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There’s more to this ancient land than Bram Stoker’s dark tale – NICOLA EDMONDS explores Transylvania and discovers a food culture rich in diversity and tradition.
Hurtling through a throng of cars and trucks, a young woman expertly guides her horse and cart with the panache of a Greek goddess, cell phone clutched to her ear in one hand, reins in the other. On the outskirts of town, a newly built faux gothic villa exhibits the gypsy penchant for icing their homes with a froth of pagoda-style tin roofing. Everywhere, modernity seems little more than a veneer. Cosmopolitan cities and bustling towns tip suddenly into dirt tracks and dusty cottages. Transylvania is a land that stretches your eyes (and your senses) wide open to take in the constant and startling juxtaposition of old and new. Tucked within the regal belt of the Carpathian Mountains, this region lies in the heart of Romania, itself in the heart of Eastern Europe. A procession of conquerors – Hungarian, Austrian, Bulgarian and, of course, the great Ottoman Empire – have galloped across these mountains and plains since the Romans departed and Transylvania formed part of the Dacian kingdom in the first and second centuries. These days a rich, vibrant and much treasured tapestry has been stitched together from this assortment of cultural traditions and Transylvanian cuisine thrives within that cradle of influences. You find yourself eating your way across cultural divides: a Transylvanian meal might combine mamigla (a Roman baked polenta and cheese dish), musaca (mousaka), smokey sweet stuffed peppers and puréed eggplants (Ottoman) sprinkled with smoked paprika (Hungarian) with perhaps the lovely papanasi which is a sweet cheese dumplings topped with sour cream and pickled fruit for dessert (Polish/Russian). Food is arguably one of the few points where Romanians and the smaller Hungarian and Roma (gypsy) ethnic minorities living in Transylvania can find common ground – although in any given village there may be 10 different variations on the same recipe.
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It’s a kind of culinary fusion, but one born of necessity and long before the term was ever imagined by trendy westerners. No one dish or food defines the individuality of Transylvanian cuisine. Rather it is the blend of influences, squeaky-fresh ingredients, often sourced from tiny-scale producers, and a deft touch with herbs, spices and seasoning that distinguishes this area from much of its Eastern European neighbours. When not on official duty, Prince Charles (who claims family connections with the most famous of Transylvanian regional exports, Vlad the Impaler) is just one of a rising tide of westerners setting up house and shop in Transylvania to learn from and help preserve its traditions. Like many of the nations still finding their way since the drawing of the Iron Curtain, this region is not for the faint-hearted visitor, but the locals are endlessly openarmed and eager to share. They walk a daily tightrope, conforming (or not) to seemingly endless Government and EU strictures, and yet they are passionate and proud, and are finding ways to manoeuvre, innovate and thrive. Rares Craiutes (a representative of the slow food movement in Cluj county) is one of many locals who works hard to champion the artisanal talents of this region, but is wary of rampant development: “Transylvania exists, waiting to be discovered, not to be changed.” dish
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COLD PRESSED OILS Felicia Tulai worked in the city of Cluj until last year, when she decided to take the plunge and leave a steady job in marketing to follow through on an idea she had for expanding her parents’ pumpkin seed oil business. A special breed of Austrian pumpkin is grown on the family plot for their hull-less seeds. The pumpkins are split and deseeded by hand, under a vine-strewn pergola by various uncles and extended family members. Large brown hands delve into the sticky interior of each bright orb and deftly extract the seeds from the flesh. The seeds are then left to dry en masse outside under the abundant sun. In the small factory there is a savoury waft as the seeds are pressed to extract the oil. The oil pours out of the press in an emerald green swirl into the waiting cauldrons beneath. The family use a cold press technique to preserve the nutrients from the seeds. The oils that are yielded are then decanted into smartly labelled bottles upstairs, ready to be exported to the wealthy and increasingly healthconscious market for oils abroad.
GABI CATERING Rather like the tiffin sellers in India, the David family has created a business preparing cooked meals for the office and institution workers in the small towns and city nearby. It began as a way to capitalise on the excess bounty from their small farm. Their commercial kitchen is tiny by New Zealand standards, with just two domestic ovens side by side and no more bench space than the average Kiwi home, but their output is large and growing.
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Styrofoam lunch boxes are filled with csorbas (sour soups), pastas and risottos. A two-course lunch costs a mere three euros and comes with small bags of homemade pickles and slices of bread. The meals are made from scratch, fresh each day: there are no leftovers, just enough to fill the day’s orders. Everywhere someone has a job to do and food is in varying states of readiness. Outside, potatoes are peeled and cooked in a giant pot amongst the geraniums and a lanky teenager tends to the meats turning slowly on a spit over hot coals. Keeping a contented eye on proceedings, Otilo the pig, clocking in at around 300 kilos (and counting), is eating his way ever closer to his destiny as Christmas dinner. Under the eaves there are large red basins full of chopped peppers slowly pickling themselves for preserves and in the family’s own kitchen several mounds of dough are gently proving in giant earthenware pots, ready to be baked for the annual family grape harvest.
PLUM BRANDY Palinca or tuica (plum brandy) is the ‘home brew’ of Transylvania and, served neat with bread, is regarded as the cornerstone of hospitality in welcoming any visitors into the home. The Transyvlanians refer to this potent concoction as ‘warming food’, which is apt: it’s deceptively clean on the palate and guaranteed to instil an instantaneous natural glow. Daniela runs the Copaceni community distillery, which turns out to be a motley assortment of blue plastic barrels and copper-bellied boilers in a long, low-slung room beside her tiny kitchen. Villagers bring their fruit (sometimes apples and pears join the brew) to be fermented in the blue barrels for several
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SPECIAL TREATS
Varza a la Cluj – translating as cabbage Cluj-style, this dish is a good example of a mixed medley of cuisines: a deconstructed Transylvanian version of the ‘sarma’ or ‘dolomites’ familiar to travellers in Balkan and Turkish territories. Some say this is the ‘lazy wife’ version, because unlike sarmale, which entail individually rolling the meat and rice mixture in cabbage, here the ingredients (cabbage or sauerkraut, pork meat, onion and spices) go into a dish in lasagne-style layers to be baked golden savoury brown and served with lashings of sour cream.
Kurtos kalac is one of the favourite months. The fermented fruit is boiled over a low fire before a second distillation takes place to achieve a pure alcohol content ranging from 40 to 50 per cent.
region. Through sheer necessity (few can afford the luxury of chemical sprays) most of the food is organic, although you won’t find any fancy labelling telling you so.
‘Bring your own bottle’ rules apply. Any old bottle will do, but strict regulations dictate exact dates when brewing is permitted and the seals of the copper boilers are wired and tagged by roaming officials keeping an eagle eye on their tax revenues.
Herbs and spices, both dried and fresh, are crucial to much of Transylvanian cooking. Buckets of dried basil waft their sweet aroma alongside stalls selling bundles of dried and fresh dill, horseradish root and bunches of thyme. All displayed beside jars of preserved tarragon, pickled vegetables and scarlet orange bags of the ubiquitous paprika.
HONEY Irina Kepes sells her jewel-like jars from a small golden enclave within the Turda markets. The jars contain honey gathered from bees plying a range of botanicals, from lime to linden flower and fir tree (especially good for honey lovers with allergies). Kepes and her husband, Antal, house and transport up to 150 bee families around the surrounding countryside. Beekeepers in Transylvania have their own ingenious mode of transport to cart their hives between forests and meadows in the course of the year. Small trucks and caravans are kitted out with bee boxes built into their sides, which pull out as small drawers and from which the bees can roam as they please. Honey vendors can be found throughout local markets and along the roadside, often within a stone’s throw of their bee-hicles.
MARKETS
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Most towns and cities in Transylvania host daily or weekly markets, selling everything from fresh produce through to straw hats and school uniforms. These are a foodie heaven and an ideal location to get amongst the real faces, smells and sounds of the
MEAT Pork is often referred to as the ‘best’ or ‘first’ vegetable by Transylvanians. Delectable slanina (pork belly) is available, smoked or raw, often cut into small cubes which are fried and served with a sprinkling of paprika, bread and slices of sweet red onion. This dish is popular as a breakfast alternative – with shots of plum brandy, of course, to get the day off to a good start. Another example of the holy trinity of bread, pork and liquor – developed nearly a century ago as a sort of fast food to serve at local fairs – is turda steaks, cut from the neck of a pig, short chops or from the belly meat. The thick slices are cut and notched into a fan shape, then salted, marinated and fried in hot pig fat. The resulting meat is meltingly tender and sweet, and served on homemade bread with pickles.
street foods of the Transylvanian people. These long pastry cones are made from sweet dough rolled into long ‘snakes’ which are then rolled around specially constructed, wooden handled rollers. The dough-encased spits are then rolled in sugar, walnuts or sometimes coconut, and cooked over hot coals. The finished pastry cone is eased off the spit and served hot and crunchy with a sweet, deliciously doughy centre.
Galusti (plum dumplings) – a good example of the delights of starch added to starch. The dough is made with a blend of potatoes, wheat flour and eggs, nestled inside of which is a whole plum
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with a little sugar. As the dumplings boil, the plum and sugar ferment, causing the dumplings to rise to the surface when ready. Rolled in breadcrumbs and sugar to finish, then deep fried, these small bombs are criminally rich but utterly delectable.
Csorbas – used loosely to refer to a sour soup, csorbas run a wide gamut from tripe and calves’ feet variations through to cold soups made from fruit. The soup is soured with either lemon juice, sauerkraut juice or vinegar. Soups made from fruit are a particular speciality. A cold, sour cherry soup originated in Hungary, but these days is only made in Transylvania, along with a similar variation made from apples.
Pastrav afumat. Being landlocked, fish has traditionally been all but absent from the Transylvanian menu. Any fish that was seen was cured using a special smoking technique sometimes still used today. Two braces are created from interwoven fir tree branches. The fish is sandwiched between these and then smoked over hot coals in a hole dug in the ground. The smoking helps to preserve the fish and the needles of the fir impart their own distinctive and slightly astringent flavour.
Nicola Edmonds visited Transylvania as a guest of the Ratiu Family Foundation and Transylvania Fest Association.
TRAVELLER INFORMATION Food tourism is a work in progress in Transylvania. Travellers planning a visit should investigate organised tour groups or contact the slow food representatives in Transylvania directly. Within the larger towns and cities English is frequently spoken, but beyond these even tourists from neighbouring Hungary can struggle to make themselves understood. Driving a vehicle is equally challenging. Many Roma gypsies have perfected the art of conning wayward foreigners. Slow Food Cluj Transilvania - phone +4 0264-317555 or fax +4 0264-306350 or email office@slowfoodcluj.com Sibiu Tourist Information Office – www.turism.sibiu.ro Ciao Romania Tour operators – www.ciaoromania.co.uk
Arpi Basci, who proudly proclaims himself to be the son of the inventors of the turda steak, advises that one should begin by taking a glass of palinca – ‘to make a bed for the steak’ – and end with a glass of wine to ‘pull the blanket over’ the meal.
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