“My aim is not to shock people” – Bálint Kocsis, the creator of CSIKOS jams

Upon arrival at the Balatonfői Yacht Club we are greeted with a five-course selection of vegetarian dishes. We have never had anything like it – this is how we feel about every dish. What on earth are peanut butter bulgur, avocado and green tea purée doing on the same plate? We also wonder how jam made with sea-buckthorn or thyme could be delicious. Yet, we have to acknowledge with each bite we take that all the flavours are special. A long and arduous journey led chef Bálint Kocsis to healthy and medicinal ingredients, which, if prepared the right way, produce a great taste. But more on that later, we have a lot of questions to ask.

We Love Balaton: It is a long road from homemade strawberry jam to calming wild strawberry jam prepared with lavender and lemongrass. When you first started making CSIKOS jams and chutneys, were you not afraid that people would turn their nose up at your products because of the unusual flavours?

Bálint Kocsis: I didn’t want to be the gazillionth producer of traditional blackberry jam. I already knew going into it that I wanted to make something totally new. First I only wanted to use herbs to create new flavours which are pleasing from a culinary point of view. As I dug deeper and deeper into the world of herbs, I got really excited about them. Why couldn’t a jam be delicious and have a calming effect at the same time? There are a lot of physiologically beneficial herbs growing in Hungary. They are within arm’s reach, and yet most of the time we resort to them only when we are already ill.

WLB: It sounds like you didn’t always use to be a lifestyle expert either.

B.K.: As a chef I have always had to keep up with the trends in vegetarian and vegan cuisine, but apart from cooking these dishes I wasn’t interested in them. There used to be a time when I ate meat with a side of meat, and I didn’t really pay attention to leading a healthy lifestyle. Four years ago I became very ill, which forced me to rethink my way of life. I didn’t go full-on vegetarian, but I don’t eat meat on a daily basis anymore. It was after recovering from this illness that I started thinking about making jams and chutneys which have a medicinal effect and don’t contain preservatives or colourings.

WLB: So far you have created about 25 kinds of CSIKOS jam, but you keep experimenting with new variations when you have the time. Which ones are the absolute favourites among Hungarian customers?

B.K.: It is difficult to achieve a breakthrough on the Hungarian market in the sense that jams closest to traditional and familiar flavours are still the most sought-after. But our jams made with Belgian chocolate, with marzipan, and the vanilla-pear and wild strawberry-lavender kinds are very much in demand. These are the so-called more commercial jams, but we also produce tomato chutney flavoured with marigold, and I think the various kinds of fruit go well with green tea, sea-buckthorn, Aloe vera and even thyme.

WLB: Two years is a relatively short period of time for a brand to gain not only national, but international recognition. Yet you managed to do it. CSIKOS jams will soon be distributed in the United States as well, and you’ve been invited to exhibit at several prominent international fairs. Do you have a secret?

B.K.: I get that question a lot, and I always say that I’m sure there’s a secret. Once I’ve found out what it is, I’m going to let you know. This started as a side job, a small family business with no investors whatsoever. To this day there is only five of us making the jams and chutneys, and I can only help with the cooking on my days off. I only have time for playing around with new recipes in the less hectic winter months. But we were absolutely sure from the get-go that we would be successful, and we fanatically experimented with new favours. We spent our nights cooking jam and putting labels on jars if we had to. This is the message we are trying to send with the colourfulness and youthful design of the CSIKOS jam labels. I have always been interested in marketing, and I knew that along with innovative recipes, design also plays a major part in making a product successful. It is important as well to distribute your products through trustworthy dealers committed to Hungarian goods. A lot of people have contributed to my efforts from a graphic designer friend of mine to people helping out with sales.

WLB: What kind of message do your products send to customers?

B.K.: The main message is that there is such a thing as producing delightful culinary creations from natural and medicinal ingredients. Just because something is healthy doesn’t mean it cannot be delicious, too. Every time I dream up a new recipe I want my customers to realise the thought that goes into it. My aim is not to shock people, it is to make them appreciate new flavours, but I’m not trying to please everyone.

WLB: Being a chef at the Balatonfői Yacht Club, you also experiment a lot with new flavours there. How open is the clientele of a private club to the novelties you concoct?

B.K.: 70 percent of the clientele in the Yacht Club is made up by regulars. When a guest comes in off the street and sees all the ships in the harbour, they might immediately think that our menu only includes South American sirloin and other special, exotic dishes. But that’s not at all what holidaymakers here need, what they usually look for is home-made style flavours. They want such items on the menu as letscho and squash stew with a pinch of innovation and creativity. Traditional Hungarian dishes are also featured on the permanent menu, but the weekly special gives me enough room for experimentation. Just like in the case of CSIKOS jams, I prepare my dishes from simple, healthy Hungarian ingredients, which can produce completely new flavours with a few twists. I love to reinterpret food, that is why I flavour potato soup with ginger and coconut, and I prepare beetroot-raspberry risotto with grilled, caramelized pear and salmon with skin or steamed cow’s cheek. You wouldn't in a million years think that basil not only goes with Italian pasta, but also with the hot raspberry sauce we serve with vanilla ice cream, but it is true.