Zacusca

Today’s dish is traditional for the autumn in Romanian households, which traditionally prepare for winter by making a wide variety of pickles and preserves.

Ștefan Baciu, 30.10.2016, 14:10

Today’s dish is traditional for the autumn in Romanian households, which traditionally prepare for winter by making a wide variety of pickles and preserves.

This preparation is a means of preserving large quantities of excess vegetables, making them available as a mixture throughout the winter. It is time consuming and makes very large quantities, but it is the traditional approach to preservation, dating back to a world before people ate off the shelves of a supermarket.

The simplest recipe in this wide range involves 5 kg of eggplant (or aubergines), 5 kg of green or bell peppers, 2 kg of onion, one liter of tomato juice, one liter of vegetable oil, and is traditionally seasoned with peppercorns, bay leaves, and, of course, salt to taste.

The first step is to roast the aubergines and peppers on a sheet of metal or straight on the open flame, but that takes time and is much messier. Separately, the finely sliced onion is sweated in the oil over low heat. Bring together all the cooked vegetables into a pot large enough to accommodate everything, with peppercorns and bay leaf. Simmer the mixture on low heat until it reduces to a paste thick enough to be spread on a slice of bread.

Traditionally it is kept in the pantry in cellophane and string sealed glass jars. The jars have to be carefully sterilized before they are filled. After the hot ‘zacusca’ is put into jars, the jars have to be boiled themselves in a bath of water for 15 minutes for thorough sterilization.