Pálinka

Törkölypálinka, a different product in the legal sense, is a similarly protected pomace spirit that is commonly included with pálinka.

While pálinka may be made of any locally grown fruit, the most common ones are plums, apricots, apples, pears, and cherries.

[1] A similar product exists in the Czech Republic and Slovakia where it is known as pálenka, and in Romania (Transylvania), Italy, and Greece under the name palincă.

The words pálinka (in Hungarian), pálenka (Czech and Slovak), and pălincă (Romanian) derive from the Slavonic stem paliti, "to burn, to distill".

[4] In Hungarian, the word Tótpálinka (literally 'Slavic pálinka') was used to refer to alcoholic drinks derived from wheat.

[7] As a consequence of this regulation, a whole family of popular Hungarian products were rebranded as szeszes ital (spirit drinks).

Traditional pálinkas mixed with honey were also rebranded as szeszes ital (or liqueur if the sugar content exceeded the required limit), even if there were no unorthodox steps in the process of distillation.

This caused some confusion in neighbouring countries, as some claimed that producers of fruit spirits would have to pay a royalty to Hungary.

Unlike Hungarian pálinka, its Austrian counterpart may not be made with column stills, and in order to achieve a full character, careful slow distillation is required by law.

[10] Pálinka as a geographical indication (in other terms, a product with protected designation of origin or PDO) has been officially registered in the European Union since 2004.

The first records of the Hungarian spirit date back to the fourteenth century (1332); called Aqua vitae reginae Hungariae.

Comenius described the equipment used to make pálinka in Orbis sensualium pictus ("The World in Pictures"), his famous book written for children in the Hungarian town of Sárospatak.

Records show that Cistercian monks in Heves County were brewing beer and distilling pálinka in 1715.

The word pálinka became widespread in Hungary in the 17th century, but it still referred to distillates made from grain.

Private distilleries and factories started to appear towards the end of the eighteenth century, which led to legislation and to the introduction of a pálinka tax.

It is commonly made from the fermentation of plums, but other fruits used include apricots, apples, pears, peaches, and cherries.

Not all varieties of pálinka can be aged in wooden casks because the wood can cancel the fruity taste of the drink.

These potent, homemade, házi (home-made) pálinkas are commercially available in small portions and are very common in the countryside.