Tarhonya Festival in Tápé brought locals together for cooking competition and community

NewsEvents

Jul 10

Nearly two dozen teams gathered in Tápé on Saturday for the annual Tarhonya Festival, featuring a cooking competition dedicated to the traditional Hungarian pasta known as tarhonya, a small, pellet-shaped egg noodle often used in stews and side dishes.

This kind of egg noodle has Persian origins, arrived in Hungary via the Turks, and became a staple in Tápé, where it was traditionally handmade, sun-dried, and used year-round.

The Tarhonya Festival, now in its twentieth year, drew a diverse field of competitors ranging from local families to a vegan team, a kickboxing world champion, and even municipal representatives. Participants prepared a wide variety of tarhonya-based dishes, including a Bud Spencer and Terence Hill inspired version with chili and homemade smoked sausage, as well as a mushroom-based vegan recipe.

Judges selected Fakanál Team [Wooden Spoon Team] as the overall winner, with Déli Whisky Klub [Southern Whisky Club] taking second place and Falusi Sárkányok [Village Dragons] finishing third. A special prize went to Az ördög jobb és bal keze [The Devil’s Right and Left Hand], a team that featured multiple generations of the same family cooking together.

Event organizers said the festival was designed less as a competition and more as a community gathering. Many participants focused on the shared experience of preparing traditional foods rather than on winning.

The Tarhonya Festival’s idea came from the Tápé Heritage Preservation Association, a long-standing local organizations founded in 1934. Members said the event aims to celebrate and preserve local culinary traditions, recalling how tarhonya was once made by hand, dried in the sun, and used year-round by fishermen and laborers.

Local officials encouraged residents to participate, describing the event as an opportunity to strengthen community ties while showcasing local culture and cuisine.