The Importance of Food Heritage in Defining National Identity
Food culture has played, and continues to play, a pivotal role in defining the identity and community cohesion of nations. It is not merely a matter of sustenance, but a cultural element with deep ties to the material world, festive traditions, and everyday customs. Meals and individual dishes function as mediators, providing a means and channel of communication that links the individual to the community and the past to the present.
Local communities select, reconstruct, or construct their shared food heritage through social discourse on the past, belonging, and locality. This process of heritagization has led to the establishment of national and local collections documenting the valued elements and traditions of the culinary past. In Hungary, the institutional framework for managing, preserving, and transmitting food-related traditions has evolved at both the national and local levels.
The Evolution of “National Dishes” in Hungary
In the early modern period, a specific dish first emerged as one of the most important symbols of Hungarian identity. The saying “Cabbage stew is Hungary’s coat of arms” highlighted the significance of this stew made with sauerkraut, meat, and bacon. However, this dish was not uniquely Hungarian, as it was also popular in neighboring regions.
It was during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the period of “food nationalism” in Europe, that Hungarian identity began to be symbolized by a new dish – the meat stew cooked with paprika, known as gulyás (goulash). This simple dish, originally eaten by common people and cattle herders on the Great Hungarian Plain, became a national icon, surpassing the more widely shared cabbage stew.
The terminology used to describe this “national symbol” has not been standardized over time. Variations such as paprikás (paprikash) in Central Hungary and pörkölt (stew) in Pest have persisted, reflecting the regional diversity of Hungarian cuisine. Moreover, the most recent version, gulyásleves (goulash soup) made with stock and vegetables, became a regular feature of programs organized by the Hungarian travel agency IBUSZ for international tourists from the 1970s onwards.
The Festivalization of Food Heritage
Following the change of regime in Hungary, local communities launched a series of new events and festivals aimed at strengthening their identity and building a sense of togetherness using elements of their shared past. These programs also became a source of income for local entrepreneurs, who centered them around dishes and ingredients that could be presented as symbols, local specialties, or the main attraction of the celebration.
One such example is the Baja Fish Soup Cooking Festival, which attracts large crowds to the city of Baja. While not all festivals have achieved the same level of fame, the trend of using food as a vehicle for identity-building and community cohesion has become widespread throughout the country. Local foods have become just as appealing as the landscape or other cultural values, with festivals, foodways, and wine routes developed to meet the demand of both Hungarian and foreign tourists.
The Hungarikum System and the Institutionalization of Food Heritage
In the 1990s, the term Hungarikum was coined to refer to non-mass-produced Hungarian products promoted by agricultural marketing and the advertising industry. This initiative, part of the “Euroterroirs” program recognized by the European Union, aimed to document the history and agricultural/food industry use of traditional and regional products in Hungary.
The values collected within this framework were placed under legal protection as “national treasures” by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, leading to the creation of the Traditions – Flavors – Regions (HÍR) trademark. Products were listed as “Traditional Specialities Guaranteed” (TSGs) in the Register of Agricultural Products and Foodstuffs, and descriptions were included in the Codex Alimentarius Hungaricus.
However, surveys have shown that the commercial appeal of these legally protected foodstuffs and agricultural products remains very low, as without sufficient marketing support, consumer preferences are not significantly influenced by this distinction.
The Revitalization of Hungarian Gastronomy
In the second half of the 20th century, the direction of development in Hungarian culinary training and the catering industry was symbolized by the restaurant set up at the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels. This establishment served regional dishes like chicken paprikash, galuska (egg noodle dumplings), and strudel, as well as the cottage cheese cake created by chef János Rákóczi.
Following this success, the Central Committee of the Hungarian Socialist Party passed a resolution to promote Hungarian cuisine abroad. This trend of emphasizing regional characteristics, which began in Western Europe in the 1980s, reached Hungarian gourmet restaurants in the 2000s. Alongside Michelin-starred establishments, numerous new bakeries, pastry shops, and restaurants opened across the country, utilizing local, seasonal ingredients and drawing on traditional peasant knowledge.
This revitalization was consolidated by the establishment of the Hungarian National Gastronomic Association in 2004, which published the Culinary Charter in 2007. The guidelines outlined the profession’s shared goal of moving beyond the “deservedly famous Hungarian cuisine” myth by relying on high-quality local ingredients and well-trained professionals. Initiatives like the cooking competition “Tradition and Evolution” have also played a role in elevating Hungarian gastronomy on the global stage.
Showcasing Hungarian Gastronomy during the EU Presidency
During Hungary’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2011, a series of events were held to showcase the country’s cuisine and promote its image to the rest of Europe. Experts, including master chefs and winemakers, carefully selected the menus and wines to blend Hungarian and European, as well as modern and traditional, elements.
The focus on Hungarian wines was an important organizing principle, with the individual courses chosen to accompany the selected regional wines. Traditional ingredients, such as millet, buckwheat, Jerusalem artichokes, and spelt, were incorporated, along with meats like Mangalica pork and Hungarian Grey cattle beef. The most unusual item was Mangalica bacon foam, served as a dressing.
These events demonstrated the innovative processes underway in Hungarian gastronomy, blending the country’s culinary heritage with contemporary culinary trends and techniques to create a unique dining experience for discerning European guests.
The National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Collection of Hungarikums
Since 2012, the Collection of Hungarikums and the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage have been developed in parallel as part of a government initiative. The Hungarikums system focuses on outstanding values that symbolize “the high performance of the Hungarian people” and reflect the country’s regional diversity and local heritage.
The National Inventory includes proposals associated with themes such as nature, culture, agriculture, food, tourism, and hospitality, based on criteria that differ from the UNESCO regulations. Submissions build on one another, from the local level to the county and national lists, with the National Inventory serving as a collection of the most outstanding values identified by the Committee for Hungarikums.
Among the food-related items included in these heritage lists are both individual dishes of traditional peasant cuisine and popular products of the Hungarian agricultural and food industries, such as pálinka (fruit brandy), Csabai sausage, Tokaji aszú wine, and Hunagrian acacia honey. These items are legally protected by trademarks before being marketed in Hungary or internationally.
The UNESCO Recognition of Food Heritage
Food heritage became part of the UNESCO World Heritage List relatively late, in 2010, when it was added as an aspect of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The diversity and lack of comparability among the listed values that symbolize a particular country’s food culture are striking, ranging from completely ordinary foods to dishes or customs that have been excluded from everyday practice for reasons of prestige.
In the case of Hungary, the Mutton Stew Tradition of the Cumania Region in Karcag, the “Miller’s Wafer” Tradition in Borsodnádasd, the Tradition of Plum Jam Preparation in Szatmár-Bereg Region, and the Living Cooking Tradition of Baja Fisherman’s Soup have been included in the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The inclusion of Baja fisherman’s soup on the list in 2021 recognized it as a still-living tradition and the first Hungarian gastronomic festival. Baja’s geographical location on the border between the Great Plain and Transdanubia has made it an important center of trade, shipping, and fishing for centuries, shaping the local version of Danube fish soup that is now closely associated with the city.
Conclusion: The Enduring Significance of Food Heritage in Hungary
The evolution of “national dishes” in Hungary, the festivalization of food heritage, the institutionalization of culinary traditions through the Hungarikum system, the revitalization of Hungarian gastronomy, and the UNESCO recognition of food heritage all demonstrate the enduring significance of culinary traditions in shaping the country’s cultural identity.
As global influences and modern lifestyles continue to reshape food consumption patterns, the perception and consumption of traditional foods and beverages by different age cohorts within Hungary provide insights into how the country’s food culture and identity are evolving. Understanding these trends can inform policy decisions and dietary strategies to preserve and promote Hungary’s rich culinary heritage.
