Our meeting is pushed seven minutes later. Magdolna is in the garden — in a small partial-shade patch where borage grows. 'Don't step on it. It's flowering now.' The two steps around it are taken thoughtfully.
Bakony is her season. 'Six evenings. Six evenings a season. Others go more — for me it's six. That's how I keep the recipe alive. More than six and the forest takes the lead — I'm only collecting.'
Her mother died in 2003. The handover took five years. 'My mother didn't tell me what to do. She allowed me to watch how she did it. The distinction matters.'
She doesn't share recipes with anyone. 'Not because it's a secret. Because a recipe can't be given. A herbal mix is for that season, that field, that year. Next year is not the same.' The muslin sachet guests take home is proof of this — 'by the time you use it, it has already started to change.'