We've got two pieces of interesting news relating to processed meat from Hungary, one good, and one bad. Since we're traditionalists, we'll start with the bad. According to a report late last week in daily Magyar Hírlap, leading Salami maker Pick Szeged Zrt's Délhús Rt unit recently suffered the indignity of having its donation to a Christmas charity organized by the Hungarian Maltese Charity rejected.

A representative of the charity told the paper that one of its people had called Pick to see if it would join in the drive to help 1,500 homeless and needy individuals have a nicer holiday. "We can offer ten kilos of párizsi ends, but you'll have to come down to Szeged to get it," an employee of the sausage-maker reportedly told the group, referring to the tasty but not-so-nutritious tube meat often called "baloney." Lajos Győri-Dani, regional leader of the charity organization, said: "We don't usually publicize similar cases [of corporate stinginess] but this goes beyond all limits." The charity organization rejected the offer, calling it "humiliating."

Now on to the good sausage news. According to various reports, the European Commission on Friday officially gave "protected designation of origin" (PDO) status to the "winter salami of Szeged." As a result, Hungary's most famous szalámi will carry an EU-approved label attesting to its origins and quality, which will hopefully deter any would-be salami imposters.

It's the first food from Hungary to get on the EU's PDO list, and joins 800 or so other products, including (surprisingly) several apparently special pastries from the Czech Republic and (less surprisingly) about a zillion French cheeses.