Rákospalota, Ófalu. When the sun goes down, everyone locks themselves in their houses and there's not a soul on the streets after 6pm. There's a factory in the area, a World War I statue in the main square, a church, and that's it.
Why would people come here? You couldn't find a worse place for a restaurant in Budapest, yet the Víg Kalmár has been here for 28 years. They are almost always full, and people come here to eat. The founder-owner is Tamás Hámory, who has had a good relationship with the Matusz-Vaddal, and especially catfish, rack and deer used to buy from them, talked about his short-term plans for the upcoming Martin's Day.
- I saw on the Internet that they are preparing goose days. Is this a tradition in your country?
- It is such a tradition that I was the one who naturalised the Lebanese Days in Hungary. I was working in the Mátyás cellar in Vienna in 1978, and in November I saw that there were a lot of goose are brought to the restaurant. When I asked why, my colleagues said it was Martin's Day, but I didn't know anything about it at the time. In Austria, by the way, they didn't overdo it: cut the roast goose into four pieces, take off the chopped meat, which they used to make soup, and that was that. That was the goose dish. That was when I vowed that if I ever had a restaurant, we would definitely have goose. Then, when we opened the Merry Calamari in 1994, in the autumn, I remembered that it was Martin's Day. In those days, goose days were unknown to local restaurateurs.
- Is this the first time you have organised such an event in Hungary?
- Yes, and then a year later Kaltenberg was also organising goose parties, because the older Mr Papp, who we worked with in Vienna, just noticed what Hamory was doing. But I took it further with an idea: I didn't just have roast goose, I wrote a menu with 22 goose dishes, and that menu hasn't changed much in 27 years. Besides roast goose, there are several variations of goose breast, and we do stuffed goose, but not the way chicken is usually stuffed. We gut the bird, leave it whole, and like bejgli, roll it up with the special stuffing. Lightly breaded, with its own liver and meat, richly seasoned with parsley, braised onions and well seasoned, we roll it up, tie it up and fry it until crispy, then slice it like an egg. Loved with steamed cabbage and mashed potatoes with onions. I'm proud to say they don't make it anywhere.
- Sounds good! What else is on the Martinmas menu?
- I stuff the goose breasts with walnuts and prunes between the fat, skin and meat, then pinch, crisp and serve in nice mosaic slices. An absolute favourite is the goose jelly, and the ripe, fattened foie gras is made in two ways, breaded and the classic way, grilled. Not to be missed are the rich goose porridge, and for starters, cold goose delicacies: pumpkin pie, stuffed goose legs, and boiled, smoked goose breast. We also serve the goose warm, either with a garnish of your choice or with a sauce. Our sólet is a classic, I wrote it on the menu as Klauzál Square, in memory of Uncle Kádár. With gersli, white beans, stuffed goose steaks, roast goose, smoked goose breast, and eggs. It's a rich, proper dish, which I fry up and serve with a little more gravy than usual, because the guests don't like it dry.
- How is goose breast made?
- You know, I don't have the heart to spend 6-7-8 thousand forints for a kilo of smoked goose breast, I'd rather do it myself. Three weeks of salt, then ten days of marinade for the beautiful, beautiful meat, and then we'll take it to the smoke. My little girl is just leaving with them, and when she brings them back, we put them in the pantry to air them out. That way it costs a third as much as if I'd bought it ready.
- Are guests looking forward to the goose days?
- Yes, very. We're launching the autumn goose days between 23 October and 1 November, and we're doing it for three weeks. We already have a lot of reservations, and I know we'll do well if COVID doesn't hit us again. But even last year we got out of the hole because we were open and people took our geese or asked for delivery.
- Azt can you tell me how many geese are lost in three weeks?
- A haul that comes in is 90-100 kilos, or 15 geese. That's what I ask for because we can process 15 in a day, and they deliver twice a week.
- How much have prices risen?
- Nothing, it's three years' worth of what you see on the menu. Actually, it should have been, but I really don't like to raise it. I research what I buy, and the goose comes to us through an old relationship. We keep an eye on what's on sale, and if something has a shelf life, I'll pounce on it. I don't want to lose my customers, I don't want to lose them.#
