Speaking of Mangalica mania, I recently sampled a very interesting product made from Hungary's favorite "luxury" pig. The jar of "pumpkin seed Mangalica fat with truffles" you see nearby is made by a firm called Aranyszarvas-Gomba Kft (Golden Stag Mushroom Ltd.) According to the website of the company - which is not to be confused with the restaurant of the same name that I recently reviewed here on Chew - it was founded a couple of years ago by "truffle gatherers and friends." In addition to a range of truffle-based products, they now offer a range of products, including wines and inventive fruit preserves.

As much as I like the idea of "pineapple chutney with tarragon" I found myself instead sniffing out the mangalicazsír szarvasgombával és pirított tökmaggal, for which I paid Ft 1,390 (around €5) for a caviar-sized, 80-gram jar. While the maker says the stuff "can be served for breakfast on bread, mixed with cream cheese, and is great with eggs or gnocci, mixed with potato noodles or to fry meats," I simply slathered it onto some bread and snuffled it down. First, however, I had a good laugh at the English on the packaging, which (unlike most of the company's quite slick promotional materials) inelegantly called it "mangalica grease" and thanked customers for making a "good choice!" Though it certainly was a good choice, at least for a fat pig like me. Mmmmm.