Romania (Europe) 26 January 2025

Romania is located in the continent of Europe. It has Ukraine to the north and northeast along with Moldova, the Black Sea to the east, Turkey to the southeast, Bulgaria to the south, Serbia to the southwest, Hungary to the west, and Slovakia to the northwest.

The capital is Bucharest.

The official language is Romanian

The climate is transitional between temperate regions in the southeastern portion, and harsher extremes in the continental interior. The center is more humid.

The staple foods are stuffed pickled cabbage leaves, creamy polenta, hearty bors soups, tangy fermented vegetables and fruits, potato, apples, pork, cheese and so much more (https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/features/romanian-cuisine-7-ingredients.

https://www.britannica.com/place/Romania

ROMANIAN MEATBALLS WITH SAUCE (https://theromaniancookbook.com/romanian-meatballs-with-sauce-recipe/):

For the meatballs:

• 500g minced meat (chicken, pork, beef, or mixed)
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 2 eggs
• 1 TBSP paprika
• 1 TBSP dried thyme
• 1 TBSP dill
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Vegetable oil for frying

1. Beat the eggs well as if you were making an omelette.
2. Mix the minced meat with the onion, herbs, and fold in the beaten eggs.
3. Take a small quantity of the mixture and form medium-small balls using your hands. Wet your hands so that the meat doesn’t stick to your hands.
4. Cover the bottom of a pan with oil and fry the meatballs.
5. Avoid overcrowding the pan (you can fry in batches).
6. Once you have fried all the meatballs, set aside.

For the sauce:

• 1 red onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 red peppers
• 1 TBSP oregano
• 1 TBSP sweet paprika
• 400ml can of tomatoes
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a fresh pan, fry the red onion for a couple of minutes.
2. Add the red pepper.
3. For a better texture of the sauce, don’t cut the onions or the pepper too small.
4. Let them fry for another 3-4 minutes, then add the seasonings, the minced garlic, and the can of chopped tomatoes.
5. Let the sauce simmer for 10-15 minutes, until it’s cooked but the vegetables are still holding their shape.
6. Add the meatballs to the sauce and mix gently, so you don’t break them.
7. Serve the Romanian meatballs with sauce alongside mash potatoes.

The sauce on these meatballs was really good and flavorful!!

MASHED PURPLE POTATOES:

I really love Ube, and even though these were a little more soft than typical of a mashed potato, it added such a great flavor alongside the meatballs!!

ROMANIAN ALBINITA (Honey Cake With Plum Jam & Cream Filling): (https://www.chefspencil.com/romanian-albinita/):

For dough cake layers:

• 500g flour
• 100g sugar
• 150g honey
• 130g butter (85% fat)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 pinch salt

1. Make sure all the ingredients, except the flour, are at room temperature.
2. Mix them together in a bowl, then put on the heat.
3. Leave it on a medium to high heat, stirring constantly until a copper cream is formed.
4. Leave to cool.
5. When it is cool, add the flour and mix by hand until a soft, non-sticky dough results.
6. If it looks too hard, add 1-2 TBSP of milk.
7. Then divide the dough into 4 equal pieces.
8. Roll the dough out on a sheet of baking paper sprinkled with flour.
9. Roll it out as thin as possible, then transfer it, along with the paper, to the back of the tray.
10. Bake for about 8-10 minutes, at 356F until the edges turn coppery.
11. Bake all the layers one by one.
12. Leave them to cool on a rack and set aside the baking paper.
13. The layers will harden but they will soften with the cream.
14. While waiting for the rest of the layers to bake, cover the baked ones with food-quality film so it does not dry out.

For the cream:

• 120g semolina
• 600ml milk
• 150g sugar
• 250g butter (82% fat)
• 1 vanilla essence
• 1 grated lemon peel
• 300g plums        

1. Boil the milk together with the sugar.
2. When the milk has boiled, gently add the semolina so that it doesn’t become lumpy.
3. Mix it with a whisk and boil for 5 minutes.
4. Be careful the mixture doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan (it doesn’t make a very thick semolina).
5. Remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool.
6. Then add the grated lemon peel and vanilla essence and mix until it is well blended.
7. Now to assemble, spread the semolina cream over the first layer, place the second layer on top and spread it with the jam/marmalade. Place the third layer on top and spread with the cream and then put on the last layer.
8. Leave the cake in the fridge overnight; the longer it rests, the better it will be.
9. Before serving, decorate with powdered sugar.
10. This cake is great, I recommend it to everyone!

One word….. YUM!

VERY GOOD TASTING!!