Draft:Csigatészta

The csigatészta is a Hungarian pasta type, specifically made for soups. It is an essential part of Hungarian chicken soups (tyúkhús leves). It is made by mainland Hungarians and later the Hungarians of Vojvodina.

Traditions
The pasta is often added to chicken soups or vegetable soups. The making of csiga pasta is typically made in communities, where they can make up to 100-150 of them, which will end up on the festivity able. The csiga pasta can not be missing from the wedding tables of Alföld.

The preparation of the pasta was an important part of the preparations for the wedding. The "csigacsináló" (csiga making) was usually held before the wedding. All the relatives and neighbours' wives were invited to help. Some of the women kneaded the dough, some stretched and cut it, the most time-consuming work was the shaping of the snail itself. The dough was cut into small cubes, and then the ribbing was engraved into them. The Csiga making tools were really popular hand-made wedding gifts and were elaborately hand-painted instruments.

The pretty csiga is a credit to the housewife, and to make it nice and golden, many eggs were mixed into the dough. During the csiga making, the hosts offered the "csigázós" cakes and wine, and in many places they also served them dinner.The pastry-making was filled with singing, talking, gossip, stories and horror stories. This was an important time for young girls to grow up and learn a lot from their elders, including how to prepare food. At the end of the work, the men, the lads, sometimes they would bring musicians, and at the end of the work they would have fun and dance. The word csigázás (literally "snailing") is still in use, now as slang, "felcsigázni" the Hungarian version of "hyping up". Category:Pasta