Pálinka
Pálinka is a traditional fruit brandy in the Carpathian Basin, known under several names, and invented in the Middle Ages. Protected as a geographical indication of the European Union, only fruit spirits mashed, distilled, matured and bottled in Hungary and similar apricot spirits from four provinces of Austria can be called "pálinka". Törkölypálinka, a different product in the legal sense, is a similarly protected pomace brandy that is commonly included with pálinka. While pálinka may be made of any locally grown fruit, the most common ones are plums, apricots, apples, pears, and cherries.
Similar products exist in Romania under the name Palincă as well as in the Czech and Slovak Republics under the name Pálenka.
Etymology
The word pálinka derives from the Slavonic stem páliť, to burn, to distill. In Hungarian the word is most probably of Slovak origin, as Tótpálinka (literally Slovak pálinka) was used in Hungary to refer to alcoholic drinks derived from wheat.
Legal definitions
The production of Hungarian pálinka is regulated by local law LXXIII of 2008, often referred to as "pálinka law", which is based on the regulation of generic fruit spirits of the European Union. An alcoholic beverage may be called pálinka if:
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