The best breads and walking cakes in Hungary
True to the traditions of the Hungarian Bakers’ Association, it has announced the St. Stephen’s Day Bread Competition for the eleventh time this year. In the first round, fifty-six products were named in three categories.
A five-member professional jury evaluated the quality in the qualifiers. During the jury, the judges examine the breads in accordance with the provisions of the Hungarian Food Book, with special regard to the quality marks, the rind, the gut, the smell, the taste and the aroma.
The aim of the competition is to keep the baking industry in constant development, so that in addition to traditional breads, one of our most basic food products will be enriched with quality products that meet consumer needs. The secondary aspect is the presentation of the richness of ideas of Hungarian bakers.
The press conference was opened by József Septe, President of the Hungarian Bakers’ Association, Ilonka Boldizsár, Honorary Member of the World Association of Bakers and Confectioners, President of the Jury. In his speech, the President emphasized that the best bakeries in the country had been nominated for fifty-six promising products at the first competition. In the second round of the public event, the five-member professional jury expanded with two participants. Beáta Felkai, Head of the Department of Food Economics and Protection of Origin of the Ministry of Agriculture and Dr. György Pleva, Director of the Food Feed Safety Directorate of NÉBIH, joined the baking industry. The judges tasted twenty-five products over the course of two hours.
With the winning products, the general public will be on August 19-21. You can meet at the Hungarian Street of Flavors event, the motto of which this year is grain. Visitors get an insight into the world of different wheat varieties, they can find exciting domestic lists of the mills operating at home.
There were three categories to compete in the Bread Competition:
• St. Stephen’s Day Bread
• Innovative bread
• Walking Cake (new race this year)
Breads of the St. Stephen’s Day Bread category competition:
• Goulash Bread
• Bread Shepherd
• Mangalica Fatty Sourdough Bread
• Matthias Loaf of St. Stephen
• Durum Sourdough Bread
• Festive Loafers
• Church Bread
• Kerepes Heart
• Szabolcs Kovászos
Breads of the Innovative category competition:
• Roman Carrot Bread
• Potato-flaxseed Blessing
• Corn-seeded Loaf
• Rustic Fish Soup Accompanying Bread
• Hemp seed alakor
• Swinging Shoes
• Forest Worker Bread
• Bread of Kriszti Lavender
• Baths Bread
The competition products of the Walking Cake:
• Oat-Plum Slippers
• Cinnamon Croffin
• Brussels sprouts
• Pear Braid
• Cottage cheese-peach slices
• Whole grain spelled slippers
• Strawberry braid)
The first and most important category of the competition is our staple food prepared for the founding of the state. The basic condition of the St. Stephen’s Day bread was that the bread should be made from flour according to the requirements of the Hungarian Food Book, using traditional sourdough technology, using only domestic, natural ingredients. In this competition, the nine best breads will be judged by a jury on Monday. During the event, members of the press will be able to view and taste the repertoire from which this year’s winning bread will be selected. The first-place St. Stephen’s Day Bread will be presented in Parliament at the central press conference of state celebrations in early August.
In the second category, Innovation developments are given attention – this competition is very popular with competitors – bakers baked breads from unusual ingredients, using special grains and seeds, combining an interesting and bold world of taste with a decorative look.
The third race is a novelty this year. In the case of Walking Cakes, the basic criterion was puff pastry, during the design care had to be taken to ensure that the product was tangible and comfortable to consume while walking.
In addition to the recognition and appreciation of the profession, the category winners will also receive a cash prize.
In the professional competition of the Hungarian Bakers’ Association, only those who develop, spend time and energy on continuous learning can be really successful. The commitment of the Hungarian market is shown by the fact that even the situation of difficult times (war crisis, constantly rising costs, changes in the regulatory system) handles product development from the place and in the most important place. This allowed them to be named with the product this year, hit quality breads and welcomed the new categories where the exciting flavors were paired with the special look.
At the competition, the representatives of the profession not only devoted energy to what was needed, but also took a bold step and looked to the future. One reason for this is that bakers have realized that consumers can only be retained by producing quality products and introducing novelties. Businesses that are able to innovate can make multiple profits. The bakeries that take part in the bread competition will provide themselves with the opportunity to promote their products to a new consumer base, as this is a great opportunity to meet consumers in person at the Street of Tastes event.
The Hungarian Bakers’ Association is justifiably proud of the Hungarian bakers who are in every situation and provide one of our basic foods, the bread, which is on the table of every family during meals. Currently, there are domestic and global processes taking place in the world that are radically changing the bakery industry. We struggle to stay positive because customers need us and quality bakery products.
Members of the second round jury:
• Dr. Beáta Felkai, Head of the Department of Food Economics and Protection of Origin of the Ministry of Agriculture
• Dr. György Pleva, Head of the Food and Feed Safety Directorate, Chief Veterinarian
• Ilonka Boldizsár – President of the Jury, Ambassador and Honorary Member of the World Association of Bakers and Confectioners
• Katalin Gyenge – head of the Katica Bakery and Coffee and Tea House in Balatonkenese, first place winner of the Bocus d’Or innovation award
• Anita Nardai – Prince of the Hungarian Bakeries, baker, manager of Falatnyi Bakery, in the Central Transdanubia region
• Károly Kászpári – President of the Baranya-Somogy-Tolna County Region, Managing Director of Fristen Kft.
• István Király – President of the Bács-Kiskun County Region, founder of Király Pék és Társa Bt.
Further information:
www.pekszovetseg.hu
Tünde Buliczka, Hungarian Bakers’ Association +36 70 418 7507, [email protected]