Gastronomy
Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between culture and food. It is often wrong to consider that the term gastronomy refers exclusively to the art of cooking. It is not always appropriate to say that a chef is also a gourmet. Etymologically, the word “gastronomy” is derived from the ancient Greek, γαστήρ (gastér) meaning “stomach” and νόμος (nómos) – “knowledge” or “law”. Gastronomy studies various cultural components that have food, in general, as a basic element. Thus, it is related to the Fine Arts and Social Sciences in terms of culture, and to the Natural Sciences regarding the digestive system of the human body.
A gourmet’s main activities include discovering, tasting, experimenting, researching, understanding, and documenting food and nutrition in writing. Gastronomy is therefore a rather complex activity. By watching carefully, everyone can discover that around food there is dance, theater, painting, sculpture, literature, architecture, and music. Moreover, there are also physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, geology, agronomy, as well as anthropology, history, philosophy, psychology, and sociology.
The gastronomy of Galati County, Romania
In recent years, a series of highly diversified gastronomic festivals have been organized. These are a real challenge for gourmets and gourmands, who can’t stay away from appetizing flavors and dishes.
- Street FOOD Festival Galați (https://streetfoodfestival.ro) is a festival already with tradition in Galați County. The organizers recommend from the very first day an adventure among food trucks, but also chicken with sesame from Shanghai, beef tagliatta from Cimbru, burgers from Elemozsia, Mexican food from Pokka, homemade ice cream. These culinary delights are prepared right in front of the participants. As for drinks, you can be sure there is enough to choose from: Staropramen beer bars, Rewine with foreign wines, Central cocktail bar, Prosecco Van with prosecco, and the Arome truck with fresh juice. At each edition, the participants also enjoy quality music and cinema. In Galați, this festival has been organized since 2018. The festival started in 2016 in Cluj, and so far it has reached several tens of cities, where hundreds of thousands of gourmets have enjoyed delicious dishes, specific to international cuisines. It should be noted that the tradition was not interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic either.
- Authentic Food Fest (https://autenticevents.ro/galati-autentic-food-fest/) is an event that brings to the fore the multitude of culinary products and their diversity of Romanian culinary products. Muntenian sarmale, outlaw bone, Muntenian pastrami, boiled meats, Muntenian stew, bard sausages, Pleşcoi sausages, hot pork ribs, are just some of the goodies that Căsuța Muntenească will entice. From Bucovina we have the traditional poale-n brâu and alivenci pies, and homemade cakes. Transylvania doesn’t let us down either and it will entice you with the traditional products from Stâna lui Nicolae Ciobanul from Vințul de Alba, bulz and pastrami in the cauldron, mutton and mutton sausages, cheeses and telemea. Dobrogea will entice you with şuberek and Dobrogean pies with cheese, spinach, meat, apple and pumpkin and with the famous specific Turkish, baclavale and cataif products. From the Szeklerland area we have the delicious Kurtoș Kallacs, and from Banat, Turkish pies. The traditional Argeș brandy and brandy and Vrancea wine cannot be missing from the festival.
- The Scrumbia Festival is a traditional festival in Galați that takes place on Flower Sunday. The festival consists of a series of fishing competitions, gastronomic demonstrations with fishery products, performances of folk and light music, exhibitions of fishing gear, but also a fair of folk craftsmen. Unfortunately, this festival has not been organized since 2020, but we hope it will return in force.
- Pie and snack festival. The festival brings together chefs and producers from all over the country, with a variety of pies prepared according to traditional recipes but also according to recipes from modern cuisine. In addition to traditional Romanian dishes, visitors can choose oriental delicacies with Turkish, Tatar, or Greek flavors. We can’t help but remember some of the stars of the festival: the famous curly pies from Maramureș, Alivenci and Poale-n Brâu of Moldovan origins, pies from the Apuseni Mountains, pies from Târnava, pies from Muntenia, Mocănești pies, shepherds pies with cheese, Dobrudjan pies with salted cheese, Oltenian pies with cheese and leeks, boyar pies, Serbian homemade pie with pumpkin, apples and cinnamon, Macedonian pies with telemea and dill, peasant cakes baked on the stove, plain and stuffed, sweet or salty, Turkish șurebek pies and many other culinary attractions.
- Crawfish and Seafood Festival. A wide range of dishes and hundreds of kilograms of crayfish and seafood are cooked for those present at the event. The stars of the event are crabs, shrimp, octopuses, squid, shells, rapans, Paella. They are joined by lobster, red fish, sea bream, guavis, anchovies and barbels.
- The “Pizza Fest” is a 100% Galaţi concept. The organizing team is entirely from Galați. During the festival, the professional pizzerias, or simply experienced pizza enthusiasts show off their own pizzas and prove their knowledge in front of a jury notorious in the world of pizza, in a competition based on fairly strict and well-developed rules.
- The “Sweets Festival” is organized annually in the village of Moscu in Târgu Bujor, Galați County. Every year, it gathers about 50 participating housewives from the villages, who, in addition to the traditional Moldovan pies, demonstrate their mastery in the preparation of cakes, pies, and many, many other goodies according to family recipes. The “Sweets Festival” in Moscu is placed “strategically” at the end of summer, on the first Sunday when there is no fasting, so that the jury and the other participants in the festival can appreciate, without hesitation, the quality of the desserts participating in the contest.
The gastronomy of the Reni Territorial Community, Ukraine
Reni Territorial Community is a region where the culinary traditions of Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Greeks, Albanians, Romanians, and dozens of other nations are intertwined. There are villages and towns where unique recipes that are several hundred years old are still preserved.
The period of the Ottoman occupation strongly influenced the traditions of the gourmands of Bessarabia with tastes of Turkish, Arabic, Persian, and Greek dishes.
In the Bulgarian villages of the Reni Territorial Community, gastronomic tourism enthusiasts will be able to try traditional soup meat stew, kebab (meat delicacies prepared over an open fire), dolma, lamb (baked with bulgur), melina (pastry baked with cheese) and much more.
There are many interesting dishes of Moldovan/Romanian origin in the region. It is worth starting with the plăcintă pies with different fillings. Another iconic dish is corn mănăliga with stew. It is usually served with cheese. Popular dishes of Moldovan cuisine include mici (juicy beef sausages with spices and garlic), green tomato jam, zama (Moldovan soup served with raw egg and sour cream), chickpeas with pork, rice with sauerkraut and chicken, fried pork, (previously soaked in wine) with sauce (Moldovan broth sauce, garlic, and salt) and many other grilled meat dishes.
Gagauz cuisine has much in common with the cuisines of other peoples in the region. The variety of dishes on the table is due to the mild climate of Bessarabia, the rural roots of many Gagauzians, as well as the love for long and rich holidays. Gagauz cuisine has many milk, meat, and cheese dishes. An important place is occupied by flour products, especially puff pastry pies with cheese (“kiwirma”). National dishes include “gezlemya” (baked cheese pies from yeast dough), “patchu” (jelly poultry), “beans”, “kabakli” (pumpkin rolls served as dessert), “suana”, “saarma” (cabbage rolls with grape leaves and sourcream ), pickles. Tomatoes and peppers are widely used to make hot sauces.
The gastronomy of Cahul district, the Republic of Moldova
Moldovan cuisine is a synthesis of the natural riches of our land – cereals, vegetables, fruits. Traditional cattle growing on one hand, and the specific location on the border between countries with different cultures, on the other hand, have influenced the food system of Moldovans in different periods of history. Turkish cuisine had a great influence on the culinary art in the Cahul district. As a result, today’s gastronomy attracts not only through a palette that is based on a wide variety of dishes from vegetables, pork, lamb, beef, poultry, but also through a rich arsenal of techniques for processing culinary products, borrowed from neighboring countries.
However, gastronomy has developed in an original, special manner with specific individual characteristics, managing to mix culinary methods and combinations of products, incompatible at first sight (meat with fruit, desserts with wine, salted fruit, etc.). There are only a few Moldovan dishes in which vegetables are not used. The vegetables are boiled, cooked, stewed, fried, salted. They are consumed as a separate course and as a side dish. Vegetables are prepared in combination with all types of meat (beef, pork, lamb, poultry, fish). They are also used as a filling for traditional baking (rolls, pies).
Garlic, black pepper, and paprika are used as spices in Moldovan cuisine. Also, fresh greens, dill, parsley, leeks, celery are used in abundance. From the earliest times on the Moldovan table, homemade cheese is served. Cheese is used not only as an appetizer but also as an ingredient in various dishes of vegetables, eggs, dough, and meat.
Although corn appeared in Moldova relatively recently (late seventeenth century), it occupies an important place in the menu of Moldovans. The young corn is cooked on embers or boiled. It is used in the preparation of soups, salads, etc. The famous mămăliga is prepared from corn flour, and is a dish that has given birth to a special compartment in the local gastronomy. The mămăliga is fried, cooked, stuffed, eaten as a special dish and as a side dish. Combined with wheat flour, it is used to prepare a wide range of pastries and confectionery.
Apart from traditional methods of cooking (boiling, frying, simmering), cooking on the open fire is loved by Moldovans. Thus are cooked all types of meat (usually marinated in wine), fish, vegetables, mushrooms, and even in some cases, fruits. To preserve their juice and give them additional flavor, certain dishes are baked in leaves of vine, walnut, cabbage. The dessert table of Moldovans is no less original. The great variety of fruits, dessert wines, nuts permitted the appearance of a large number of combinations in the form of jellies, juices, jams, and compotes, fruits filled with nuts, fruit in the wine, dumplings, pies, baked desserts.
In the village of Slobozia Mare, at the “La Tanti Masha” tourist destination, we find an impressive culinary story, which started over 30 years ago, when auntie Masha began cooking in the kitchen of a brigade, then in that of the village middle school, to finally become the chef of the local camp.
Although advanced in age she was always young in her soul and eager for adventure. With the support of the family and with a small grant from the LDPJ LAG, the brand, and her business was born.
Over 30 years of experience and thousands of weddings, celebrations, ceremonies at which she cooked a multitude of traditional and unique European recipes, recipes inherited from her grandmother and great-grandmother, made Tanti Masha a gastronomic master in the region.
The beginning of the pandemic brought the first tourists, but also the first steps for the registration of the rural house, where 7-8 people can be accommodated and who can indulge in goodies that can be found only in the Lower Prut Meadow, and some only in Slobozia Great, being reinvented or kept by Aunt Masha.
Dishes of fish, lamb, poultry, local cheeses, specialties such as couscous, dumata, paprika or sweet pepper, zacusca from baked vegetables, generally made of local products, many from small local producers, from their own household, and last but not least the famous sweets, which are born in the gastronomic laboratory of aunt Masha, impress anyone who her doorstep.
All of these combined with the southern warmth of the generous soul with which people from the South are usually endowed, attract the guests making them feel at home.
Even the most demanding, holding more contemporary food views (vegetarians, vegans) like what Tanti Masha prepares, who knows how to attract and pleasantly surprise anyone who comes here.
At Tanti Masha it’s not just about food and accommodation services, about the places on the banks of the Prut, Lake Beleu, or the Saraienilor hill, it’s about feeling the uniqueness and warmth of the South, but also being part of life in the South for a few days!
La Tanti Masha – Generational family recipes. Come and taste the gastronomic mosaic of the Lower Prut.
The "Grandfather's House (Casa bunicului)" boarding house, Pașcani village
The restaurant inside the Casa Bunicului in the village of Pașcani, awaits visitors to enjoy the most delicious traditional dishes. Located in the heart of the village, in a specific landscape of Lunca Prutului, offers the guests the opportunity to taste the dishes prepared and served with love by the owners of the boarding house. Culinary enthusiasts can also show off their skills by cooking in the oven, on the grill, or at the claudron in the courtyard of the guesthouse.
The star recipe of the house is the steamed lamb steak and white wine from the cellar of the boarding house. Cooked at low heat so as to highlight all the flavors, this steak is a must on holiday tables.
The menu of the boarding house consists only of traditional dishes: chicken juice, stuffed sarmale and peppers, piftia, pork stew, baked fish, pies with cheese or pumpkin, mule (pancakes with sweet cheese).
Not missing from the menu is the fish soup cooked “à la carte” as the fishermen from the Prutul Meadow know better. The fish has a sweet taste as it is caught in the lakes of the village of Manta.
All dishes have such a refined taste because they are prepared exclusively from fresh products provided by households in the village of Pașcani and neighboring villages: Manta, Vadul lui Isac, Colibași. The milk used to prepare the food comes from cows grazing grass right on the banks of the Prut. The lamb is supplied by the village sheepfold. The fish is freshly caught daily by the villagers. Vegetables and fruits are grown organically. All this ensures the flavor of dishes that have the taste of tradition.
The hosts make sure that the delicate taste of the dishes is accompanied by a wine of the best variety produced from grapes grown in the vineyards of the household, processed and matured in their own cellar under the brand “Vinuri de Pașcani”.
https://casabunicului.com/ https://www.instagram.com/pensiuneacasabunicului/ Contacts: s. Pașcani, tel. +37379072373
Văleni Eco-Village Complex
The “Dor” restaurant introduces tourists to the true traditional Moldovan cuisine. Dishes baked in the oven, from organically grown vegetables and fruits, from meat grown in the backyard or bought from local farmers, make everyone who has tasted them fall in love irretrievably. Food can be served in the specially designed gazebo, which can accommodate up to 100 people.
Note! Prior reservation required: +37379017151
complex.valeni@yahoo.com, https://ro-ro.facebook.com/complexvaleni/
