A traditional meal in new form
More than two thousand people attended the sixth edition of the Csángó Cheese Hominy Festival held at the Csángó and Fatányéros guest houses in Valea Rece.
During the course of the two-day event all members of the family, adults and children alike could find interesting programs. Saturday was reserved for sports activities, including a biking and off-road competition. Despite the rough mountain terrain and the summer heat, all 17 participants finished the 29 km long course. The winner, Árpád Kelemen from Miercurea Ciuc established a record time of 59 minutes.
The sport events were followed by musical performances from renowned Transylvanian performers, including the famous performer Sándor Homonyik.
The participants of the „32nd Border Guard” memorial hike gathered on Sunday morning to complete their journey. Their departure signaled the beginning of the cooking contest, so the cauldrons, wooden spoons and homemade ingredients “turned up”. The 12 teams proved that hominy can be prepared in various ways, alongside traditional cheese hominy, participants could taste hominy soup, rolled up hominy and even hominy pizza.
The cooking efforts of the teams was judged by a jury of three, including local teacher Irén Gergely, national director of the Kaufland supermarket chain Maria Movileanu and MEP Csaba Sógor. After the evaluation, the CSIKK team won the first prize. They declared that their secret was the fresh, home made sheep cheese.
In the afternoon, participants had a chance to listen to and hear traditional folk song and dance groups. The famous folk singer, Ilona Nyistor also appeared on stage, much to the public’s delight. The 6th Csángó Cheese Hominy Festival ended with traditional fireworks this year as well.
It is a great pleasure to see that interest for the festival gradually rises at home and in Hungary as well. More and more people attend and participate. I consider that the Festival is becoming an important factor in the community’s life and helps the preservation of the traditions and culture of the Csángós – said the organizer of the festival, Árpád Csilip.
