I want a heck! – let's say standing in line at the greasy buffet on the beaches in the summer. The question rightly arises, what is heck? After all, no one has ever seen such a fish - alive, in its natural environment - in this country, which is not surprising, since it is a marine predatory fish. So how did heck become the Hungarian people's favorite summer delicacy - and what does it all have to do with comrades?
Gábor Tóth asks the question on the vasarnap.hu portal, and of course provides the explanation as well.
Many people consider the hake to be a Balaton fish. However, the truth is that the hake saw the "daylight" about 12,000 kilometers from the Hungarian sea, they end up in the nets of fishermen off the coast of Argentina. There, they are frozen in a ready-to-cook state, and then they arrive in Europe on giant transport ships, where they are fried in hot oil and put in front of hungry mouths.
The hake is known by many names, although the Hungarian beachgoers may not have come across the designations "sea pike" or "sea pike". The fish's Latin name "Merluccius merluccius" doesn't help much in getting to know the finned delicacy that belongs to the cod family either.
Those who have only seen heck on a paper tray on a bed of French fries may be shocked by the fact that these little creatures can grow to nearly one and a half meters in length. And their weight can reach fifteen kilograms! It follows from this that the hecks that end up on the table in Hungary were sent to the eternal fishing fields when they were still young.
Hungarian people would certainly be thoroughly surprised if they saw Heck live. Because this silver-grey sea fish is very ugly. With a mouth full of long, pointy teeth, he could have appeared in any episode of the movie Shark. It is no coincidence that it can only enter the country without a head, in quick-frozen packaging.
Poor aquatic animals are really stomach-churning, but the Ungarische paprika-flour bread can do wonders: it beautifies any sea monster.
(Source: Pixabay.com)
How did hake become the most popular catch of the Hungarian sea? For the answer, we have to look back to the period of collectivization. In the 1960s, domestic fish exports increased significantly. All this happened because the leaders at the time did not take into account the amount of internal fish consumption!
To compensate for the "fish shortage" in the country, the comrades came up with the idea of ordering cheap sea pike from Argentina. The quick-to-prepare fish will be sold at holiday locations, restaurants and buffets.
Let's face it, the idea worked. Kádárék's hacking is still with us today. The masses also believed that this headless animal was the son and calf of the Hungarian sea. For almost seven decades, we have been devouring the almost completely thread-free aquatic horror with great pleasure. Its delicious and crumbly meat is also very easy to fall in love with. Heck is one of the gastronomic icons of the Kádár era, which lives with us to this day.
Photo: Pixabay.com
