Romania's Moldavia cherishes winter food traditions

06/01/2009

Though Romania's northeast region, Moldavia, is known as the poorest part of the country, it is also famous for hospitality and warmth -- especially during the winter holidays.

By Paul Ciocoiu for Southeast European Times in Bucharest - 09/01/06

Pork is basic to many local dishes. [Gabriel Petrescu]

Hospitality is legendary in Romania's Moldavia region, located in the northeast of the country. It is commonly said that anyone crossing a threshold there is sure to receive a warm welcome. Small wonder that the greatest Romanian poet, Mihai Eminescu, and the renowned storyteller Ion Creanga, hail from this region, which is replete with winter traditions and cuisine.

The holidays start with the traditional pig slaughter, an increasingly controversial affair since Romania's EU accession. Rural dwellers slaughter a pig on Ignat Day, December 20th. According to folklore, a pig must die that day -- otherwise, it will dream of its own death that night, putting an end to the fattening process. A fat pig attests to the breeder's prosperity and hard work.

Pork is basic to many dishes in Moldavia. Sour borscht and mixed pork organs roasted in a stove, the latter usually accompanied by red wine and homemade sheep cheese, become tochitura moldoveneasca. Moldavians also make sarmale, a mixture of pork, rice and different vegetables all wrapped in either a cabbage or a vine leaf and then boiled in sour raw borscht. This dish is a must for any special family event. Whatever food may be on the table, corn polenta (mamaliguta) and the pickles are customary.

Caltabosi is a thick sausage, normally pig intestines stuffed with pork, rice and onions. Moldavians also combine chicken and pork to form racituri, a jelly-like dish with a strong garlicky flavour.

Poale-n brau and turta cu julfa are typical Moldavian desserts. The first is a local cheese pie baked in the oven, while the second contains thin dough layers baked on a stovetop and then sprinkled with honey and walnuts. The layers are put together to form a big cake.

Cozonac, a sponge-like cake adorned with raisins and walnuts, is the most common dessert on Christmas and Easter.

Moldavians cherish their winter customs, many of which originate in the distant past. On New Year's Eve, groups of men and children go from house to house to wish the locals an auspicious year in a traditional procession called plugusorul (the little plough). The well-wishers sing, blow whistles and pipes and ring little bells.

The next day, they return to sprinkle grains of wheat that symbolise fertility, health and purity. Typical for the region is another custom in which someone wears a genuine or mock bearskin and dances to the music of a pipe.