Festival of Fishermen's
Soup
in the capital of fishermen's soup of the world
for 1 kg sweetwater fish:
1 bulb onion
1 spoon red pepper powder
salt
hot pepper
1,2 liter water
100 g home made pasta
950 kettles
8000 kg fish
400 kg red pepper powder
700 kg onion
10 000 liter water
6000 tables and chairs
+20 000 cheerful people
lot of wine
I. A little bit about Baja, its inhabitants and fishermen's soup
The fish has been one of the favorite dishes of Hungarians from the beginning. It is also true in Baja, because our town is situated next to the Danube. Fishing has been always important for the town and it determined our culture.
The fish consumption per person is the biggest in our town all over Europe. Most of the families eat fish once a week. The ancient method of the soup making has been handed down from fathers to sons. Women cook the ceremonial soup at Baja only rarely. It's always the men's duty here. The fisherman's soup is the queen of fish dishes, so we must find a suitable occasion to make a soup. For example Christmas is a quite suitable occasion, when every family at Baja celebrates with fisherman's soup. You can hardly hardly find such a man who doesn't know at least one story about a great or a bad success in making fisherman's soup. No one knows what makes the Baja town fisherman's soup really good, so there aren't two men at Baja who make the soup in same way, but there are a few things that everybody does the same way.
The Baja town's fishermen's soup :
- must be cooked in kettle, same as many Hungarian dishes
- if possible cook it in on open fire, because smoke gives a pleasant taste to it
- the fish must be freshwater fish of many kinds. Carp is the main ingredient in it
- the easier you make the better it will taste
- very important and required ingredient is the extremely hot pepper and the home made paste from 10 eggs
There are some people who believe that the recipe of the fisherman's soup is beginning with : -Take 10litre wine... etc.
Others think it's no worth watching the time during the soup is beeing cooked, so if people drink a wine-and-soda in every 10 minutes, after the 4th one the pepper can be added to the soup and after the 6th or 7th one the soup is ready. After this everybody can crack a bottle with friends.
II. The Festival of Fishmen's Soup
Baja celebrated the 300th anniversary of becoming town in 1996. For this occasion the town organized lot of programmes, but there wasn't a program which would call other countries' or the all world's attention to our town. One day a man in the local municipality invented what can put people together. The common eating. What do we eat ? What we like most : fisherman's soup!!! So the big idea was born, the realization was left. The most convenient place - where we can organize the festival - is the main square which is next to a branch of Danube.The motto of this program was : "300 years old town, 300 kettles of fisherman's soup".
Organizers took the great interest into consideration, so instead of 300 kettles there were 450 kettles in the first year.One table belonged to every kettle where everybody could welcome ten or more guests. There wasn't a guest who didn't taste the wonderful Baja town's fisherman's soup. I saw many people who were walking from kettle to kettle with a spoon in hand, they weren't refused anywhere.
The preparations started early in the morning. Every soup cooker could pick up the fishes the town gave them, in the main square. Before 6 p.m. all the guests arrived at the square, and everybody prepared for the ceremonial fire lighting.The flames blazed up at the same moment and the smoke covered all the town.
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Few minutes later we could feel the smell of the soup, during these on the festival stage the XII. Danubian Folclore Festival was started to entertain the audience. After the first plateful of soup everybody visited his/her friend's table to taste a soup of the master. Most of them sat round a table and talked, although everybody had a chance to dance in front of the stage.
Organizers put up some beer tents which were the most visited places in the square.
The midnight fireworks was the official end of the festival, but nobody whished to go home. Lot of people spent all the night in the square, they talked and had a good time till the morning. With this fisherman's soup cooking Baja is the new Guiness recorder of category :" dish, made in same time, under the same recipe " .
Besides Hungarian participants there were many overseas friends. The Festival was very successful, so organizers decided to organize it every year. Because in the first year there were too many applicants, in'97 there were 650 kettles, and this year there will be about 1000 kettles.
They plan to have 2000 kettles of fisherman's soup in 2000. In the future the soup cooking will be accompanied with the music and dances of the European Ethnic Minorities Festival.
We hope that you will come to celebrate with us next year !!!
