Hungarian sausage Pick: review, description, reviews

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Whoever visited Hungary at least once should have noticed how many different sausages are offered by shops and city markets. They literally hang over visitors and beckon with beautiful wrappers. If you try a sausage made in Hungary one day, you will understand the difference between a real tasty salami and the one that we see on the shelves of our stores. No wonder the products of the meat industry of this country received excellent reviews all over the world and a huge number of honorary awards.

Great souvenir from Hungary

Quality and extremely tasty Hungarian sausage is known far beyond the borders of the country. It is exported to 35 countries of the world. Experienced tourists know that the main souvenir to buy in this European country is Pick salami.

However, now residents of the capital can buy it at any time, sincePaprika store opened at: Businovskaya Gorka, 2.

But be prepared for the fact that a stick of delicious salami will cost you about 1300 rubles. Despite the price, be sure to indulge in the pride of Hungary, the famous sausage made in Szeged.

In the article, we will consider why the Hungarian sausage is so famous all over the world, who organized the production and set such a high bar for competitors, how pigs are raised and how such a famous product is prepared. You will learn the story of Mark Peake and his family, and understand why salami is called "winter salami". The Hungarian language is completely different from other dialects; it is not easy to make out it in a store offering a diverse selection of meat products. But everyone recognizes the inscription PICK, it is also easy to find a product at a price. If you see a price tag with a large amount, then you are already there.

History of the Pick Sausage Factory

Hungarian smoked sausage began to be produced in 1869 in the city of Szeged, which is located in the south of the country on the border with Romania. An agricultural trader named Mark Pick has returned from a trip to Italy. He was full of bright impressions and hopes. Having seen enough of the sausage factories and workshops, he firmly decided to go into such a business. After some thought, Peak settles in Szeged, as pig farming flourished there, and spicy paprika also grew. The climate had a favorable effect on crops, and red pepper grew up to 20-25 cm and a diameter of 3-4 cm. It was believed that the annual two hundred sunny days contribute to this.

Meat and paprika were purchased locally, and Italian craftsmen, whom Peak invited to his factory, helped raise production from scratch and develop a unique technology for making delicious sausages. We started small, but quickly expanded. After Mark's death in 1892, the Pick business was inherited by his wife Catalina and son Jene, who significantly increased the production and quantity of sausage produced.

Already in 1927, Pick Salami sausage received a diploma at an exhibition in Greece in Thessaloniki. And by 1939, the company becomes the second largest food production enterprise in Hungary.

The fate of Peak Jr

A very interesting fact from the life of the owner of the sausage production is that, while manufacturing a huge number of different sausages at his enterprise, neither Mark Peak, nor his son and successor Jene have ever tried them. Everything is explained by religious considerations. Peaks belonged to the Jewish community, and Jews do not eat pork. Belonging to this race played a tragic role in the life of the family during the Second World War. As everyone knows, the Nazis showed unprecedented atrocities and exterminated Jews in all countries of Europe.

Jene Pieck was saved from reprisal by a diplomat from neutral Sweden Raoul Wallenberg. Sweden is a country that in these terrible years gave shelter to many representatives of the Jewishpeople, the Peak family was also lucky. However, after the occupation of Hungary by fascist Germany, the plant was taken away from the Peak. After the Soviet troops defeated the enemy Pico, the enterprise never returned. The meat processing plant was nationalized. Jene Pik never returned to Szeged, and spent the rest of his life in Budapest. His children left the country and immigrated to the US.

After the fall of the socialist regime, the plant, which previously belonged to Peak, was never returned to the founder. It was transformed into a joint-stock company, but it still produces sausage, and of excellent quality. The recipe for its preparation is still kept in strict confidence, so one can only guess what exactly gives it such a unique taste. Let's take a look at why the Hungarian salami has become so popular and loved by people from many countries.

Mangalitsa

The most delicious component of the famous Hungarian brand is considered special meat. Mangalitsa pigs even outwardly differ from other animals. Their coat is long and curly. They are unpretentious in care and know how to adapt. However, in order to obtain lean marbled pork, animals must be free range, move a lot and graze on ecologically clean pastures.

Moreover, such content should be year-round, animals calmly endure cold snowy winters, they have excellent immunity. Mark Peek used Mangalica meat to make Hungarian sausage, which determined the excellent taste.

Composition of "winter" sausage

Famous Hungarian"Winter" salami is made only from lean pork with the addition of fat from the belly of a mangalica pig and various spices, one of which is hot paprika grown in the fields near Szeged. All ingredients are kept strictly confidential. The resulting mixture is pushed into the shell and immediately smoked, only then put in spacious cellars to dry and dry.

Delicious sausage is obtained by ripening for 3 months. During this time, the shell of meat products is covered with the so-called noble and useful for digestion white mold. That is why it is called "winter" salami, it really seems to be powdered with snow.

Pick sausage is stored for a long period. Moreover, according to customer reviews, even at a temperature of +20 degrees, it does not deteriorate. Therefore, both in the heat of summer and in damp autumn, travelers can safely take home any Pick sausage as a souvenir of their stay in Hungary.

Production Features

A characteristic feature of the Hungarian sausage is the presence of white mold on its surface. In order for it to appear during the drying process, special conditions are necessary - cold air temperature and the required degree of humidity.

This was all achieved by the proximity of the aging rooms to the banks of the Tisza River, which flows through the territory of Szeged. The coastal wind perfectly blows the halls and creates the necessary conditions for the maturation of whiteraid.

Premium Products

Pick sausage in Hungary, according to meat lovers, is considered the best and favorite both among the inhabitants of the country and among the numerous guests of the city. If you want to buy the famous “winter” salami in a store or market, look for the inscription EREDETI PICK Téliszalámi on the label.

Hungarian inscriptions are absolutely incomprehensible to our tourists, so it's better to know for sure what to look for. "Winter" salami is considered a classic option without hot spices and with a minimum amount of spices.

Besides this famous Hungarian product, the company produces about 40,000 tons of various meat products. These are salami and sausages, meat and liver pastes and sausages, cuts and cuts. In stores, the eyes simply run up from the diversity of wrappers. On the products of the Pick factory, a cellophane package with the image of the stripes of the colors of the Hungarian flag is put on top of the white shell. The price tag for all products of the enterprise is much more expensive than other sausage products. This is explained by the use of only marble pork mangalitsa and natural ingredients. If there was a paprika crop failure in the country, then this year you will not find sausage with paprika in any store. This already says a lot to the experienced buyer.

Famous Hungarian sausage brands

Besides Pick, Herz, Csabai and Gyulai brands can be seen in the country's stores. They produce smoked thin and thick products, slightly spicy and hot sausages, as well as boiled smoked sausage. There are pork meat products andbeef, as well as game.

Many villagers in the villages make their own homemade sausage and are very proud of their product. Sausage-making competitions are often held in the country, which creates he althy competition.

Museum of Paprika and Pick Plant

If you are traveling by car in Hungary, be sure to visit the city of Szeged to buy the famous and, according to our tourists, the most delicious sausage. You can also visit the Pick Salami and Szeged Paprika Museum. There you can see the stages of production and try the varieties of products manufactured by the enterprise. You can enjoy the exquisite taste of "winter" salami and try spicy cuts with paprika. It is easily recognizable by the orange hue of the cut.

As you can see, the quality of sausage includes many components. This is excellent quality meat, natural spices and spices, fresh fat, highly efficient aging and smoking technology. The quality of Pick sausage can be judged by the positive feedback from customers from all over the world.