So if you’re flying out of Budapest’s Ferihegy airport be aware that, starting from today, certain new restrictions are being applied to what you can carry on board departing aircraft. Following the lead of other airports, Ferihegy is putting in place a near-total ban on liquid and semi-solid substances that could conceivably be used to create an in-flight bomb. So from now on, passengers will be allowed no more than a tenth of a liter of any liquid in their carry-on luggage, which has to be placed in a separate, transparent bag so the security folks can check it out. Meanwhile, according to napi.hu, the list of substances being banned from the cabins of outbound repülőgépek includes all “lubricants,” as well as jelly, soft cheese, yoghurt and, yes, goose fat.
So who brings goose fat onto planes? Hungarians, naturally, who like to slather a few tablespoons of libazsír onto a slice of bread with a bit of chopped onion and a dusting of sweet or hot paprika to create the classic zsíros kenyér (fatty bread) – especially when they are feeling homesick or anxious. It’s enough to make you think the terrorists have actually won, were it not for the fact that most flights out of Ferhigy are only a few hours in duration, and the new regulations exempt “liquids” purchased at any of the duty-free shops in the airport. Bottoms up!
