Celebrating pigs
By Melissa Piche Times Contributor
Photo Courtesy of Eh farms and Kati Sefe
Christina Stender, the powerhouse behind Eh Farms, is getting her farm and her red Mangalitsa ready for the fourth annual PigStock happening on Aug. 17.
The event started after Stender visited Budapest in 2017, a few months after she imported her first pair of breeding pigs, Hampton and ZsaZsa, soon after they welcomed their first litter to Eh farms and two pigs has turned into 94.
“They (Hungary) have a Mangalitsa festival in February,” said Stender. “It’s a weekend long, they close down like three streets and it’s just amazing and it’s food everywhere and it’s just basically showcasing their heritage breed pig, the Mangalitsa.”
Stender recalls all the wonderful food and events that happen at the festival in Budapest – the crackling and cured meats.
“So, I thought I’m gonna take this and bring it back home and do the exact festival here,” she said. “We had to tweak a few things because the laws in Europe are a little different than ours.”
From there, Stender contacted the president of the Hungarian Culture Club in Calgary. She told him of her plan for a smaller festival and he was all in.
“We do have a mini farmers market, and we have Hungarian dancers. We have face painting, we do a cookout coopetition.”
For the cookout, Stender said Hungarian judges come out to judge a goulash made with Mangalitsa on an open flame. At the end of the event, anyone interested can taste the delicious goulash and finally three different awards are presented to the winners.
The day will be filled with wagon rides around Eh Farms so people can take in the whole farm and what a working farm looks like.
“They get to throw the apples to the pigs and the pigs come up; it’s quite cool,” she said.
There will also be a Hungarian history booth, which the Hungarian Cultural Club of Calgary sets up.
Some of Stender’s fondest memories of her past PigStock festivals are the people from the Hungarian culture who come out.
“They set up under the tent and they play cards all day and then they just tell me about their stories and when they grew up in Hungary with the pigs,” said Stender.
Stender has been asked why the Mangalitsa? She gets asked if she has any Hungarian lineage or perhaps on her husband’s side. The answer is no.
Stender tells them, “I just love your heritage and your pigs and this is my ‘thank you’ for having these pigs on the farm and showcasing them because they’re still rare in Canada.”
Two important guests to mention that will be making an appearance at PigStock are the chair of the Hungarian Export Promotion Agency in Canada (H.E.P.A) and the president of the Mangalitsa Breeders Association of Hungary.
Admission to PigStock is free to anyone who wants to learn more about the breed and about the Hungarian culture, but make sure to bring some cash for the various venders who will be selling their wares and food galore; you won’t want to miss out on these unique finds.
The event runs Aug. 17 from 10:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. If you would like more information on PigStock you can visit ehfarms.ca and Stender can also be found on Instagram (@eh_farms).