Preparations from Moldavia

Ștefan Baciu, 14.02.2016, 13:47

In this edition of the cooking show we present you with preparations specific to the eastern region of Moldavia, which has its specificities, some of them famous all over the country. Moldavia is also famous for its vineyards, which yield some of the most appreciated wines in Romania.

That being said, let us see some dishes typical of this region. For instance, one popular breakfast with farmers is fried eggs with fatback crackle and grated cheese. Lunch typically consists of potato or bean stew, baked sauerkraut, bean soup, or giblet soup, made with plenty of carrot, onion, rice and parsley, as well as plenty of fermented wheat bran.

We would like to present next a typical dish for the region, which has a name derived from the word quiche, but has little to do with the preparation of that name. It is more like a sausage, the casing being the lower intestine of the pig. To make it, you need about 2 kg of ground meat. Boil a cup of rice separately. Chop up a couple of onions and sweat them in oil. Mix together the ground meat, the onion and the rice. For the casing, take pig intestine, which needs to be cleaned thoroughly, first by rubbing it well with cornmeal, then washing it several times. Fill the intestine with the meat mixture. Tie both ends, then prick it along its length from place to place. Now you can cook it, by simmering it with a few bay leaves, a few sprigs of thyme, a few peppercorns, some coriander and some allspice. Let it cool, slice it up, and serve as a cold cut.

Another preparation typical of Moldavia are meat patties. They are roughly the size of a hamburger, and are made with pork, beef, or both. The mixture also contains soaked stale bread, chopped onion, a couple of eggs, dill, salt and pepper. After kneading well, douse them in flour, then soak them in beaten egg, then in breadcrumbs, and fry them in vegetable oil.

A 19th century recipe for upper class households recommends that the stale bread be soaked in milk. It also recommends for the beaten egg mixture to include bone marrow and lemon rind, as well as parsley. This is optional, but should lend a special flavor to the end result. A white wine goes well with the patties.

Enjoy!