Bakeries: bread, rolls and pretzels

János Szendrey – based on an 18th-century source – writes that “our city’s industry has always been famous for two products: white bread (with its wheat) and wine”. Elsewhere he adds: “when talking about the food industry, we have to emphasize our 100-year-old traditional food production. Our finest products are the famous loaf and the bread-baking women who make it; the pretzel, which is sold in huge amounts; and the Laci pecsenye (pork slices) made of fresh roast pork. This is particularly popular at fairs with white bread.”
Production of the famous white bread is registered in many account books of the city. These books from the period 1678 to 1711 state that bread was not only served as food for prominent visitors but also given as a gift.
There was shortage of bread only when too many soldiers stayed in the city or when the city provided bread for nearby military camps. On such occasions, the council asked for a loaf of bread from each household, and if it was still not enough they bought more from women who baked bread. The book contained the following account: “Lord General Leszlije came with his camp” and after collecting the amount from households, he bought 3 loafs of white bread from Mrs. Gémes, 3 from Mrs. Halasi, 3 from Mrs. Tereki and 3 from Mátyás Szeőcs, a peasant. Apart from these women, there were bakers already in the 18th century. They were unable, however, to bake huge quantities and the taste of their bread was also different from the good homemade one. Together with the bakers, András Tékus, a bread-roll baker, also arrived to Miskolc. He was accepted because there was only one bread-roll baker in the city.
Sámuel Benkő wrote in 1782: “our bread is the pride of our market, not only for its good taste but also for its white colour and beautiful shape. Our bread is remarkable even compared to other good quality breads brought to market from other parts of the country. Unfortunately, there are women who try to imitate the bakers of London and spoil the bread with alum to make it whiter and bigger. This causes heart problems and it is unnecessary.” Benkő writes elsewhere: “Women gladly help each other in the household chores and the local bread has good reputation for its perfect taste and shape. It rises well during kneading and it has a fine white colour.”
In addition to the description of Sámuel Benkő, the 18th-century archives contain other sources on the making of bread and bread-rolls. In a 1740 note we can read: “The honourable tailor, boot maker and leather maker guilds and the bread-baking women used to spend their incomes on the city.” The goods – listed in 1766 – of Istvénné Tóth, probably a baker woman, contained the following objects: 1 dense sieve, rails to store bread, 1 kneading board, 1 kneading tub and 2 peels. István Karos wrote in 1780 that he went to “Erzsébet S. Sopronyi for béles (a cake) because she used to bake for the market. He asked whether she had béles ready, and the woman said: it is in the oven right now. She took one béles to show me.” According to a document from 1788, a wife told her husband when arguing: “the whole city can tell that I never stopped baking for the market whether it was warm or cold…” In 1790, a big military unit stayed in Miskolc, Diósgyőr and Arnót. They had to be provided with bread. The German bakers of Miskolc, for some reason, refused to bake for them. The soldiers “asked two prominent baker women to provide the requested amount for the soldiers”.
There are many records on the bakers at markets and fairs from the 19th century as well. It is an interesting detail that in 1836, 5 local bakers and 3 widows of bakers applied for guild letters to Buda. Later, official guild documents were no longer obligatory because they had made the process too expensive. Bakers rented the bakeries from private owners or from the city for a year. Peasants had ovens in their households, but officers and guildsmen of the city also made their servants bake bread. Bread merchants baked hundreds of kilos of flour every week and sold their famous product at the market places and fairs. In the early 20th century, merchants sold bread from Sötétkapu (Dark Gate) to Zenepalota (Music Palace) on the South side of the street and they were also present at the wheat market. The famous bread of Miskolc is remembered in a poem:

„Miskolc, Komárom, Debrecen,
Let them bake loafs of bread."

 

The hazel tree of Diósgyőr

Once upon a time, travellers who arrived in Diósgyőr never missed an opportunity to look at the 15-metre tall and 600-year-old hazel tree. The tree was featured on postcards as well. In 1926, it seemed to be getting drier. In 1932 it had no more shoots; it was dry. Its top was cut off, but its 6-metre tall trunk was left there. In 1935 locals cut it out completely. An account claims that the circumference of the tree was 3.18 meters and its diameter was 27 inches. The annual rings suggested that the tree was 109 years old. Experts agreed that the corylus colurna (Turkish hazel tree) roots had new shoots whenever the trunk dried – as it did in 1935 – in the last 600 ye.
The tree trunk was cut up and pieces were given to institutions as historic relics. Its stump was covered with concrete and a Latin poem was written above. The text in English: “I have seen snow and wind for 600 years and listened to birds singing in their nests. I will not die, you will see my roots green again and I will sing the future of eternal Hungary.”
The question is: who planted the hazel tree? A teacher at the Diósgyőr boys’ school composed two legends to answer the enigma. Both attributed the planting to the daughter of King Louis the Great, Mary. King Louis the Great really liked Diósgyőr and its surrounding area. There were 15 years recorded when he spent weeks or months here with his family and hunting company. It was the time when the Turks had entered Europe, occupied Drinapole and reached the Danube at the small town of Bodony (Vidding today). The king made significant efforts to stop the Turkish conquests. He promised to build a church at Máriacell if they were able to win the war. They started two campaigns in Wallachia; he also participated in one in 1369. The Hungarians were able to defeat the Turks and beat them back to within 60 kilometres of Sofia. It was a huge and animating victory at the time. A church was built in 1370; the icons on its walls depict the victory over the Turks.
It was an important year for King Louis the Great, for the Polish also crowned him king on 17 November 1370. He came to Diósgyőr even after this date. His first daughter, Mária, was born the same year. The tree was planted on the hills of the castle on the occasion of this family event. This is how the planting is linked to Mária in the legend. The reason for ordering a special hazel tree from the Balkans was to remember the victory over the Turks. Mária was 12 when King Louis died.
The hazel was strong enough by then and gave fruit. It was called the tree of law since it was the place to announce and execute sentences. The tree of law is mentioned as a borderline in a 1659 letter of the Calvinist church. In the 18th and 19th century, this venue of punishments was called “outer forum”. Corporal punishment was no more applied from 1848 on and the “tree of law” or “outer forum” expressions were forgotten. Later, it was called the 600-year-old hazel tree.
The two hazel trees grown from the stump were given protected status in 1988 and marked with a sign in 1991.

 

The mammoth tusk of Miskolc

There is a huge mammoth tusk in Miskolc. It belongs to the city’s history and to its exhibitions just as much as do the Calvinist Church, the bell tower or the cemetery on the Avas. The tusk was dug out by Ignác Gálffy (founder of the museum) and József Molnár (scientist, teacher of the Museum Association) in 1900, during the construction of a furnace for the Hungarian Railways.
After treatment to conserve it, the ice age finding became the main item of all historical or archaeological exhibitions in the city. It was first exhibited in 1902 and it was there until 1914. It had a distinct place among 3500 other relics. Then it was exhibited again in a special iron cage – no one dared to touch it even during the war. The second restoration was needed only after 50 years. In 1950, the treatment was finished and it was exhibited in the city’s history exhibition – organized by Andor Leszih – in a special glass box between 1950 and 1962. In 1964 it needed restoration again and it was on show in Papszer until 1967 when a wall collapsed in the museum. The tusk was not damaged in the accident, but it was stored in safety until 1974. “Man and Work” was the title of its next exhibition between 1974 and 1985. The tusk was installed in the main archaeology chamber. The period between 1985 and 1994 was a very strange one. The item was stored in a chamber where it was in direct contact with air. Fortunately, it suffered no harm thanks to the successful restoration treatment back in 1964. The “Centuries of Miskolc” exhibition had a concept where the finding did not fit in. This was the first exhibition about the city where the tusk was not present. Visitors, however, missed it.
This period did not last long. In 1991, Hungarian and international archaeologists celebrated the discovery of the “Bársony-háza stone tools” and the 100-year anniversary of Hungarian archaeology. This exhibition involved the 3.5-metre tusk for a couple of months together with other relics. The third permanent exhibition of the museum (after the history and ethnography exhibitions) was opened in 1994. The focus is on archaeological findings. The 100th anniversary of the huge tusk was celebrated there.

 

„Blinks like the frog in the ‘kocsonya’ of miskolc"

There are typical local proverbs. “Blinks like the kocsonya of Miskolc” and “blinks like the frog in the kocsonya of Miskolc” are the best known ones country-wide. The proverbs spread from mouth to mouth, and two relics have also made them popular. One of the relics is a postcard issued in Miskolc; the other is a gift plate. Hundreds – maybe thousands – of objects and cards advertised the kocsonya (jellied pigs’ feet) between the world wars. Whether a frog really did blink in the food has never been verified. But one thing is sure: kocsonya was always a favourite dish of Miskolc citizens; it was served at fairs, in pubs and restaurants. Kocsonya was one of the best homemade dishes at the 18th century markets and fairs. The story, the basis of the legend, dates back to the 19th century. Briefly described: a frog jumped into a dish left to be frozen in a cellar. A careless waiter served the dish with the frog and the guests were surprised to find a frozen frog next to the pig’s foot. This story was portrayed on postcards and gifts.
The legend of the kocsonya was revived half a decade ago. A kocsonya-ball, kocsonya festival, kocsonya competition and kocsonya shop attract locals and guests from other parts of the country.

 

The legend of the white snake

In the 1930s, when Tapolca began its development into a spa, a legend was born with roots in the centuries-old Hungarian folk beliefs and traditions. Occasionally, people have spotted a white snake in the spring water. A priest and historian of a nearby town recorded that the people of Bőcs often came to bathe to Tapolca. They told the following story: “A long time ago, this water cured illnesses. My parents were also there. They went to the spring of the water where a white snake was swimming.” In the contemporary dailies of Miskolc, Géza Hegyaljai Kiss (1893–1966) published several advertisements asking witnesses or those who heard about the snake to contact him. We don’t know if someone did, but we know what a local scientist said about it: “The existence of the snake is not probable; a scientist should also have seen it. I think the white snake was invented by people’s imagination; this didn’t really happen.” In fact, ethnographic accounts or specialized lexicons did not mention the white snake and did not write about the snake’s role in faith, art or culture. They did not mention its appearance in local legends. But, at any rate, a snake has supernatural powers in many faiths.
Malicious deeds were attributed to snakes, and religious beliefs proclaimed they had a wicked character. The son of Laokon was killed by a snake. It is also true that snakes can be seen in the arms of the horrible Furies and the hair of the Gorgons. Snakes have positive meanings as well. Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine and healing, was portrayed with a winding snake on his stick. One symbol for snakes is a circle where the snake bites in its own tail. This is the symbol of eternity and the eternal repetition of nature, days, months and seasons. According to the Roman tradition, the snake bites its tail at midwinter, when a year ends and a new one begins. The best-known role of the snake was the seduction of the first man and woman in Paradise. Based on the story of the fall of man, snakes have become the symbol of seduction, evil and Satan. The white snake seen in the water is not identical with the one painted on the entrance, certain furniture and pots. That is only a similar domestic snake with the function to safeguard the place and keep misfortune away. The other snake was attributed healing power. To see the healing white snake in the healing water was purely linking reality to beliefs. About three decades ago, a woman from Görömböly told ethnographic researchers that the white snake is not only a legend; she has seen it in the crystal clear water of Tapolca. She drank from the water and was cured.

 

The legend of the miller’s cliff

The rich and unfortunate Bató family, who were engaged in wheat trading, has become a legend of the city. Similarly, the cross on the Miller’s Cliff at Hámor has become a legend as well. In its 150 years of history, the cross has become basis of many interesting stories. All guidebooks contain one version of the love drama: the old miller and his young wife or a cruel father and her daughter desperately in love or rich and poor lovers or a determined girl and shy boy. However, the ending of the story is similar; the two jump together from the cliff and die.
One version of the story is from a 1928 publication: “From the highest top of Miller’s Cliff a cross looks down to the neck-breaking depth. The legend has it that the servant of the miller – of the water mill down in the valley – fell in love with the miller’s pretty wife. Since the love was unrequited, the servant jumped from the cliff and met with a terrible death in the depth. His memory was preserved in the tales of people of the forests and valleys.” The miller and the mill are the protagonists of the story published in 1936: “Next to the Lillafüred road, in front of the mill of Hámor, there is a cross on the top of a high rock wall. The legend says that the cross was erected to remember an old miller who was cheated by his young wife and jumped from the cliff. He died there.”
Another version of the story is about the love and death of the daughter of the miller and a poor servant. The probably newest story was published in a Miskolc daily in 1993: “Locals rumour that there were at least thirty people who have jumped from the top of the fifty-metre high cliff. People remember a young couple who came to Dolka ridge to commit suicide together because of the resistance of their parents to their relationship. The girl jumped first but the boy was frightened. He returned to Miskolc but the contempt of people made him return and jump as well.” As we can see, the legend of the Miller’s Cliff passes from generation to generation; it changes and becomes more colourful, just like the place itself. The mill is no longer there; hence the miller and his daughter have also disappeared from the story.
Even the birch cross was changed to a stronger iron cross to defy the weather. It can be seen from the surrounding area. The cross and the fantasy of people keep the legend alive.