site for aszú development on the grapes). Older locals have told that this was always a site where people came to fly! So another tradition to be revived?

And naturally no fair would be complete without food and Eszter Fűszeres, the gastroblogger from Erdőbénye and the Sárga Borház restaurant on the estate will be preparing delicious dishes. The Sárga Borház will be roasting a lamb, true seasonal fare and local too - from the Gonda organic farm in Erdőbenye not far away.

Obviously Tokaj-Hegyalja region is famous first and foremost for its legendary wines, the Aszú wines. Thus there is a parallel event to be held in the impressive rooom above the Sárga Borház restuarant, a Furmint tasting to which we have invited ten of the top winemakers. This is the first of a series and on each of the market days there will be the chance to taste a spectrum of the best wines on offer and find out for yourself just why Tokaj-Hegyalja and its wines are so famous. A true community spirit.

Come along and join us - and experience Tokaj-Hegyalja! Look forward to meeting you.