The nation’s largest ever kocsonya (jellied pigs’ feet) was officially recognized on Saturday at the Miskolc Winter Kocsonya Festival. The dish is a Miskolc speciality, hence the saying “blinking like a frog in a Miskolc kocsonya” (see pic for original Hungarian). The record-breaking kocsonya comprised 84 kilos of pigs’ trotters, 12 kilos of smoked pork knuckle, one kilo of whole pepper, two and a half kilos of salt and the same amount of garlic, more than seven kilos of onions, five kilos of assorted vegetables, and 180 liters of water, but no frogs. (For smaller scale manufacture of kocsonya, follow this recipe). The resulting jellified mass was prepared in a custom-made 1.7 meter, 120 kilo pan and was enough to satisfy 500 people. Like revenge, kocsonya is best served cold, so most of the preparations were made on Friday. Whether you would wish 100 kilos of pigs feet on your worst enemy is another question.
Most of my neighbours like kocsonya – I don’t …
Kocsonya is comfort food.
Once the stock is made, I portion it out right away into individual soup bowls. Some will be filled with meat and others with the knuckles. I then chill them.
I personally, do not like to coagulated fat on the Kocsonya, so I skim that off. Sprinkle it with paprika and a little lemon juice/vinegar, whatever you have. Fresh bread. YUM!
This is most certainly a food that I do not tell allot people I enjoy. When I try to explain it to non- Hungarians…I usually get a ‘deer in the headlight look’.
Oh well, their loss!