Hunting has a long tradition in Hungary, the diversified and ample game population provides great possibilities for hunters nearly all year round. The atmosphere of coursings in the autumn-winter season is fascinating and incomparable. Both large and small games can be hunted in different regions of the country, the homeland of small game hunting is the Great Hungarian Plain, most of the hunts take place in Békés, Csongrád, Hajdú-Bihar and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg counties.

One of the most hunted small games in Hungary is pheasant. It is a well-known gamebird, perhaps the most widespread and ancient one in the whole world. Pheasants were hunted in their natural range by Stone Age humans, since the Roman Empire the bird was extensively introduced in many places and has become a naturalized member of the European fauna. In order to meet the increasing demands, nowadays pheasant is bred on game farms. Birds are supplied both to hunting and restaurants, but they are also available for home cooks.

Due to the hunting traditions game often appears on the menu of restaurants and households. Despite that there are many people who shy away from tasting game. However, really exciting and princely dishes can be made from game meat. Game is one of the healthiest foods, low-fat, excellent source of proteins containing valuable vitamins and mineral salts. The quality of game meat is determined by several factors such as the animal’s age, sex, nutrition, conditions of bagging. Game meat is dry and fibrous, so its preparation requires more work and special care.