"We come exactly one thousand kilometers from house to house, west and east meet at this time" - this was the cabbage harvest organized in the Nád vineyard in Szépvíz this year.
The traditional cabbage cutting and fair was organized for the sixteenth time in the Nád vineyard in Szépvíz, which is usually held on St. Gall's Day or on the Saturday closest to it. The guest of honor of this year's event was the city of Csíkszereda, but the guests and leaders of the sister settlements were also present.
Despite the thick morning fog, the local farmers started to harvest the crops early in the morning, which is considered good this year thanks to the good weather. One of the smiling farmers remarked that they were grateful for this year's harvest, because it was excellent, because natural disasters avoided the countryside, there was no ice, no floods, and the precipitation came in the right amount.
"Unfortunately, people tend to be dissatisfied, even though we should be grateful for all the good things that the Good Lord has given us"
- he said while cleaning and sorting the produce for sale.
A cooking competition was organized as one of the outstanding programs of the fair, which was connected with the cabbage cutting, in which a total of nineteen teams from Transylvania and Hungary participated. The small kitchens also offered mouth-watering snacks, but there were flaming, trumpet cakes and other portés available.
Many people visited the Nád vineyard in Szépvíz
Those present could see and hear excellent music and dance productions on the stage set up. The Szépvíz pipers, the Csíkborzsova zithers, Szilveszter Kosz and his band, the group of Poppy Flowers of the Vörömárvány Dance Group from Tardos, Hungary, the village folk dancers, the Csíkborzsova Male Choir and the Szépvíz Folk Orchestra performed. Of course, like this year's specially invited Csíkszereda, the audience could also get a taste of the values of the city, as the Csíkszereda Brass Band and the Clarinetto Chamber Orchestra presented themselves with an excellent performance.
On the stage set up on Nád, as the opening of the programs, Tibor Ferenc greeted the attendees, the invited leaders of nearby and distant settlements. In his speech, the mayor drew attention to the importance of thanksgiving. As he put it: we have a good year behind us, and at this time the people of Székely stop for a moment and give thanks to the Almighty. On behalf of Csíkszereda, Béla Bors welcomed the participants and thanked them for the invitation. The deputy mayor of the county seat of Hargita expressed his pleasure that the city could contribute to the specialness of the event, presenting a small slice of the learned heritage represented by the capital of the Czech Republic.
In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the fair, we also manage to speak with the mayors of Szépvíz's sister towns in Hungary.
"It's fantastic, the atmosphere is excellent, what's here at Nád is a miracle. We also share in the thanksgiving and joy of this year's good harvest, because the good relationship that has developed between the two settlements over the years is important. We are lovers of the landscape of Székelyföld, because in the lowlands we only see the mountains in the distance, so when we come here we go on a lot of hikes, we've been to many places and seen many wonders"
Pál Botyánszki, the mayor of Újkígyós in Békés county, summarized his thoughts. The foreman revealed that they make stuffed cabbage and Székely cabbage, these dishes are loved both in the motherland and here in Székelyföld, because the tastes of Hungarians should be the same wherever they live.
In addition to the people of Újkígyós, the delicacy was also cooked by the people of Szentgotthárd, who came here from the western ends of the Carpathian homeland a little further to the east. They came with a handful of teams this year.
"We come exactly one thousand kilometers from house to house, west and east meet at this time"
- commented Gábor Huszár, the mayor of the small town in Vas county, to our inquiry.
"The spirit of the people living at the ends is the same, which has a historical explanation, because our Hungarian kings installed Székely warriors in the guard region, in the guard, to protect the borders, so we come here as if we were coming home"
- declared the head of the mother country, who told about the delicacy simmering in the cauldron:
"we are making jointed beans with delicious fine water cabbage. The roasted base is made from good knuckles, then a large variety of horse beans are added, and finally the cabbage. After it is cooked, it becomes a good substantial, juicy one-dish. As a specialty, pig's tail was added to the hot pot"
- the mayor of Szentgotthárd whispered the little secret.
After the tiring work of harvesting and the all-day fair, the organizers invited those who wanted to have fun to the Sépvíz cultural center in the evening, where the Jánosi Music Band played the dance floor as part of the cabbage ball.
Featured image: Tibor Létai/Maszol
