International ´Cinke´ Cooking Festival and Traditional Dishes Show in Szatmarcseke

This annual series of events, the International 'Cinke' Cooking Festival and Traditional Dishes Show in Szatmárcseke, has been organised on the last weekend of February since 1999.

The gastronomic event is one of the prominent programmes in the Northern Plains region. 'Cinke', the central dish of the festival, is a meal made of potatoes and flour, griddled in oil and traditionally served with cottage cheese. Other traditional dishes can also be tasted by visitors to the village.

The festival begins on Saturday with a goose-catching contest, followed by goose plucking and other goose processing activities. Following the presentations of the teams, product displays are held. Among the numerous regional products many are definitely worth tasting. Don't miss the plum jam (szilvalekvár), plum spirit (szilvapálinka) or prunes (aszalt szilva), all made from the famous Szatmár plums (szatmári szilva). To add to all this a market, a folk crafts and handicrafts show, a 'forgotten recipes' cake, biscuits and bread tasting all add further colour and, if you like what you eat, you can take away the recipes to try them at home. Not only that, there is also a cultural programme with zither orchestras, folk dancing, choirs and youth drama groups.

On Sunday visitors can participate in a traditional village pig-slaughter. Gastronomic delights follow: the 'catching spirit and mulled wine' (fogópálinka és forralt bor), an ear-and-tail tasting, and assorted breakfast and lunch dishes prepared from the freshly slaughtered animal.