eggplant, cubed (not peeled)
Location: Area: Climate: Terrain:
Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Ukraine
237,500 sq km temperate; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow and fog; sunny summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms central Transylvanian Basin is separated from the Plain of Moldavia on the east by the Carpathian Mountains and separated from the Walachian Plain on the south by the Transylvanian Alps Population: 22,334,312 (July 1999 est.) Religions: Romanian Orthodox 70%, Roman Catholic 6% (of which 3% are Uniate), Protestant 6%, unaffiliated 18% Languages: Romanian, Hungarian, German Capital: Bucharest
Food/Recipe:
Those who live to eat will find life pretty dull in Romania. Restaurants tend to offer the same things with tedious consistency: grilled pork, pork liver, grilled chicken, tripe soup and greasy potatoes. Romania's most novel dish is mamaliga, a hard or soft cornmeal mush which is boiled, baked or fried. In many Romanian households, it's served as the main dish. The other mainstay of the Romanian diet is ciorba (soup). The sweet-toothed won't starve: typical desserts include placinta (turnovers), clarite (crepes) and saraille (almond cake soaked in syrup).
Create your own Romanian dish
MAMALIGA (Main Dish) (Corn Meal Mush) Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 cup yellow corn meal 2 cups water teaspoon salt Corn or sesame oil or vegan margarine, optional Steps 1. Bring the water to a boil in a heavy saucepan 2. Add the salt, then sprinkle in the cornmeal, stirring constantly. (Note: Stirring with a wire whisk helps prevent lumps) 3. Reduce the heat and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until thick but still pourable, about 20-30 minutes 4. Pour into a shallow bowl and allow to set, either on the counter or in the refrigerator 5. When firmed up, cut into wedges and serve, or brown the wedges in a frying pan in a little oil or margarine before serving.
2 carrots, sliced into pennies 1 small green or yellow summer squash, sliced 2 medium onions, quartered and sliced 1 17-oz can plum tomatoes with liquid cup green peas cup cut green beans (not French style) 1 green or red bell pepper, seeded and cut in chunks 2 ribs celery, sliced 1-1/2 cups vegetable bouillon cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1/4 cup each chopped fresh dill and parsley Salt and ground black pepper to taste Steps 1. Preheat oven to 350 2. Place the cut vegetables in a three- or four-quart ungreased casserole dish 3. Pour the tomatoes and liquid on top 4. Mix together the bouillon, olive oil, and garlic, then pour this mixture over the vegetables 5. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and stir all ingredients once or twice to distribute 6. Sprinkle the dill and parsley on top 7. Cover the casserole dish and bake at least one hour, or until the vegetables are of desired tenderness (if you like a bit mushy, bake closer to two hours) Allow to cool a bit before serving over rice or mamaliga (a traditional Romanian dish of corn meal mush, like polenta; see recipe above).
ROMANIAN GHIVECI (Main Dish) [that's ghee-VETCH] (Garden Stew)
Yield: 6-8 servings
Ingredients: 2 potatoes, quartered and sliced head cauliflower, separated into flowerets
Did-You-Know Vlad Dracula -- the historical Dracula -- was a Wallachian prince who ruled Romania from 1456 to 1462. He was not a vampire; tales of these mythical creatures have persisted for centuries, and they were popularized by author Bram Stoker in the late 1800s. During the fifteenth century, the Turks conquered most of what is now the Balkans and Central and Eastern Europe, spreading Byzantine culture throughout the vast Ottoman Empire that it ruled. Vlad Dracula repelled the invading armies by impaling his Turkish enemies on spikes, earning him the sobriquet Vlad Tepes -pronounced TSEH-pesh -- or Vlad the Impaler. (Perhaps this inspired Stoker to kill his vampires in a similar manner.) Because of their fear of Vlad, the Turks did not press for
sovereign control of the region and allowed Romania to function as a suzerainty. This gives some explanation why Romanians speak a Latin-based language to this day -unlike their Slavic neighbors. It was also Vlad Dracula who founded the city of Bucuresti, now the capital of Romania.
