Delicacies of Cserszegtomaj

Have you ever tasted roasted hazelnuts? Or tried pickled turnips? Do you enjoy fermented vegetables? The Delicacies of Cserszegtomaj family farm produces flavourful jams, healthy pickles, and fermented products from their own homegrown vegetables and fruits. They even offer one of Nutella's key ingredients – roasted hazelnuts. Éva Mózerné Merics and her family have been growing vegetables and fruits for decades, complementing their farming with small-scale processing. From sowing seeds to creating the final product, everything is done by hand within the family.

The farm is built on the knowledge and experience of multiple generations. Initially, the activities were for personal consumption, later expanding to sell surplus at markets. For years, the delicious products could be purchased from grandma at the Keszthely market. Seeing the growing demand for homemade, preservative-free products, Éva left her previous job to focus entirely on production and processing.

Today, they cultivate several hectares, tending to fruit trees, vegetable plantations, and hazelnuts in Cserszegtomaj. Éva and her family dared to dream big, expanding their processing capacity so their products are available year-round, with only the ingredients changing according to the season.

The range includes classic pickles, fermented vegetables, vegetable spreads, and jams. You can also try roasted hazelnuts in salted or chocolate-coated versions. Depending on the season, Éva may also bring fresh fruits or vegetables to the market: pumpkins in autumn, date plums, or quince cheese in winter.

Éva learned the basics of preserving, natural preservation, and fermentation from her mother-in-law. As a result, some of her products contain no preservatives or additives, following traditional methods – just like grandma used to do!

The fermented and pickled products – such as turnips, cabbage, beetroot, or broad beans – are not heat-treated, preserving their nutritional value.

All vegetables are homegrown, and every step of the processing is done by hand in their workshop in Cserszegtomaj: from slicing to bottling and labelling.

“Good things take time.” - says Éva, which could be the motto of Delicacies of Cserszegtomaj. To create truly healthy and high-quality foods, time must be given to preserving, pickling, and fermenting.

The family not only has plantations in Cserszegtomaj but also in Alsópáhok, where they run two guesthouses. Visitors are welcome to the estate, and in the near future, Éva and her family plan to establish a demonstration garden. Here, you can participate in themed programmes and workshops to learn the secrets of homemade delicacies.

“I want to make the most of what the garden gives. Not just flavour. Life.” - says Éva, expressing her greatest motivation to enjoy every single day spent in the vegetable garden. Éva is a firm believer that what we eat directly impacts our quality of life. That’s why it’s important to know where our food comes from, how it’s made, and what it’s made of.

Zakuska

The homemade zakuska is made from fire-roasted aubergines, homemade ground peppers, and their own tomato juice, without any additives. The aubergines are roasted over a fruitwood fire, giving them their characteristic smoky flavour. Every step of the process is done by hand: the aubergines are peeled manually, the onions and peppers are picked from their own garden, and the tomatoes are cooked by them. The seasoning is simple yet distinctive – they work exclusively with natural ingredients, focusing on the authentic taste of the vegetables. The zakuska is thick, creamy, vegan, gluten-free, and perfect on bread, toast, or as a side dish. Each jar captures a seasonal taste of Cserszegtomaj.

Hazelnuts

On the hazelnut plantation in Cserszegtomaj, Éva’s son Gergő and his family care for over 700 bushes using chemical-free, eco-friendly soil cultivation methods. After harvesting, the nutty, Nutella-flavoured seeds are dried, cracked, hand-sorted, roasted, and processed in various ways – resulting in salted and natural snacks, as well as chocolate-coated treats for those with a sweet tooth. Gergő personally oversees the roasting, carefully roasting the nuts in small batches to ensure they remain crunchy and retain their intense, distinctive flavour. Gergő also produces hazelnut oil, a rarity in Hungary.

Hazelnuts 

The vast, ancient Pannonian Sea – at its largest, over 400 times the size of Lake Balaton – once covered this region. Over millions of years, the shallow water body gradually became isolated from the world’s oceans, its water turning fresh and its basin filling with sediments. This isolation led to a unique ecosystem with many endemic species.

The Pannonian formations, consisting mainly of sand, clay, and siltstone – which also contain important mineral resources (e.g., crude oil) and water-bearing layers – dominate much of Transdanubia’s surface, including the Zala Hills. The hazelnut plantation thrives on fertile soils formed on the fine-grained sands and silts of the Pannonian Somló Formation. In these layers, one might even find the so-called “Tihany goat’s hoof” from folklore, which is actually the worn shell remains of a mussel species (Congeria ungalacaprae).

Aubergines

The soils of the aubergine-growing area developed over tens of thousands of years on Quaternary formations – mainly sand – deposited at the base of slopes due to the erosive effects of water and snowmelt.

Where to buy Delicacies of Cserszegtomaj:

• Hévíz Farmers’ Market
• Szezonkosár

More information and contact:

• Facebook 

While the northern block of the Keszthely Mountains is characterised by young (just a few million years old) volcanic rocks, the southern area – including the surroundings of Cserszegtomaj – is dominated by much older dolomite formed in tropical seas. In addition to the Main Dolomite, which is widespread in the Alps, the area also features the Rezi Dolomite, which formed over 200 million years ago. The Keszthely Plateau is dissected by a north-south valley network and microtectonic fault lines. Due to the shallow soil layer and varied topography, more than 70% of the area is forested. The karst surface is water-deficient year-round, with unique ecological characteristics. The plateau is divided by intermontane basins and bordered by deep faults (e.g., Hévíz and Ederics faults). The structural lines make this area seismically sensitive.

The soils in the region of the Delicacies of Cserszegtomaj growing area are formed on the slope debris of the Main Dolomite and Rezi Dolomite, providing a natural foundation for land use. Hazelnuts thrive in these calcareous soils. Éva and her family farm on the western edge of the Keszthely Plateau, where the proximity of the 350–440 m high horsts – uplifted blocks bounded by faults – defines the landscape.