Eating a portion of the delicious lamb stew of Karcag and drinking palinka from one of the hand-painted cups of Herend Porcelain, at a table covered by a cloth with the motifs of Kalocsa, while listening to one of the Hungarian operettas. Well, there’s hardly any chance for an evening like that, but it would definitely be the most „Hungarian” program one could ever plan. Why? Because all the items mentioned are on the official list of the Hungaricums, which has now been broadened.

The collection consists of those noteworthy values of the culture that characterize Hungarians by their uniqueness and quality. Tourists, when staying in Hungary, definitely try some of the precious wines of the country, like „Tokaji Aszu”, they are most likely to eat a portion of stew with „paprika” as a traditional Hungarian ingredient, and they probably know the name of our most famous football player, Ferenc Puskás. Together with a lot of other items, these are all Hungaricums.

One of the newly added ones is the Winter salami, the production process of which is based on a centuries-old tradition. It is made of Mangalitsa (or Mangalica) – a rare breed of pig – and spices like pepper, allspice and others. There are strict regulations on what can be called a Szeged Winter salami – the product of Pick Company is the most successful and high-quality specialty in this cathegory, luckily it is available at any supermarket.

The intellectual legacy of Count István Széchenyi, „the greatest Hungarian”, is a new item on the list, too. It basically includes his nonsuch written oeuvre, the original sources of which can be found in public collections, libraries. Széchenyi’s work, attitude and active patriotism in the 19th century gives us a set of timeless values that ought to be followed today, too.

The beautiful pieces of Zsolnay porcelain and ceramics have been manufactured for 160 years. The name of the company is associated with tradition and constant renewal at the same time, the uniqueness and artistic value of their luxury products are unquestionable, so Zsolnay is now also part of the official collection of our national treasures.

Furthermore, it appears that we fortunately have some kind of a talent for music, too. The artistic performance of the 100-Member Symphonic Gypsy Orchestra is a Hungaricum, too. Contrary to its name, it has 140 members, Gypsy musicians, but besides pieces of their own culture, they play classical and traditional Hungarian music as well.

And the fifth new item leads us back to the precious cuisine of the country: Gundel Restaurant and Károly Gundel’s culinary heritage has put Hungary on the gastronomic map of the world. It survived the storms of history, the two world wars, the economic crises and collected the most delicious courses. Palots soup, Gundel stew, Gundel pancake have been on the menus for a long time.

With these 5 items, the number of Hungaricums has grown to 34 and let’s hope for other increases in the collection soon.