Mamaliga

I get a kick out of imported goods translations in English on their labels. You can see their native marketing department trying hard to come up with a decent convincing phrase.

This sometimes results in funky terms or concepts that will sound very corky for Americans. For instance this wonderful bottle of Romanian Chardonnay, that can be paired with many desserts, among other the popular (or not so) “Peanut Cakes” (?).

Suspecting that peanuts are native to the American Continent, the Romanian wine producer was maybe thinking that hey – in the end Americans must eat peanut cakes for dessert.

I suspect my own blog writing sounds like this example many times.

Popularity: 4% [?]

This can happen to you too, if you keep a tomato too long on the counter. My wife cut one open and bingo! The seeds started to hatch!
What looked like a perfectly fine tomato, soon proved that was in fact that it was a pregnant tomato with all these seeds starting to germinate inside of it!
I wonder what would have happened if we would have left it uncut!

Curious thing…

Popularity: 3% [?]

No, I am not your typical Romanian. I never ever made sarmale in my life! In fact my wife who is American made sarmale and they actually tasted better than in Romania! Heck, what is wrong with me?? They are known in the West as cabbage rolls or stuffed cabbage.

As a result, I decided to start a quest by making my first sarmale ever! Meaning that today I will go to our favorite grocery store Valli Produce, with a shopping list in hope of finding the right ingredients! In the mean time I will need to make a couple international long distance calls to a couple Mamas in Romania there to try to compile a recipe that’s very close to the origins.
Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 11% [?]

While growing up in Romania for 33 years I got to assume certain beliefs as being undoubtedly right and incontestable. It took a wife from the American continent to pull these things out of me and bring things into the light sometimes with a good laugh. Hope these will at least ease your day.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 6% [?]

It is usually Friday and Sunday when it is my turn to cook in the Bucataru household. So I thought of posting a weekly review of what I whipped together in the weekend

Mushroom Stuffed Galantined Chicken

Jacques Pepin shows a way of completely boning a chicken in his The Complete Pepin: Techniques and Recipes DVDs so I decided to give it a try and make Mushroom Stuffed Galantined Chicken.

It an easy process even if it looks intimidating at first. I had to truss the chicken in the and so the stuffing remains in. Barbecued at 325 for about 1-1/2 hours. Stuffing was a simple sauteed mushroom/tomato sauce mix. Unfortunately had no time for pictures as family was too hungry to wait for my camera setup. Maybe next time.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 4% [?]

This whole organic food concept cracks me up sometimes. There is a multi-billion industry built on it. The modern American culture became so “fat hydrogenated” that produced a whole anti-movement (rightly so) to bring back the original food production standards of natural cooking.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 8% [?]

If you can boil water, you can whip up a superb Mamaliga (or polenta as probably known more widely). There isn’t much science that goes into it. The creative input comes when you decide what to garnish it with (or use it as a garnish to a main dish).

Each region or use has its own culinary twist to it. For instance, in Moldova it is used often as a bread substitute so the consistency can be so thick that you can cut slices using a string of some sort. Of course the Sarmale (stuffed cabbage or grape leaves) is a signature dish that goes excellent with it.

Here I am making a simple Mamaliga cu Branza (polenta with feta cheese), with a somewhat thinner consistency, longer boil time, garnished with Bulgarian feta cheese I found in our local ethnic grocery store we absolutely love, and just to ad an extra touch of creaminess, I added cottage cheese.

The following feeds roughly two-three hungry adults, or four children but can multiply the serving to feed an army.

For the Mamaliga:

1 cup corn meal (I use an Indian brand called SWAD)
4 cups water
1/2 Tsp salt

For the feta cheese garnish:

1 1/2 cup feta cheese (preferably imported from a country in the Balkans)
1 cup cottage cheese
1 Tbs chopped parsley

Bring the water to a boil in a large pot, and add the corn meal in a slow steady stream while constantly whisking – this will prevent lumps. Add the salt and reduce to low heat, whisking the mamaliga frequently. Continue this for about 30-40 minutes, until the mamaliga starts pulling away from the pot’s sides. Add the feta and cottage cheese, sprinkle the chopped parsley on top and presto! You are done!

The Mamaliga can be used as a base, side dish or garnish to numerous recipes. I will have a couple of those on the list to post so stay tuned for more!

Popularity: 25% [?]

Since 1991, there’s an annual festival in Chicago called Taste of Romania, on the vacant plot found at the intersection of California and Addison avenues (proximity of Lincoln Park), organized by a restaurant called “Little Bucharest“, with a Balkan cuisine (more than Romanian). This year’s Taste of Romania takes place on September 13 – 14.

A funny little restaurant with a Serb owner, I would not call it “authentic” at all, but worth one visit. I’ve been there in 1996 when I dated my wife, to experience the Romanian diaspora culture a but again, not impressed. The menu is 6000 miles away from what actually defines Romanian cuisine.

Chicago’s Taste of Romania fest is a different story. If you are hungry for some as-close-as-you-can-get authentic Romanian Cuisine, then you might consider going after all.

Beside the fact that the event features two days of pig, oxen, lamb grilling on a spit, the traditional feet-stomped grape juice (you can’t get more authentic than that!), the stuffed pickled cabbage called sarmale (or sarma as known in Turkish), and of course Mamaliga, the organizers ship in loads of East-European dancers (Romanian, Greek, Serb and Polish), loud singers, that will have you jump up dancing the hora, or at least tapping your feet to contain your excitement.

Overall, if you happen to be in Chicago, I would recommend Taste Of Romania fest even if only for one day. You will get a hint of what is the Romanian cuisine or culture. Even if it is heavily Americanized.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Please, do not take cooking lightly (pun intended).

If kitchen business was enough to oust Thailand‘s Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, over accusations of violating the constitution, because he appeared on a cooking show he used to host 7 months ago before becoming a PM, how much more ignoring cooking will come back and hunt you?

Poor guy. He just wanted to stick to his cooking passion, as he was ruling the country. I for one, would be very impressed – even inspired! – if our President (or future President) would appear on a cooking show! He would definitely have my vote! It makes people connect in a more personal way as cooking is such a every day part of our lives!

In fact isn’t cooking that brings us together? Were are you going tonight? Of course to dinner with your family or friends! What will you do after you read this post? Of course go in the kitchen and cook Mr. Samak’s Fried Rice recipe! See, there’s real power in the kitchen, my friends. Cooking is not only an everyday routine with the same old boring stuff.

Let’s try this experiment and see if someone will oust you. Here is Mr. Sumak’s Fried Rice Recipe:

Ingredients (serves 7-8):
1/2 Lbs chicken breast (1/2″ cubes)
1/2 Lbs ham (chopped)
5 medium sized tomatoes (chopped)
6 medium sized onions (chopped)
6 to 8 chilli peppers (preferably hot northern Thai type)
2 cups mushrooms
6 kale leaves
8 small cucumbers
15 spring onions
2 cups boiled rice

Sauce:
1 tbs Oil
3 tbs Butter
Fish (or soy) sauce to taste
Pepper to taste

Action:

Start with melting the butter with the oil in a large wok. Add the vegetables, except the cucumbers and the spring onions – these are only used for garnish. Once the vegetables are softened (do not over fry!), add the chicken, fish (or soy) sauce, and the boiled rice.

Use your imagination and inner artist to garnish the fried rice once it’s on the plate. Have fun!

Popularity: 4% [?]

Stuffed cabbage, also known as “Sarmale” in Romanian. is a social event. Grandmas, aunts, gather in the kitchen and all they do for that morning is talk and stuff cabbage leafs!

Beside the fact that Sarmale is one of the dishes you MUST try, there is a whole social aspect that comes with it. Try making friends with a Romanian family nearby. Sooner or later they will invite you over for dinner. Then they will teach you how to make stuffed cabbage! That’s a priceless experience!

It is like apprenticeship over at Gordon-Bleu!

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 9% [?]