Musaca de Cartofi

"Potato moussaka"

Moussaka is a fairly common dish over the Balkans with many different variations and using a variety of 'on-hand' ingredients. The dish is thought to have originated in the Middle East and spread throughout the region during the period of Ottoman rule. It's name suggests a dish that was continuously 'fed liquid' to keep it moist as it baked, although most common versions are more solid. Many Balkan versions spurn the eggplants so popularised by the well-known Greek version, and quite commonly have a top layer of cream solidified with egg. This version mixes the cream with the middle meat layer but its slow cooking results in a tasty and perhaps lighter-feelings dish with less stodge.

Time: 2 hours
Servings: 4 big slices or maybe 6 smaller ones.
Ingredients:

750g of potatoes, peeled and sliced
500g of minced meat (could be lamb, beef or pork or a mixture)
1 carrot, peeled and grated
2 onions, finely chopped
An egg
1/2 cup of 'smantana de gatit' (unsweetened cooking cream)
1/2 cup of white wine
1 cup of tomato bullion
1 level tablespoon of caster sugar
2 juicy ripe tomatoes
Salt, pepper and thyme
1/2 cup of soup stock (or half a beef stock cube dissolved in 1/2 cup of boiling water)
Oil for frying, butter for greasing dish, and some breadcrumbs or flour for dusting.

Method:

1. Pour a few millimetres of olive oil (traditionally you can use 'untura' (pig lard)) into a frying pan and brown off the potato rounds in batches on each side, removing them to a plate as the turn colour.
2. Gently fry the onion for a few minutes in the remaining oil and, once it has turned translucent and taken on a little colour, add the minced meat and the grated carrot and cook on a low-ish heat until the meat has changed colour.
3. Add the bullion, watered down a little if it seems too thick, and simmer the meat gently for about half an hour, being careful not to let it burn or stick (add a splash of water if and when needed), until a rich meat sauce, not too runny, remains. Allow to cool when done.
4. Meanwhile, grease a tray with butter or lard and sprinkle the sides and bottom with breadcrumbs ('pesmet') or flour.
5. Into the cooled meat sauce, mix in the egg and the cream and add salt, pepper and thyme to taste.
6. Place a layer of the potato slices in the bottom of the tray, then spread the meat sauce of top, followed by another layer of the remaining potato slices on top of the meat.
7. Thinly slice the ripe tomatoes and place them in a layer on top of the potatoes.
8. Pour the wine and stock over the top.
9. Put it in the oven on the relatively low heat and allow to cook for about an hour or until it starts browning off on top and most of the liquid has disappeared.

Sarmale in foi de varza

"Meat-stuffed cabbage rolls"

Although I haven’t posted many recipes recently, partly because most of the ones I know or like I’ve already posted, but also due to a lack of time and other project, I’ve always felt this blog is incomplete with having at least one recipe for sarmale (and perhaps another for cozonac). So, with Christmas coming up I figured it was time to have a go at them. Why not give them a try and make that Romanian in your life extremely happy!

Sarmale form a staple part of Romanian festive cuisine. These meat-stuffed cabbage rolls will almost certainly grace any seasonal feast, be it Christmas or Easter or even other celebrations, such as weddings, baptisms or birthdays. Their origin is most likely Turkish, ‘sarmak’ is the Turkish verb for ‘roll up’ after all, but over time they’ve been adapted to Romanian tastes with the addition of pork. They are relatively easy to make, although cooking takes some time (2-3 hours), but they can be made in advance, reheated (apparently making them taste better) or even frozen (so I’m told).

Time: 30 minutes for prep, then 2-3 in the oven with occasional checking
Servings: Makes about 20-25 sarmale (depending how big or small you make them), enough for 4-5 hungry Romanians.

Ingredients:

About 600g of meat (pork, or a mixture of pork and beef, according to your preference)
Some smoked meat, such as ‘slanina afumata’ (smoked pork fat) or smoky bacon will do
About a cup of rice (any type really, I actually used pilaf as it’s what I had in the cupboard, but the short-grain stuff is more usual I believe)
2 large onions, finely chopped
Thyme, a couple of sprigs is good between the layers of sarmale, but you can use dried thyme out of season
Paprika, if you so desire. Most recipes don’t seem to use it, but I like this addition
2-3 bay leaves
A jug of tomato bullion, or a mixture of warm water and good tomato concentrate
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Finely chop the two onions and sauté gently in a large pan with a splash of oil (of whatever type) until softened. Don’t fry them or they’ll turn bitter.
2. Add some finely chopped smoked meat to the onions at this stage too (if you like, not every recipe includes it) and continue cooking for a couple of minutes.
3. Turn the heat off, allow to cool a bit, and add the minced meat, rice and some of the spices and mix it all together well. Add a little seasoning.
4. Take the pickled cabbage leaves, cut out any hard parts of the stalk that’d make them difficult to roll, and cut (if they’re large leaves) in two.
5. Once you’ve sorted out the leaves which are good for rolling, finely chop the discarded parts and put a layer of these chopped pieces into the cooking vessel to form a barrier between the bottom of the pot and the first row of sarmale – this’ll help prevent burning.
6. Take a walnut-sized piece of the meat mixture, form it into a sausage shape, place it on the cabbage leaf, start to roll it up. About one half-rotation in, fold the sides of the leaf over and continue rolling to get a reasonably tight package. Place this in the pot on top of the chopped cabbage.
7. Continue this process until you have a complete layer, onto which you can place some more of the smoked meat, some sprigs of thyme, other spices (like the bay or paprika, if you so wish), and maybe more of the chopped cabbage to fill any large gaps.
8. Continue making layers in this way until you’re almost at the top of the pot, or you run out of ingredients, whichever comes first. Allow a little space at the top for expansion (you’ve added rice, remember, so they’ll puff up a bit).
9. Pour on the seasons tomato bullion so it soaks in between the tightly-packed sarmale and reaches the level of the top layer. You shouldn’t need too much if they’re well packed in the vessel. Finish it all off with a layer of whole cabbage leaves on top, just two of three to cap it off.
10. Put on the lid and either put it in the oven on a low heat for 3 hours or until cooked (after a couple of hours you can pull one out to test it) or cook it gently on the stove, being careful to check the bottom isn’t burning (hence the layer of chopped cabbage). If it looks like the sauce is running out, add a little more bullion or water to keep the sarmale moist.
11. Once you feel the meat and rice is well cooked, take them out and serve with mamaliga (polenta) and smantana (sour cream).

Pofta mare!

Chiftele cu sos rosu

"Meatballs in tomato sauce"

This meatball recipe was given to me by the grandmother of a friend. The sauce is a simple tomato sauce made from ‘bulion’, which in the countryside the village cooks make in large quantities late in the summer to

provide them with tomato pasta throughout the winter. Meatballs, or ‘chiftele’, are quite common in Romania and I suspect the word, which is pronounced ‘kif-te-le’ is related to the Turkish ‘kofte’. It can be served with a variety of things, such as mashed potato (cartofi piure), polenta (mamaliga) or homemade pasta (taitei de casa).

Time: 30 mins (if you multi-task)

Servings: For two people

Ingredients:

For the meatballs:

250g pork shoulder, minced

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 tbs of oil plus more for shallow frying

1 tbs of water, cold

1 egg

Salt, pepper and any other fresh herbs you have handy, parsley or dill if you have it.

For the sauce:

2-3 tbs of oil

4-5 heaped tbs of concentrate tomato paste

½ cup of water (more can be added later if the sauce needs thinning out)

1 tbs flour

3-4 cloves of garlic (or more if you like it like that), thinly sliced

1 bay leaf

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Warm the oil in a saucepan and mix in the tomato paste very well and stir for a couple of minutes until well incorporated.

2. Add the water and blend in. Then leave to simmer gently for 7 minutes, stirring from time to time.

3. Next, add the tablespoon of flour and mix well, and the seasoning, fresh herbs, the bay leaf, and the chopped garlic, and simmer for about another 10 minutes, stirring from time to time.

4. You know that the sauce is ready when you get a kind of slightly denser layer on the top of the sauce. As this layer thickens (through further reduction) so the flavour intensifies. It’s up to you how wet/sticky/intense/diluted you want it.

5. Thoroughly mix the minced meat, onion, herbs and spices, and the egg together in a bowl.

6. If the meat isn’t particularly fatty, add the oil. If it has its own fat, you can skip the oil.

7. Add the water (if needed – it might be that the egg was enough, depending on its size), knead, and form into balls (with wet hands) about the size of a large walnut, and put to one side.

8. Heat some more oil in a pan (about 1cm of oil) and brown the meatballs all over. Remove to a dish with a slotted spoon to drain.

9. Pour the hot sauce over the meatball (or add the meatballs to the sauce), leave on the warm stove for ten minutes while you prepare the accompanying dishes and plate, then serve. You can garnish the sauce with fresh chopped parsley or mint (or a combination).

Splina de porc cu arpagic si ciuperci

“Pig spleen with pearl onions and mushrooms”

Pig offal is tasty and cheap in Romania and often overlooked in western cuisine despite being quite low in calories and containing lots of goodies like vitamin C, selenium (a good antioxidant), iron, protein and vitamin B-12. If you've never tasted spleen, it has a similar flavour and texture to liver, perhaps a little ‘springier’ in texture.

This recipe was given to me by a neighbour who, being on a budget, regular makes offal dishes. I've used arpagic onions, small onions that are readily available in the local markets this time of year, but you can use regular onions, shallots or spring onion.

The dish works well as a lunch or a starter.

Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 2

Ingredients:
1 pig spleen

A handful of small onions (or one medium sized regular onion)

A handful of button mushrooms

A good-sized knob of butter

100ml of water

Chopped herbs (parsley, dill or spring onion leaves)

A pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

Toasted bread for serving

Method:

1. Trim any white fat off the spleen and give it a good rinse, then chop it into largish chunks.

2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat and sauté the onions for about 7-8 minutes until soft and a little browned.

3. Add the mushrooms to the onions and fry for another 2-3 minutes.

4. Add the spleen to the pan along with the water and turn the flame up to high. Continue to cook for about 5-6 minutes until the spleen is no longer bloody in the middle (take a piece out and cut it in half). It can be a little pink and you don’t want to overcook it or it’ll go tough. Add a splash more water if it all evaporates but you want to time it so that it’s all gone by the time the spleen is ready so everything is left with a nice reduced glossy sticky coating.

5. Season with salt, pepper, a pinch of chilli if desired and the chopped herbs.

6. Serve hot on some toasted buttered bread.

Luscos (ciorba de varza cu afumatura)

"Ardeal cabbage soup with smoked pork"

This hearty soup, pronounced ‘looshcosh’ in Romanian, hails from Ardeal (a region of Transylvanian Romania) and therefore almost certain originates from the Hungarian soup called lucskos kaposzta, which translates something like ‘sloppy cabbage’. I don’t know if that means that it should be closer in texture to a wet stew rather than a soup, but if so, that wouldn’t be so bad, especially on those cold autumn evenings. I found various recipes for luscos, but most of them seemed to have certain common elements, namely the cabbage (obviously), the onion, the tomato and the smoked meats. Other recipes also contained carrots and parsnips (to make the stock), or just used stock cubes, but I felt in this case it was better to use some carrots, as I had them to hand, and let the veg and meat flavour the stock. Radu Anton Roman’s version also contained a glass of white wine.

Time: 90 minutes

Servings: 4 bowls

Ingredients:

200-300g of smoked pork of some variety

½ a medium white cabbage

2 medium onions

1 carrot

2-3 serving spoons of tomato bullion/thick passata (or a smaller amount of concentrate)

About 2 tablespoons of oil, porkfat or butter

700ml of water

Two large pinches of dried thyme (or a chopped up sprig of fresh if you have it)

Dill or parsley for garnish

Salt and pepper for seasoning

Method:

1. Peel the onions, cut them in half, and slice them thinly. Melt or heat the oil/fat/butter in a large saucepan and add the onions and sauté them gently over a medium heat for a minute or two.

2. Cut the pork into largish chunks and add them to the onions. Continue to cook over a medium heat for about 5-6 minutes, stirring regularly.

3. Grate or finely chop the carrot and add it to the pan, stir it in, give it another couple of minutes.

4. Meanwhile, shred the cabbage and put it on top of the mixture already in the pan, put on the lid, turn the temperature down, and leave to stew for about half an hour. At first, it might seem like a lot of cabbage, but it will wilt down to about half its size. From time to time give it all a good mix and make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan (it shouldn’t if the temperature is low).

5. Once the cabbage has wilted down and has turned a slightly translucent yellowy colour, pour in the water (I usually pre-boil it), add the bullion, the thyme, stir well, bring it to the boil, turn the heat right down, and leave on a low heat uncovered for at least 30-40 minutes, an hour if you can.

6. If the soup looks watery, or you prefer it thicker and more ‘sloppy’, you can add a ‘rentas’, which is basically a kind of roux made from flour and pork fat, sometimes with finely chopped onion or garlic added.

7. When done, season it to taste, dish it out, sprinkle with green stuff (dill or parsley seem most popular), and serve with some nice crusty bread, smantana (sour cream), and/or hot peppers.

Perisoare cu smantana si marar

“Meatballs with sour cream and dill”

Who doesn’t like meatballs? Well, vegetarians, I suppose. These ones are nice and juicy, especially if you can get some good lean cuts of meat and mince it up yourself. Personally I don’t like to use supermarket-bought meat, especially minced meat, which I know from people in the trade is basically just the old stuff they couldn’t sell while it still looked fresh. If you can’t be bothered to buy a meat grinder and mince it up yourself, most butchers will do it for you: that way you get the best of both worlds. I cooked them without the dried mushroom powder in the end as I didn’t have any to hand and couldn’t find it at my local market, but they were still delicious without it.

The recipe comes from Radu Anton Roman’s recipe book in the Moldavian recipe section. He recommends serving it simply with mamaliga (polenta) but as I had just made the polenta cake in the previous recipe, I had it with mashed potato instead.

Time: 90 mins

Servings: 5-6 people

Ingredients:

500g of lean veal

500g of lean pork

300g of bread, crusts removed

100ml of milk

1 medium onion, finely chopped

100g of butter

2 eggs

3 bunches of dill

Salt and pepper for seasoning

½ cup of flour

800ml of sour cream

2 tablespoons of dried mushroom powder*

Method:

1. Mince the meat and put it in a large mixing bowl.

2. Soak the bread in the milk, drain and squeeze out the excess.

3. Melt a knob of the butter in a pan and gently fry the onion until it is translucent and soft, but not burnt.

4. Beat the two eggs.

5. Finely chop the dill.

6. Mix together the minced meat, the bread, the fried onions (pour the melted butter in too), the two eggs, and one third of the dill and season with salt and pepper.

7. On a plate, mix together the flour and another third of the chopped dill.

8. With wet hands, form the meat mixture into walnut-sized balls and roll them in the flour/dill mixture to coat them all over.

9. Melt the rest of the butter in a large frying pan and, in batches if necessary, fry the meatballs until brown all over and hard.

10. Beat the sour cream with two tablespoons of the flour (use any flour that was left over from rolling the meatballs), the rest of the dill, and the dried mushroom powder*.

11. Drain any excess oil/butter off the meatballs and arrange them in a ceramic pot with a lid and pour the sour cream mixture over them.

12. Put the pot in a preheated oven on a low heat until the liquid has reduced by about half.

*I couldn’t find anything like this in the shops and have never seen it in other recipes. I suppose you could buy some dried mushrooms and blitz them up, or perhaps use a little mushroom stock cube. If anyone knows what this is exactly (praf de ciuperci uscate), please leave a comment!

Conopida Saseasca

"Saxon-style cauliflower cheese"

The Tarnava Mare area of Transylvania is well known for its Saxon villages, some of which have gained fame through the work of Prince Charles, who frequently visits the area and helps promote agro tourism in the region. The Saxons came to Transylvania in the 12^th and 13^th centuries and built many of the houses and fortifications that can still be seen in the area. Nowadays few people of Saxon origin still live in the area; many left for the USA in the early 20^th century, were deported by the Communists in the 1940s and 1950s, or left Romania for Germany in the 1990s. Examples of their rich culture still remain however, in artistry, architecture, and in the culinary tradition. This is a fairly typical cauliflower cheese recipe but good quality smoked pork is essential and is what gives it the real Transylvanian flavour.

Time: 60 minutes

Servings: 4 portions, maybe 6 as a side dish

Ingredients:

500g of cauliflower (about one small one)

A splash of oil

2 onions

3-4 cloves of garlic

150g of smoky pork (smoky bacon will work)

100g of grated ‘cascaval’ cheese (Chedder or Emmental as a replacement)

200ml of ‘smantana’ (sour cream)

2 eggs

Salt, pepper, and paprika for seasoning

Method:

1. Put a pan of water on the stove, add salt, start to bring to the boil. Preheat the oven to about 200C (low-medium).

2. Break the cauliflower into florettes and trim off the hard stems. Put into the boiling water, boil for 8-10 minutes, leave to drain.

3. Finely chop the onion and slice the garlic and sauté for 5 minutes in the oil on a medium-high heat until softened.

4. Chop up the bacon and add to the onion and garlic mixture and cook for another 5 minutes.

5. Add this to the now drained cauliflower and mix together.

6. In a separate bowl, mix the sour cream, eggs, and grated cheese.

7. Add the cream mixture to the cauliflower mixture and put it all in an ovenproof dish and bake in the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes. Can be finished under the grill if you want a crispy top. Season to taste and serve.

Pulpa de porc fiarta

"Boiled thigh of pork"

I found this recipe in Teodoreanu’s book, Gastronomice the other day and wanted to give it a try. I can’t it’s a style of cooking pork that I’ve seen much in restaurants here but a couple of friends have told me that it used to be more common than it is now, being more of a home-cooked meal. It also reminds me of Sunday joints from my youth, the cold slices of meat ending up in our sandwiches for school on the Monday. I always loved the cold meat from the Sunday joint whether it be beef, lamb, pork or chicken. The pork in this recipe tasted pretty nice: reasonably moist when freshly cut with a subtle seasoning. Needless to say I had most of the rest the next day in sandwiches. I served it with a simple patience dock leaf dish and some potatoes (cartofi Munenesti) but really it could have done with a sauce. Of course, I would usually be tempted to smother it with apple sauce, but I’m not sure if that’s particularly Romanian. Do you Romanians ever have apple sauce with pork?

Time: 2 hours

Servings: 4-5

Ingredients:

1.5-2kg of pork thigh (pulpa de porc)

3-4 spring onion

2-3 fresh green garlic stems (or cloves)

Black peppercorns

Allspice

Bay leaf

Salt

Dry white wine (optional)

Method:

1. Trim off any excess fat from the pork joint, leaving, at most, a thin layer.

2. Put the joint into a deep pan and cover with water.

3. Add (roughly chopped) 3 or 4 spring onions, 2 or 3 green garlic stems (or cloves of garlic), a teaspoon of black peppercorns, a few dried allspice berries, a bay leaf, a spring or two of fresh thyme (or a level teaspoon of dried thyme), and a good few pinches of salt.

4. Cover and put on a low heat for at least an hour, possibly two.

5. As the level of liquid drops, top it up from time to time with either some more water or the dry white wine.

6. After the first hour check the meat with a fork to see if it is done. It should be soft and tender and easy to pulled bits off. If you have a meat thermometer, use that to check the internal temperature is at least 66C (150F).

7. When cooked, lift it out of the pot and rest for 5-10 minutes before carving into slices.

Tocana cu rosii

“Meat stew with tomatoes”

One dish that you’ll almost certainly find a variation of on any Romanian restaurant’s menu is the tocana or tocanita. Essentially it is a stew made of meat and onions usually with other ingredients added to give it its particularity. A tocanita is simply the diminutive form of tocana. Radu Anton Roman described a tocana as a stew made from meat and/or vegetables with a lot of onions that you get in a restaurant. A tocanita, he says, is the same, but cooked by your mother.

This recipe is for a stew made with tomatoes. The key to a good tocana, I find, is slow cooking and good ingredients. Many stews in many cuisines around the world make use of lots of different stocks, spices, herbs, marinates, wines, and so on. The beauty of the Romanian tocana is its simplicity; making the most of a few choice ingredients cooked in a pot on a moderate heat with a little care over a long time. Cook it too quickly and it’s a stir fry.

Time: 60-80 minutes

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

500g of meat in large cubes (beef or pork are most commonly used – choose cuts that can stand stewing or braising like neck or belly of pork)

500g of juicy ripe tomatoes, skins removed and roughly chopped*

3-4 onions, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon of flour

Parsley or dill for garnish

Salt for seasoning

Oil or fat for cooking (any oil you like but pork dripping is traditional)

*you can use a tin of chopped tomatoes if you can find good in-season tomatoes in your local market. Out-of-season tomatoes tend to be flavourless and watery.

Method:

1. Heat a good tablespoon of the oil or fat in a deep pan and throw in the meat.

2. Add the roughly chopped onions and cook on a medium heat until the meat takes on a little colour and the onions start to soften and turn translucent. Don’t have the heat so high as to burn the onions.

3. Add a splash of water and continue to cook for about 30-40 minutes, adding water from time to time to stop it drying out and burning. Keep cooking until the onions have more or less ‘melted’ and the meat is tender and breaks apart under the pressure of the stirring spoon.

4. Add the chopped tomatoes and give it a good stir. Put a lid on it and allow to cook on a low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally and checking that it’s not burning on the bottom.

5. Sprinkle on a tablespoon of flour and mix in and leave for another 5 minutes until the sauce is rich and thick.

6. Serve with mamaliga (polenta) or your favourite type of potato (mash works well to mop up the sauces, but I was in the mood for chips). You can garnish it with any herb and add a spoonful of sour cream for extra richness if you wish.

Gulas cu galuste

"Goulash with dumplings"

Goulash is essentially a Hungarian dish which gained popularity in the Ardeal region of Romania, eventually spreading around the entire country. There are many different recipes for goulash and every cook and every region will have their own additions or tricks. The essential componants are the meat (usually beef, but often pork), the onions, and the paprika. I was lucky enough to have some Hungarian paprika with is burnt clay colour and rich intensity. To really do the dish justice, try not to use that opened refill box of paprika that's been hiding in the back of the spice cupboard for the last six years; go out and treat yourself to a new packet. If you're interested in Romanian or Eastern European cuisine, then you're going to need it!

Although this recipe is specifically for goulash with dumplings, it's quite common to use potatoes instead. If you prefer you could make it without either, and serve it on rice or even with pasta. Whatever you do with it, it's one of those dishes that sits in your stomach and warms you from within on a cold evening. I see most of the people who visit this blog are from Romania, so leave a comment and let everyone know how you make or eat your goulash.

Servings: 4

Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

800g of meat (shoulder of pork or beef)

3 tablespoons of dripping or oil

4-6 cloves of garlic (according to taste)

2 medium onions

2 large red peppers

1 hot pepper (optional)

1 carrot

1 tin of chopped tomatoes (or 500g of peeled and chopped fresh tomatoes if you have access to good ones)

1 tablespoon of tomato puree

4 tablespoons of good Hungarian sweet paprika (do make sure it’s not the hot kind – a mistake could be fatal!)

1 teaspoon of freshly ground cumin

2 fresh (preferably) bay leaves, torn in half or in thirds

1 bunch of parsley, chopped for garnish

Salt and pepper to season

For the dumplings:

1 egg

1-2 tablespoons of water

4-5 tablespoons of flour

Method:

1. Cut the meat into cubes of about 1.5cm square.

2. Heat/melt the dripping or oil in thick-bottomed pan and start to brown off the cubes of meat.

3. While the meat is browning off, you can prepare the vegetables. Peel and finely chop or slice the garlic. Peel the onion and chop it finely. Peel the carrot and grate it coarsely. De-seed the pepper and cut it into large pieces (2cm square-ish). If you want some kick to your goulash, chop the hot pepper, removing the seeds if you want it a little less potent.

4. Once the meat has browned off and its juices have reduced, add the onion, garlic, carrot, and pepper and cook on a medium heat until the onion has turned translucent and the pepper has softened, about 5-6 minutes.

5. Add the sweet paprika and cumin, mix in well, add the tomato puree, mix again.

6. Add the chopped tomatoes and the bay leaves and stir well.

7. Pour in about a litre of beef stock, or water at a scrape.

8. Cover and leave on a low heat for about an hour. The goulash might appear slightly too watery at this point, but don’t worry, it’ll reduce slightly over the hour and the dumplings will also absorb some of the liquid.

9. While it’s simmering, you can prepare the dumpling mix. Beat the egg in a bowl with the water and then add the flour, one tablespoon at a time, until you get a consistency that just resembles a dough rather than a batter.

10. After the goulash has had an hour with the cover on, remove the cover and taking the dough in one hand, break of smallish chunks with the other hand and roll them between your fingers to get something like a flat rugby ball, about 1cm thick. Dampening your hands with water can help. Don’t worry if they come out a little irregularly shaped, this is pretty normal for this dish. Drop these into the goulash and leave, uncovered, on the lowest heat for about 15-20 minutes. If you think it has reduced too much, you can add a drop more water or stock.

11. Serve in bowls with a sprinkle of fresh parsley and season to taste.

Jó étvágyat!

Other Romanian Pork Products

"Everything But The Squeak"

In the previous post we looked at the main cuts of pork that are most commonly used in Romania cuisine, but as any Romanian will tell you, some of the best products are those that are made from the offal or other less frquently encountered parts of the animal. A lot of these are not for the faint-hearted and some are, dare I say, an acquired taste.

One of the most popular times of the year for many of these is the Christmas holiday period when many Romanian families who keep pigs in their smallholdings will slaughter them and put together many different treats from its various parts. Some are to be eaten soon after slaughter, others are frozen, smoked, or salt-cured for later consumption.

Siorici /sho-rich/ – Pork skin. It is sometimes added as an ingredient to sausages, sometimes fried till crispy, but more often just softened and eaten as is.

Slanina /sla-knee-na/ – The thick layer of fat between the meat and the skin. Slanina is preserved by salting and smoking, sometimes with paprika. It is eaten in slices, obligatorily accompanied by a couple of fingers of home-made palinca (plum brandy). It’s often added to sausages and slices are sometimes put between pieces of leaner meat on skewers for grilling.

Jumari /ju-mar-i/– Pork scratchings. The fat of the animal (slanina) is cooked until the fat renders out. The remaining crispy pieces are salted and eat as a treat, often sprinkled with paprika.

Untura /oon-two-ra/ – Pork dripping. This is the fat that results from the rendering of the slanina when making jumari. It is used instead of vegetable oil or olive oil in the countryside when making stews or fried dishes.

Urechi de porc /or-rec-ee de porc/ - The ears. Some people will eat these as a delicacy but others use them in piftie (see below).

Picior de porc /pitch-or de pork/ - The trotter. This is most commonly use for piftie. The trotters are boiled for several hours and this helps to create the gelatine.

Piftie de porc /pif-tee-a de pork/ - Pieces of pork and some vegetables and herbs in aspic, usually made by boiled up the trotters, along with, sometimes, parts of the head and ears. The meat can be just from the trotters or other pieces from other cuts can be added.

Sunca /shun-ka/ and Jambon /jam-bon/ - The salt-cured, smoked (usually) and air-dried meat from the ham (pulpa)of the pig.

Costita de porc /cos-teets-a de pork/ - These are the cured, smoked, and matured ribs of the pig, usually with a thin layer of fat on them.

Kaizer /kay-zer/ – Another cut of salt-cured meat from the belly of the pig, usually this a thin layer of fat on it.

The following are the organs that are most commonly used in other pork dishes, or just cooked on their own (especially the liver and kidneys). They are principle ingredients of some of the various sausages made after slaughtering a pig.

Rinichi /rin-nik/– The kidneys.

Inima /in-ee-ma/- The heart.

Plamani /pla-mun-i/– The lungs.

Ficat /fi-cat/ - The liver.

The next few are all types of sausage consisting of different cuts or offal.

Toba /toba/ – Offal sausage, something like a pig haggis. The tongue (limba), liver, kidneys, ears, heart, and sometimes some lean pork, are boiled, chopped, stuffed into the bladder or the stomach and sometimes smoked.

Lebar /lay-bear/ – This sausage, probably of Saxon origin, is made by boiled up the liver, spleen, and lungs with some aromatic herbs, garlic and wine. It is then stuffed into the large intestines.

Carnati de casa /car-natz de ca-sa/ – These are the regular pork sausages we are more used to in the UK. There are different kinds and different zones will flavour them with different ingredients, garlic and paprika being the most common. They can be of differing length, the shorter ones being frequently referred to as carnaciori /car-na-chor-ri/. Others are gathers up into a spiral shape.

Caltabosi /cal-ta-bosh/ – This sausage is another one made from the offal of the animal. Pieces of ear, head, heart, kidney, lungs, spleen, skin, fat, and meat are boiled up with some herbs, the liver added, and then rice. It’s all then minced up and stuffed into intestines.

Sangerete /soon-jer-re-te/ – Black pudding. The blood of the pig is salted to aid curing and stuffed into the intestines.

I hope this gives you some idea of the variety of pork products that are available in Romania. I've always felt that knowing what something is will more likely tempt you to try it, otherwise a different country's cuisine can seem alien and daunting. I can't claim to have tried all of these myself, many of them are not available in regular supermarkets (or if they are, they are commercial mass-produced versions which probably disappoint). The ones I have tried, mostly thanks to friends with relatives in the countryside who still slaughter and produce them in the traditional way, proved to be very tasty (except, perhaps sorici, which I wasn't too keen on).

Carnea de porc

"Popular cuts of pork"



 The pig in Romania is certainly an animal from which you can use everything except the squeak, and the Christmas period is the pig’s crowning moment (if you can call being slaughtered for food such). The supermarkets mostly only sell the more popular cuts of pork but there are many smaller stores popping up around Bucharest where more traditional and lesser known pork-based products can be found. Even some of the larger supermarkets have jumped on the ‘traditional local produce’ bandwagon and have started supplying similar products.


As a foreigner in Romania I’ve always thought it would be useful to have a guide to some of the cuts of pork and the products made from them (and to know what goes in them). I’ve never found one so I thought I might as well post my own guide. I’m not a butcher by trade nor an expert, so if you spot any omissions or errors please feel free to comment so I can correct the guide.

Firstly, let’s begin with the regular cuts of meat:

Piept de porc /pee-ept de pork/– this is the belly. It usually consisted of the ribs, the flesh, a layer of fat, and the skin. Some of the supermarkets with sell it ‘fara grasime’ which means ‘without fat’. There’s still plenty of fat in it, so don’t worry, but they’ve removed the thickest fatty strata and the skin. Belly is great in many dishes – it grilled well on skewers, roasts perfectly, and can be minced up to make sausages or meatballs.

Ceafa de porc /cha-fa de pork/– this is a cut from the back of the neck. It generally comes in thick steak-like slabs. It grills very well, having fat marbled through it, and it can also be cut up into chunks for stews.

Cotlet de porc /cot-let de pork/– The cutlet usually comes from the upper part of the rib area. Cutlets are usually bone free and quite low in fat (comparatively speaking, of course). They are good on the barbeque, but can be a little dry, so I recommend a good marinate. They can also be hammered thin and turned into schnitzel. Look for the antricot /an-tree-cot/ (from the middle of the back) and the vrabioara /vra-bee-wah-ra/ (near the rear).

Muschi de porc /mush-key de pork/– This is the muscle from the rear part of the spine, the tenderloin. It’s very versatile and can be chopped and fried or grilled. I generally like to keep it whole and roast it, perhaps with a coating of herbs and spices.

Pulpa de porc /pull-pa de pork/– this is the ham or the thigh. It can be used for various cured meat products but is commonly considered the best cut for a friptura (thick-cut steak). Cooked on the bone at a low temperature in the oven, the pulpa is an excellent joint for roasting too.

Fleica de porc /flay-ka de pork/– another cut from the belly of the pig, towards the rear legs. The supermarkets commonly sell it in strips and due to its fatty content it’s quite good for chopping and frying or mincing into meatballs or sausages. It’s often found smoked (afumata).

Rasol de porc /ra-sol de pork/ – the rasol is the hock, part of the legs, and can be called rasol din fata (front hock) or rasol din spate (rear hock). Supermarket cuts tend to be sold in laterally-cut slices with a circle of bone in the middle.

Spata de porc /spa-ta de pork/– This is the cut of meat from the top of the front legs of the pig, the pork shoulder, and is quite versatile. It can but cut into chunks for a stew; minced up for sausages or meatballs; de-boned, rolled and stuffed; or marinated and roasted whole.

Coaste de porc /quas-te de pork/– These are the ribs and are very often smoked in Romania (coaste afumate). A favourite cut for roasting, grilling, and barbequing.

Ciolan /cho-lan de pork/– actually a leg bone rather than a cut of meat but some restaurant will advertise a ‘ciolan de porc’, which usually means a large leg joint, something like a hock, probably slow roasted and maybe smoked.

(Next post – other pork delicacies)

Fasole boabe cu carne de porc

"Bean stew with pork"

Bean stews are a fairly world-wide concept, being both cheap and filling. Various cuisines around the continent have their own versions, the most famous probably being the opulent French cassoulet. The Romanian version is very similar and equally as tasty, although I don’t believe I’ve seen it cooked with duck. Pork is the most common meat to be used in the dish, although the form of it varies from pork sausages (carnati) to the rich smoky ham on the bone (ciolan)  - essentially you just add whatever you have to hand, whatever you can afford, or whatever you prefer.

For my bean stew I’ve used a mixture of cuts – some fatty belly of pork, some leaner neck, and a few slices of smoked rib for flavour. The belly came on the bone so I stripped it off and cut it into large chunks, but reserved the bone to add to the stew, to be fished out before serving (and probably nibbled at – chef’s privilege!).

Time: About 4 hours

Servings: Enough for 5-6 portions

Ingredients:

500g of dried white beans

Two tablespoons of oil/fat (can be vegetable oil, pork dripping, or a mixture of olive oil and butter)

2 mediums onions, finely chopped

1 large tablespoon of tomato puree

450g of chopped tomatoes (1 can if you prefer)

A bouquet garni of parsley, thyme and bay leaves*

Chopped parsley to garnish

Method:

1. Leave the beans to soak overnight in cold water. Alternatively, put them in a saucepan with enough cold water to cover them and bring to the boil. Allow to boil for two minutes, take off the heat, cover, and leave for an hour. Either way, once soaked they should be drained and rinced.

2. Cover the beans with cold water again and very slowly bring to a gentle simmer. Check them from time to time and skip off the scum that appears on the top. Once you see no more scum is appearing, rinse them under a cold running tap for a minute or two, drain well, and put to one side.
3. In a large pan, preferably with a thick base, heat up the oil or fat and sear the meat on all sides. If you are using fatty cuts, you may want to scoop out a tablespoon or two of the resulting fat.
4. Add the chopped onion to the pan and turn the heat down and allow the onion to soften, stirring from time to time, for about 5-6 minutes.
5. Once the onion is soft and golden in colour, add the tomato puree and the chopped tomatoes and mix well with the onion/meat mixture.6. Add the drained beans combine a little. You want to avoid stirring the dish too much otherwise you’ll end up with the beans breaking apart.
7. Pour on enough hot water that it comes to the top of the beans, maybe 5mm above them.
8. Push the bouquet garni into the middle of the dish.
9. Bring briefly to the boil and then turn the heat right down (fast boiling is another way to shatter the beans into a pulp), cover, and leave to simmer quietly until the beans are soft. Check it every 30 minutes or so, add a little liquid if it has started to dry out, and carefully stir from the bottom to stop the base burning (nothing worse that bitter little burn bits in the stew). The beans are ready when the can be easily crushed between your fingers – this could take up to two hours, depending on the heat and the age of the beans.
10. When cooked, remove the bouquet garni, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve in bowls, sprinkled with a garnish of fresh parsley.

* To make the bouquet garni, tie the leaves together in a bundle with a piece of string. Alternatively (and this is the method I prefer) get hold of one of those empty tea bags (like little pouches into which you can put loose tea leaves) and fill it with the herbs you want to use (works ok with dried herbs too) and simply tie the neck together with some string and insert into the dish you are making.

Tigaie picanta de porc

"Spicy pork fry-up"

A tigaie is the Romanian word for a frying pan and picanta means hot and spicy, so it should be reasonably clear what the theme of this dish is. It is a one-pan dish, quick to prepare, and very flexible. I've chosen pork for this recipe but it could easily be made of any meat or even simply with vegetables.

Whilst belly of pork isn't the weight-watcher's dream, the fat which renders out of it in the initial fry ingstage adds body and flavour to the final sauce and the remaining layer of crispy fat on each chunk of pork is quite simply delicious. If you want to make a healthier version you could substitute the belly for a leaner cut, or perhaps mix the two to a balance you are comfortable with.

I suppose this is the Romanian version of a stir-fry. The resulting meal should be wet but not a stew. All of the componant parts should be coated in a slightly spicy gooey sauce made from the reduced wine and juices from the deglazed pan. It is often served with crispy roast potatoes but would work well with cartofi taranesti or mamaliga (polenta).

Time: 30 minutes

Servings: Three portions (or two ‘hearty’ portions)

Ingredients:

Two tablespoons of oil (olive, vegetable, or pork dripping)

500g of pork belly or neck

2 teaspoons of pepper puree (optional – can be substituted with tomato puree)

Up to half a teaspoon of paprika, according to taste (smoked paprika is great if you can get hold of it)

One medium onion finely chopped

3-4 cloves of garlic, sliced

1-2 hot chilli peppers, seeds removed and finely chopped

1 large red bell pepper, roughly cut into chunks about 1.5cm squares

150ml of white wine

1 bay leaf

200g of mushrooms (you choose the type), thickly sliced

3 rashers of bacon (optional)

Method:

1. Cut the pork belly into large chunks and mix in a bowl with the pepper/tomato paste, paprika and a splash of olive oil. Cover and leave in the fridge to marinate for as long as you can - a couple of hours will do, but overnight is better.

2. Brown the meat off in a tablespoon of oil (olive, vegetable, dripping, depending on preference/availability) in a large frying pan. Once browned all over, remove to a plate.

3. Into the same pan (don’t clean it) add the chopped onion, red bell pepper and garlic and fry for 5 minutes on a low heat until the onion has softened and the pepper has taken on a little colour around the edges.

4. Pour in the white wine, add the bay leaf, increase the heat and bring the wine to the boil and allow it to reduce by about half, stirring with a wooden spoon to deglaze the pan.

5. Once the wine has reduced, return the meat to the pan along with the chopped chilli pepper,  the sliced mushrooms, the bacon, and stir well.

6. Continue to cook on a medium heat for about 10 minutes until the meat is well cooked. Add a splash of water or stock if it starts to dry out too much. More paprika can be added along with salt and pepper to taste. The result should be moist, but not really ‘stew-like’.

7. Remove the bay leaf and serve hot with mamaliga or potatoes.

Mancare de gutui cu carne de porc

"Pork with quince"

This time of year quinces (gutui) are in season and can be found in both supermarkets and at the market on the street corner. Inedible raw, they have something of the quality of the apple, but perhaps a more robust texture when cooked with pork. We Brits are perhaps familiar with the quince's sweetness when used in jams and tarts, but in the slow-cooking oven they possibly exceed the apple as an accompaniment to pork, making them one of the mainstays of middle easten cuisine, and possibly thereby emigrating to Romania. If you can't find quinces, or they aren't in season, you can substitute them with apples, but don't sauté them for as long as suggested in this recipe otherwise you'll most likely end up with a messy pulp.

Note: You can follow the basic instructions and just leave out the pork to make a side dish of quice wedges to make a change from potatoes.

Time: About an hour and a half
Servings: For two people

Ingredients:
2 thick steaks of pork shoulder
A couple of knobs of butter
A heaped teaspoon of plain flour
About a cup or so of meat stock (home made or with a stock cube)
2 quinces (about the same in weight as the meat, before peeling and coring)
1 heaped tablespoon of sugar
3 tablespoons of white wine
25ml of plum brandy (tuica) (optional)
Salt and pepper for seasoning

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to a low-moderate heat, around 190-200c.
2. Melt a knob of butter in a wide frying pan and brown the pork off on both sides.
3. Meanwhile, warm the flour in a large ovenproof pan, don't let in burn, and once warm, add half a cup (125ml) of the meat stock mixing well to ensure that there aren't too many lumps.
4. Remove the pork from the frying pan once browned and place in the pan with the stock in it, bring to the boil, reduce the heat, and allow to simmer happily for five to ten minutes. Flip the pork steaks over at one point to ensure even cooking.
5. Whilst the pork is simmering, peel the quinces (a potato/apple peeler will do) and cut them into either slices or wedges (I prefer wedges - it gives some solidity to the finished product) and cut out the woody centre and the pips. Rule of thumb, if it's hard to cut, cut it out.
6. Into the same pan that you browned the meat in (why waste the taste?) add another knob of butter and on a moderate heat start to brown the quince segments, turning as they brown, until they take on a slightly caramelized look and a fork enters them without too much resistance. Once they are done, transfer them to the pan with the meat and the stock in it (which by now you've probably taken off the heat). They don't have to be completely soft to the centre as they'll finish cooking in the oven later.
7. In another pan, maybe whilst the quinces are browning, put a heaped tablespoon of caster sugar and shake it about a bit to get an even layer. Put the pan on a moderate heat and, watching carefully, allow the sugar to caramelize. Don't stir it too much or you'll end up with lumps, just drag the melted sugar into the unmelted sugar. It's a bit of a tricky technique (YouTube it for tips) but basically you want to avoid burning the sugar (tastes bitter) and get a nice brown caramel colour. Once you think you've done the best you can, pour in a good splash of white wine (3 tablespoons for the measurement obsessed), a splash of plum brandy (if you want, not essential, that's about 25ml) and a serving-spoonful of the stock, and allow the caramelized sugar to dissolve in the liquid. It's probably best if you don't use chilled wine as the cold wine hitting the pan will turn the liquid sugar into crispy lumps. Once the sugar has mostly dissolved into the added liquid, pour it over the meat and quinces in the ovenproof pan.
8. Cover the pan (lid, or if lacking, tin foil) and put it in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes. Check it after 20 minutes, prod the quince to check they are soft, and add a little more of the meat stock if you feel it's drying out.
9. When cooked (quinces soft, but not disintegrated, pork cooked through) serve with some seasonal vegetables or a cabbage salad.
10. If, after removing the quince and the pork to the plate, the remaining juice is a little thin, bring it to the boil and add a knob of butter and a tablespoon of flour and boil and reduce for a minute or two until thick and sticky before pouring over the meat and fruit.

Real heart-warming stuff, this dish, and a nice compliment of sweet and savoury. I hope you give it a go and enjoy it.