|
ROMANIAN CUISINE / GASTRONOMY |
|
A lot of pork dishes are traditional at this time. People who live in the country raise pigs for slaughter before Christmas |
|
Traditional Romanian recipes for Christmas
|
|
Cabbage rolls = Sarmale |
|
1 large soured cabbage or one large cabbage and sour kraut, 1 3/4 lb/750 g ground meat (mixture of pork and beef is recommended), 4 large onions, 2 tablespoons rice, 3 tablespoons lard, 5-6 tomatoes or 1 tablespoon tomato sauce, salt, pepper, 1 qt/1 l sour cream
Grind the meat with a raw onion. Place in a bowl and mix with rice, pepper, salt and finely chopped onion slightly fried in two tablespoons of lard. Mix everything well. Core the cabbage with a sharp thin knife. Carefully remove the cabbage leaves, one by one, so that they do not tear. Cut larger leaves in 2 or 3 and then place a little meat in each cabbage piece and roll in. The smaller the rolls are, the tastier they are. Place a layer of rolls in the pan (take a deep one), then cover with a layer of chopped (julienne) cabbage, then a layer of thinly sliced tomatoes. Do this layering until all the rolls are made. The last layer must be tomato slices or add tomato sauce. Add a heaping tablespoon of lard, pour the borsch and let simmer on top of the range for 30 minutes. Then place in the oven so that the liquid is reduced. Serve with sour cream.
By Madalina Precup, Ioana Radu |
|
Polenta = Mămăligă |
|
1 qt. Water, 1-2 cups corn meal, 2 tsp. salt
Boil water and salt in a pot. When water is boiling, gradually add corn meal while stirring the mixture with a whisk. Stop adding corn meal when the mixture is considerably thick, though still liquid. Continue to simmer for about 10-15 minutes, with caution since the mixture bubbles up and splatters hot polenta around. Remove from the heat and serve with your favorite dish. (sarmale)
By Ana- Maria Nitu and Mihaela Vasile |
|
Jellied pork = Piftie de porc |
|
3 lbs/1,5 kg pork feet , 3-4 garlic cloves, salt
Wash and clean the feet. Place in a large pot and cover with water so that there are 3-4 inches of water above the pork pieces. Boil over slow to medium heat. Remove the foam as it forms. Then add salt. Cover the pot almost completely. Boil until the meat falls off the bones. Remove the bones and place the meat on the bottom of one or several deep plates. Chop the garlic, add some salt and mix with the meat broth. Strain and then pour on top of the meat in plates. Refrigerate so that it gels. The tastiest pork jelly is made out of pork feet and ears.
By Lacramioara Gimpirea and Alexandru Magnea |
|
Pork steak = Friptura de porc |
|
1 1/2 lb. pork steak pepper salt Cut pork steak into strips. Season with salt, pepper and chopped garlic and let sit for an hour. Place pork strips in the oil greased baking pan, add 3-4 tablespoons of water and set in the oven at medium heat. During the roasting, baste with the liquid in the pan. Keep in the oven for 1 to 1 ˝ hours Can be served with any kind of potato, or rice and vegetable
By Claudiu Stanciu and Andreea Ilea |
|
Walnut sweet bread = Cozonaci cu nuca |
|
Sweet bread dough: 2 lbs/1 kg flour, 10 oz/300 g sugar, 1 1/2 cups milk, 6 eggs, 2 oz/50 g yeast, 7 oz/200 g butter, 2 tablespoons oil, vanilla stick, salt, egg for washing the dough, grease for the pans. Make a starter from yeast and a teaspoon of sugar. Mix until the consistency of sour cream, add 2-3 tablespoons tepid milk, a little flour and mix well; sprinkle some flour on top, cover and let sit in a warm place to rise. Boil the milk with the vanilla stick (cut in very small pieces) and leave it on the side of the range, covered, to keep warm. Mix the yolks with the sugar and salt, then slowly pour the tepid milk, stirring continuously. Place the risen starter in a large bowl and pour, stirring continuously, the yolk-milk mixture and some flour, a little at a time. Then add 3 whipped egg whites. When you finish this step, start kneading. Knead, adding melted butter combined with oil, a little at a time, until the dough starts to easily come off your palms. Cover with a cloth and then something thicker (like a blanket). Leave in a warm place to triple in bulk. If during kneading the dough seems too hard, you may add a little milk. If, on the contrary, the dough seems too soft, you may add a little flour.
By Roxana Aldea, Cristina Strahan |
|
Walnut sweet bread = Cozonaci cu nuca |
|
Filling: 10 oz/300 g ground walnuts, 1 cup milk, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup rum, vanilla Melt the sugar in the warm milk with vanilla in a pot on the range. When the sugar is melted, add the walnuts and keep stirring. After a few minutes of boiling, and after the filling has thickened, remove from heat and add rum. When the filling is cold, roll a sheet of dough about one finger thick, uniformly spread the walnut filling on top and roll like a jelly roll. Grease a bread pan, place the roll inside, let rise for a while. Wash with egg and bake at medium heat. Take out of the pan as soon as it is done, place on a cloth and let cool. The best is prepared by my grandmother
By Razvan Tomozei
|
|
Traditional Romanian recipes for Easter |
|
When is Easter a lot of lamb dishes are served |
|
Lamb haggis = Drob de miel |
|
Innards (heart, kidneys, liver, tongue, spleen) from a lamb, 2 big onions, 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon mixed chopped parsley and dill, 1 tablespoon chopped green onions (green parts), salt, pepper, 1 tablespoon lard, 1 bread slice Grind the innards with the finely chopped raw or slightly fried onion, lard and crustless slice of bread (previously soaked and squeezed dry). Add salt, pepper, chopped parsley and dill, chopped green onions, beaten eggs and mix everything well. In a well greased pan, set the washed lamb stomach so as to cover the bottom and sides of the pan with room to spare. Arrange the ground meat mixture, cover with the sides of the stomach and bake. When ready, turn onto a plate and serve with green lettuce. |
|
By Madalina Necula Eduard Buzatu |
|
Lamb roast/ Friptura de miel la tava |
|
3 lbs/1,5 kg lamb meat (from legs), 1-2 tablespoons lard, salt, a few garlic cloves Wash and dry the meat, salt and let sit for a half hour. Grease a roasting pan with lard, arrange the meat in, pour 2-3 tablespoons of water and place in the oven, first at low temperature, then increase the heat. When it is roasted, place on a platter. Pour a few tablespoons of water in the roasting pan, add a few chopped garlic cloves and set it on top of the range where it should be allowed to come to a boil. Strain the liquid and pour it over the roast. Serve with French fries and salad to taste.
By Ana-Maria Mircea and Antonio Masalagiu |
|
Lamb onion and garlic stew = Stufat de miel |
|
1 lb/500 g lamb, 30 green onions, 30 green garlic, 3 tablespoons lard, 1/2 teaspoon flour, 2 tablespoons tomato sauce (or 1 lb/500 g tomatoes), 1 tablespoon vinegar, salt, sugar Cut the meat in pieces and fry it with a tablespoon of lard. Then add the flour, let it fry a little and remove from heat. Cut the green onions and garlic in two inch pieces and fry separately in the remaining lard until slightly softened. Then place over the meat pieces. Add salt, tomato sauce or boiled and strained tomatoes, sugar and 2-3 tablespoons of water. Boil for a few minutes then set in the oven until the liquid is substantially reduced.
By Oana Precup and Florin Ghinea |
|
Sweet bread dough. Filling: 1 lb/500 g cottage cheese, 4 oz/100 g raisins, 3-4 eggs, 1 tablespoon butter, sugar to taste, a little grated lemon peel, salt Mix the ingredients for filling to obtain a homogeneous paste. Roll a pencil thick sheet out of the sweet bread dough. Place in a baking pan. From another piece of dough form a long, finger thick roll and arrange it around the sheet, sticking to the walls of the pan. Place the filling within, without covering the roll on the edges. After the cake has risen a bit in a warm place, use a little egg wash over it. Set in the oven to bake. Remove from the pan when it is cold. |
|
Easter cake with cottage cheese = Pasca cu brinza de vaca |
