Moldavian cuisine

National Moldovan cuisine is called a treasury of unique recipes. And this is not surprising. After all, Moldova itself is fabulously rich in all kinds of products and methods of their preparation. This has happened since antiquity, since she was at the right time in the right place. Simply put, the country was on the busy route “from the Varangians to the Greeks”, which Byzantine and Greek merchants used to transport overseas goods. Needless to say, they subsequently “shared” with the Moldovans not only them, but also small culinary tricks that local housewives immediately used in everyday life.

History

As mentioned earlier, the true Moldovan cuisine has its origins in ancient times. True, it was influenced not only by territorial features, but also by individual stages in the development of other peoples.

Judge for yourself: in the X – XIII centuries. Moldavia was part of the ancient Russian state, from 1359 to 1538. – remained independent, then for almost 300 years was under the rule of Turkey, and in the XVIII century. became part of the Russian Empire and remained it for almost a hundred years until the union with Wallachia and the formation of “Romania”.

All this involuntarily affected the culinary traditions of the Moldovans, although they themselves did not lose touch with the Hellenic, Byzantine culture and Greek customs. The best confirmation of this is the Greek dishes that have taken root in the Moldovan cuisine, for example, placinta and vertuta. And, of course, culinary customs and techniques that are typical for southern European and Mediterranean cuisines.

First of all, it is a special affection for butter, puff and stretch dough. Also, this is the frequent use of vegetable oils, olive and sunflower, the use of dry grape wine in the preparation of meat and vegetable dishes or the creation of spicy-piquant sauces for them.

The Turkish influence is evidenced by the combined processing of products, the frequent use of lamb and, of course, the joint dishes for both peoples (givech, chorba). By the way, the Slavs also left their mark in Moldovan cuisine, sharing recipes for pickling and pickling vegetables, as well as making cabbage pies and cakes.

They say that thanks to all this, Moldovan cuisine subsequently became whole, unique and even international. The kind that she is known and loved all over the world today.

Character traits

The features of Moldovan cuisine are:

• widespread use of vegetables. Here they are stewed, pickled, salted, fermented and simply eaten raw. Sweet peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, zucchini, various types of beans have been held in high esteem for many years;
• richness of meat dishes – it happened historically that Moldovans equally love pork, lamb, beef, poultry meat. Moreover, most often they are cooked over an open fire using gratara – an iron grate laid over hot coals, or in portioned pots. They are served respectively with hot or cold sauces based on dry wine or tomato juice with vegetables;
• active use of spices and herbs – most often these are garlic, tarragon, pepper, thyme and cloves;
• originality of soups – they all have a characteristic sour taste and a huge amount of vegetables and herbs. The most popular soups are chorba and zama;
• a variety of salads – they are prepared here from vegetables and fruits, fish and meat, and, of course, greens and served cold immediately after dressing. Moldovans know a lot of recipes for such dishes, as they make them in a new way every time, simply by modifying the set of ingredients;
• abundance of fish – fish dishes are very fond of in Moldova. They are baked here, boiled, fried, including deep-fried, and served with a lot of vegetables;
• sincere love for corn – porridges, soups and main dishes are made from it, including the famous hominy. It is also called local bread, as it is made from thickly boiled corn flour, which is then cut into portions. Many people mistakenly believe that she has been here since antiquity. In fact, corn was brought to this region in the XNUMXth century. At first it was considered exclusively the food of the poor, and only later it was “made” of it a national dish;
• the abundance of dairy products, however, most of all Moldovans love feta cheese.

But the most interesting thing is not so much the dishes themselves as their presentation. In this country they know a lot about design and skillfully use it.

Basic cooking methods:

In Moldova, you can and should try absolutely everything! But due attention must be paid to her pride – national dishes. And there are plenty of them here!

The same hominy. Its ancestor is said to be the Italian polenta.

Vertuta and placinta are pies made from stretched dough with different fillings (cottage cheese, vegetables, fruits, eggs and even nuts). Their main difference is their shape. Vertuta is a roll, while placinta is a flat cake.

Chorba is a favorite first dish, which is a soup with vegetables and herbs on bread kvass.

Mititei – grilled sausages.

Malay is a corn pie.

Syrbushka – vegetable soup with curd whey with corn flour.

Zama is another version of bread kvass soup. It differs from chorba in a large number of vegetables.

Macareths are dried peppers.

Muzdey is a sauce with garlic, nuts and herbs, which is served with meat or hominy.

Tokana is a dish of pork fried with onions and spices.

Beans fakaluite – a dish of grated beans with garlic.

Jelly – Moldavian jellied meat.