Delicacies from the village: manufactories, small producers around Buda

Since you are not going on a city rush, but a rural gastronomic adventure, it is worth slowing down! You are driving on the winding roads around Buda, where the hills are still floating in the mist above the trees. You can finally try out what the small SUV that you looked out on kocsi.hu is capable of, and which will be your companion in exploration for the weekend. The trunk of the small car is lined with cooler bags and baskets, into which you will pack the day's loot: homemade sausages, cheeses, syrups and other delicacies. The producers are kind, they tell you their own stories, and you feel that you are not only taking home products, but also enriching yourself with experiences.

On kocsi.hu you can find not only a car, but also ideas for the trip. Whether you are looking for a reliable SUV or station wagon for shopping, or an off-road vehicle for the mountains and hills – a good car is not a status symbol, but rather the key to experiences!

The old Pest-Buda markets could not miss the dark-baked Swabian bread, the delicious vegetables of the truck farmers, or the fragrant fresh milk in the jugs of the “milimáris” (meaning: milk market-women). Typically, the hard-working farmers of the surrounding villages supplied the town with food, driving to the market squares at dawn with loaded carts, spreading their sheets, and selling their goods there. The cook, or sometimes the mistress of the household herself, examined the offerings together with the maid to decide what to buy. Today, there are still many delicacies produced in the region of Buda, which you can find either in real or online markets. However, if you also like to see where and how the mouth-watering snacks that end up on the table are made, take a look at the settlements around Buda!

While in the past, the residents of Budakeszi, Etyek, Nagykovácsi, Solymár and other villages near the capital mainly provided the town dwellers with apples, cabbage, potatoes, pears, wheat for baking bread and other staple foods, today the offer is more specialized. You can find healthy, preservative-free, tasty and above all local products in the area.

In Etyek, you can “taste” the products of the Etyek Goat Cheese Manufactory. Here, they make all kinds of amazing cheeses from the milk of animals fed with their own organic hay, such as the soft cheese called Etyek Snow White, but they also experiment with Greek, Provençal or fenugreek seed flavours.

If you visit the town, located just thirty kilometres from Budapest, on the edge of the Zsámbéki Basin, you should also get some delicious cheeses in addition to the world-famous wines! You can do this a few dozen kilometres further away too: the Zámori goat cheese is made in Pusztazámor, flavoured with all kinds of spices from garlic to thyme to olives, but it is also worth tasting the yogurts. The pasture of the Zámori Goat Farm has not been touched by chemicals for more than twenty-five years and in return it is full of many medicinal plants. It is a magical region, where community programmes are also organized, presenting the process of cheese and dairy production. You can participate in pasture cleaning, feeding, manure hauling, and milking on the estate, so if someone would like to try out peasant life, this is the right place.

The primary field of expertise of the Kádas Cheese Manufactory in Pákozd is also cheese, where they make snacks from goat and Hungarian spotted cow milk. The cheeses available here mainly reflect the Mediterranean taste, but they also sell “goat honey” (this is whey honey made from goat whey, caramelized according to a Norwegian recipe). But what makes the place so highly recommended for those who prefer meat: the manufactory also makes various chutneys and chilli sauces, from mild to spicy. One of these is “Jamaican Dream” – an unbeatable accompaniment to grilled poultry. The manufactory, which operates in a beautiful countryside, is happy to welcome guests – but please note that registration is required!

In addition to great meat, the Cinege (Feather-poke) farm in Törökbálint also offers an experience. This family farm – where they strive to keep animals and grow plants in exemplary conditions – welcomes visitors with open arms. They can even go horseback riding or coaching, but it is an experience in itself to immerse yourself in this idyllic rural environment just a stone's throw from the capital. And those who would like to buy meat from farm animals – cattle, calves, goats – raised on healthy food and in a stress-free environment, can place their order on the farm's website.