ROMANIAN TRADITIONAL CUISINE

THE FALL OF

MUSHROOMS

• Mushrooms – Gods’ gifts or Devil’s creations, they have always stirred any gourmet’s appetite. The ancients invented all kind of legends about this funny vegetable – be it with a chubby or slim foot or a pretty hat like a sophisticated lady. They seem to have appeared even in cave paintings or other types of human artistic creations, all of them emphasizing how fascinated the ancient civilizations were regarding this vegetable which was attributed various powers, even supernatural ones. It is said that, when you eat mushrooms, both your body and soul strengthen.

• It is a true science to make the difference between the edible and non-edible mushrooms and the Romanians have always proved themselves to be genuine experts in this sense. The mushrooms are highly appreciated by our people and that is why our cuisine is incredibly rich in dishes based on them.

• We have plenty of recipes having mushrooms as main ingredients: balls (chiftelute), stews (paparica / ciulama), soups and many other delicious specialities.

Out of the numerous such recipes, we have found a very appetizing one in Radu Anton Roman’s gastronomy book – “Romanian dishes, wines and traditions”

Mushroom borsch

• “Though extremely savory and creamy, this soup recipe has come to be almost forgotten on the valleys of the Moldavian streams. Whenever I happen to host a foreigner, I never miss the chance to cook him a mushroom borsch – there’s no doubt he will get crazy with pleasure.

• 1 kg of the most delicious mushrooms such as flaps, boletus and black earth mushrooms, 1 parsnip, 1 parsley root, 1 small celery, 2 onions, 2 carrots, 500 ml of meat broth, 1 capsicum, 1 l of fresh borsch, 1 cup of sour cream, 1 egg, 1 bunch of lovage or other greens, salt and pepper.

• Clean and chop the vegetables. Let them boil for half an hour into 2 l of water with a little salt.

• Wash the mushrooms, cut them into thin slices and let them boil for another half an hour. The borsch has to be separately boiled and then added to the soup.

• Beat the eggs with the cream, then add the greenery and the pepper.• When the soup has lessened to 1 l, add the salt and the beaten egg

with cream. Then remove from fire. “• Bon appétit!

RUSTIC POLENTA

• Ingredients• 1 l of water• 500gr of corn flour• A teaspoon of salt

• Cooking mode• Boil the water with the salt in a 4 l pot. • When the water starts boiling, add progressively half of the corn flour,

stirring continuously. Let it simmer on slow fire until it turns creamy (this is called “pasat” in Romanian). Then add in rain the rest of the corn flour, stirring continuously. Let it further boil depending on how hard you want it to be. Flip it on a serving platter and serve it hot with different dishes such as cabbage rols, chicken with cream, fish with garlic dressing, fish brine, fried sausages etc.

• We use to flip it on a wooden platter and cut it with a thread instead of a knife. You can also boil freshly milked milk into the pot which was not washed of the remained polenta .

Cum le gătesc ciobanii...• 1,5 kg de ciuperci cu părăria mare;150 g slănină

afumată;200 g branză de burduf; 150 g urdă.• Se spală ciupercile temeinic și se așează într-o tavă. Se

tocă mărunt piciorușul ciupercilor care e ațos, și slănina. Se framanta urda cu brânza.

• Se pune in pălării mai întâi tocătura, apoi amestecul de brînză. Se piperează. Se frig pe jar slab, sau chiar pe spuză, cu foarte puțină apă pe fundul tăvii, până se rumenește brânza.

• Nu-i trebuie multă imaginație ciobanului din Hațeg, sau din Vrancea, aflat în vârf de munteși în august ploios, ca să-și prepare mâncarea. Ciuperci și brânză are la-ndemână, asta manâncă...Dar ce bea, asta-i întrebarea? Ce bea el in pustietate și înfrățit cu lupii? Rar, cate un gât de țuică, cel mai des apă de izvor...

Thank You!