1. TRIPE SOUR SOUP
Ingredients Directions
• 2 pounds/1 kg tripe (fresh, not 1. Wash and clean the tripe and
processed), Veal.
Veal.
• Veal,
1 leg Veal or other pieces of Veal, water,
2. Set to boil in the salted water,
• 4 qts salted water,
water, together with the carrots, carrots,
• carrot,
1 carrot, parsnip and Onion, bay leaves
Onion,
• parsnip,
1 parsnip, pepper.
and pepper. Boil at medium heat
• 1 whole Onion (peeled), until tender.
• leaves,
2 bay leaves, 3. Take the meat out, let it cool
• Berries,
a few pepper Berries, and then cut it in strips, like
• yolks,
2-3 egg yolks, noodles.
• 2 tablespoons vinegar or half a lemon
half 4. Move the meat to another pot,
and strain the boiling liquid.
5. Let it boil a few more minutes.
6. Aside, beat 2-3 yolks with the
2-
juice.
vinegar or lemon juice.
incorporate
7. Then slowly incorporate into the
liquid in the pot.
8. Taste to see if it is salty and
sour enough and serve
immediately.
immediately
2. CABBAGE ROLLS
Ingredients Directions
• cabbage,
1 large cabbage, 1 3/4 lb/750 g ground 1. Grind the meat with the crustless bread
meat (mixture of Pork and Beef is slice (previously soaked and squeezed dry) and
Onion.
a raw Onion.
recommended),
1. rice,
2. Place in a bowl and mix with rice,
• 4 large onions,
onions, dill, pepper,
dill, pepper, salt and finely chopped Onion
• 2 tablespoons rice,
rice, lard.
slightly fried in two tablespoons of lard.
• 1 bread slice, 2. 3. Mix everything well. Core the
• lard,
3 tablespoons lard, cabbage with a sharp thin knife and then
• 5-6 tomatoes or 1 tablespoon tomato blanch it with borsh. Then carefully remove
sauce, the cabbage leaves, one by one, so that they
• salt,
salt, do not tear.
• pepper,
pepper, 3. 4. Cut larger leaves in 2 or 3 and then
• dill,
chopped dill, place a little meat in each cabbage piece and
• 1 qt/1 l Borsh roll in. The smaller the rolls are, the tastier
• sour cream they are.
4. 5. Place a layer of rolls in the pan
(take a deep one), then cover with a layer of
cabbage,
chopped (julienned) cabbage, then a layer of
tomatoes.
thinly sliced tomatoes. Do this layering until
all the rolls are made. The last layer must be
tomato slices or add tomato sauce. Add a
lard,
heaping tablespoon of lard, pour the borsh and
simmer
let simmer on top of the range for 30 minutes.
5. 6. Then place in the oven so that the
liquid is reduced
6. Serve with sour cream.
3. PORK, JELLIED
Ingredients Directions
• 3 lbs/1,5 kg pork feet and/or
1. Wash and clean the feet and/or
head,
head. If hairy, singe. Split the feet
• 1 Onion, in two lengthwise and break the head
• 2 carrots, with the mallet.
• 1 parsnip, 2. Place in a large pot and cover with
• 1 parsley root, water so that there are 3-4 inches
3-
• 1 celery root, of water above the Pork pieces.
• 2 bay leaves, Boil over slow to medium heat.
Remove the foam as it forms. Then
• 3-4 juniper berries,
salt,
add salt, vegetables, bay leaves and
• 3-4 garlic cloves,
berries.
juniper berries.
• Salt 3. Cover the pot almost completely.
Boil until the meat falls off the
bones.
bones. Remove the bones and place
the meat on the bottom of one or
several deep plates.
garlic,
4. Chop the garlic, add some salt and
mix with the meat broth. Strain and
then pour on top of the meat in
that
plates. Refrigerate so that it gels.
5. To obtain a nice, clear jelly you
have to boil slowly, with the pot
almost covered. The tastiest Pork
jelly is made out
of Pork feet and ears. You can use
Beef feet or a mixture of Pork and
Beef feet.
4. WALNUT SWEET BREAD
Ingredients Directions
• Regular sweet bread dough.
Filling: 1. Melt the Sugar in the warm milk
with vanilla in a pot on the range.
• 10 oz/300 g ground walnuts,
walnuts,
2. When the Sugar is melted, add the
cup
• 1 cup milk,
walnuts and keep stirring.
• ¾ cup sugar, 3. After a few minutes of boiling, and
• ¼ cup rum, after the filling has thickened,
• Vanilla. rum.
remove from heat and add rum. When
the filling is cold, roll a sheet of
dough about one finger thick,
uniformly spread the walnut filling
on top and roll like a jelly roll.
4. Grease a bread pan, place the roll
inside, let rise for a while and then
set in the oven to bake at medium
heat.
5. Romanian Christmas Traditions
In every area there is a special way of celebrating Christmas.
For example, on Christmas Eve some people are going around the village and
collecting all the things they have borrowed during the whole year to their neighbours.
In other areas, the parents put money in their children’s pockets in order to
have a wealthy year.
Also, on Christmas Eve some Romanians use to put the bread under the table
too bring luck in the house.
In some parts of the country there is a tradition called “ Walking with the
icon”, which symbolize the Birth of Jesus Christ. In the North of Moldavia the
Christmas Eve Dinner is prepared with special food and kept covered until the priest
comes to the house. Nobody else is allowed to see the Christmas Eve table before the
priest. The priest is blessing the table, is the first trying the food and only after this,
everybody else is invited to the table.
A special Romanian tradition is “ Cutting the Pig on Ignat” coming all the
way from the end of The Middle Ages. Every single part of the pig is used, including
the blood. The farmers are making many kinds of sausages, special Christmas plates
and reserves for the whole winter.
Christmas songs and wishes are heard all around, candles and lights are
lightning the dark, happy children are running on the little streets waiting for Santa to
come to their houses!
Merry Christmas!