Radio România Internațional

Tag: brine

  • Sauerkraut

    Sauerkraut




    Traditionally, late
    autumn is marked by the preparation of pickles. Between the orthodox feast of Saint
    Demetrius, on October 26 and the feast of Saint Andrew, on November 30, the sauerkraut
    is prepared, according to tradition. The process of cabbage souring in the
    barrel needs to be a slow, lengthy one, all the more so as temperature readings
    are low at this time of the year. They say the cabbage must be covered in a
    film of hoarfrost before it is pickled.

    For the sauerkraut, we need medium-sized, thin-leaved cabbage heads. That is 15, maybe
    20 cabbage heads, roughly weighing 30 kilos, ready to fill a 60-liter wooden barrel,
    which may also be made of plastic.

    Remove the
    withered, outer leaves, while the cabbage cores must be indented with a knife so
    that the brine may percolate easier into the cabbage. Apart from the cabbage, put
    dried dill twigs in the barrel, dried thyme twigs, horseradish roots, peeled
    and finely-shredded length-wise. Also, you may put a quince, two corn cobs, one
    red cabbage head or two beetroot heads, if you want the juice to be colored.


    Prepare the
    brine, mixing salt into hot water, one and a half tablespoon of salt for one
    liter of water. Pour the brine over the cabbage heads until the water level
    covers the cabbage heads at the top completely. Put a weight over the cabbage
    heads to press them down, so that the cabbage heads are immersed in brine
    completely.

    In two or three
    days’ time, you need to perform the so-called airing of the brine. If the
    barrel has a tap at the lower side, the brine from the barrel is extracted and
    then poured all over again, at the top. If the barrel does not have a tap, the
    sauerkraut juice can be aired with the help of a pipe or a flexible tube which
    is used to blow air into the lower part of the barrel.

    The sauerkraut is used for the preparation
    of the stuffed cabbage rolls or the sauerkraut-based dishes. You can also
    prepare a salad of finely-chopped sauerkraut, to go with the main course. The
    sauerkraut juice is used as a souring agent when a thick soup is prepared.
    According to Romanian tradition, at a wedding party the famous giblets soup is served at the crack of dawn. Such a chicken-based soup is soured
    with sauerkraut juice. You can also use the sauerkraut, and not only the
    sauerkraut juice, to prepare the soup. The sauerkraut soup is one
    of the staple fasting dishes. It can be plain, or it can be prepared in combination with
    other vegetables. Enjoy!





  • Sauerkraut

    Sauerkraut




    Traditionally, late
    autumn is marked by the preparation of pickles. Between the orthodox feast of Saint
    Demetrius, on October 26 and the feast of Saint Andrew, on November 30, the sauerkraut
    is prepared, according to tradition. The process of cabbage souring in the
    barrel needs to be a slow, lengthy one, all the more so as temperature readings
    are low at this time of the year. They say the cabbage must be covered in a
    film of hoarfrost before it is pickled.

    For the sauerkraut, we need medium-sized, thin-leaved cabbage heads. That is 15, maybe
    20 cabbage heads, roughly weighing 30 kilos, ready to fill a 60-liter wooden barrel,
    which may also be made of plastic.

    Remove the
    withered, outer leaves, while the cabbage cores must be indented with a knife so
    that the brine may percolate easier into the cabbage. Apart from the cabbage, put
    dried dill twigs in the barrel, dried thyme twigs, horseradish roots, peeled
    and finely-shredded length-wise. Also, you may put a quince, two corn cobs, one
    red cabbage head or two beetroot heads, if you want the juice to be colored.


    Prepare the
    brine, mixing salt into hot water, one and a half tablespoon of salt for one
    liter of water. Pour the brine over the cabbage heads until the water level
    covers the cabbage heads at the top completely. Put a weight over the cabbage
    heads to press them down, so that the cabbage heads are immersed in brine
    completely.

    In two or three
    days’ time, you need to perform the so-called airing of the brine. If the
    barrel has a tap at the lower side, the brine from the barrel is extracted and
    then poured all over again, at the top. If the barrel does not have a tap, the
    sauerkraut juice can be aired with the help of a pipe or a flexible tube which
    is used to blow air into the lower part of the barrel.

    The sauerkraut is used for the preparation
    of the stuffed cabbage rolls or the sauerkraut-based dishes. You can also
    prepare a salad of finely-chopped sauerkraut, to go with the main course. The
    sauerkraut juice is used as a souring agent when a thick soup is prepared.
    According to Romanian tradition, at a wedding party the famous giblets soup is served at the crack of dawn. Such a chicken-based soup is soured
    with sauerkraut juice. You can also use the sauerkraut, and not only the
    sauerkraut juice, to prepare the soup. The sauerkraut soup is one
    of the staple fasting dishes. It can be plain, or it can be prepared in combination with
    other vegetables. Enjoy!





  • Traditional fatback

    Traditional fatback

    Today we will be talking about a preparation that is fundamental to traditional culture in Romania, as well as the rest of the Balkans, fatback. In fact, that is an approximation of the term, since its preparation may be quite elaborate, and the better term is the Romanian one, ‘slanina, which is a term derived from the old Slavic word for salt. In fact, most neighboring peoples use a similar term, since most of them speak Slavic languages.



    ‘Slanina generally indicates fatback with the rind on, and is most times salted and smoked, sometimes spiced and seasoned. It is the most common way of preserving pig fat from the back or belly. Its making is closely related to the entire range of winter traditions related to the slaughter of pigs in traditional households in villages. Each area has its own ways of preparing it, and the methods also vary in terms of how long it is expected to last. In some villages, it is kept buried in salt. In others, it is kept in a brine. One version of that is using brine made by dissolving two tablespoons of salt per liter of water. After bringing the brine to a boil, crushed garlic is added, then peppercorns and black pepper powder, thyme, and bay leaves. The fatback is set into a barrel or a large pot, then covered in the cold brine, and left for about three weeks. Then it is sent to get smoked.



    In certain areas of Transylvania, people salt the fatback using brine in which sauerkraut was made, which has a distinctive flavor and salty tangy taste. They add peppercorns and bay leaves to the brine. They first boil the fatback until a fork can be pushed into it easily, then they press it. After draining it, it is covered in a garlic paste, then sprinkled with paprika, sometimes mixed with chili powder. It is then kept in a dry, cool place.



    Before refrigerators, people used a room, sometimes a dedicated one, for hanging out their preserved pork products. In Medieval Saxon villages in Transylvania, the fatback was kept in rooms set aside in defense towers. Almost every fortified church in Transylvania has a fatback tower, which is actually called just that. Every family had its own set of hooks for hanging out their fatback. You could only go in there on Sundays, because the temperature was kept low by blocks of ice covered in straw, brought in during the winter months.



    No matter how you prepare it, you can eat the fatback as is, sliced thin, alongside other entrees, preferably with red onion or cloves of raw garlic, as the people in villages traditionally do when they go work in the field. Also, smoked fatback is essential to many other dishes, because it is the main method of lending a smoky flavor to cooked dishes. One of them is the famous ‘sarmale, of which we speak often in this feature. In some areas of Romania, it is even used to give a smoky taste to meat and vegetable soups, usually thick concoctions eaten in the cold months of winter. One other popular preparation is the so-called ‘spiked roast pork. The hunk of meat is stuck with the tip of a knife, and in the cuts people put cloves of garlic and slices of smoked fatback, which gives it a unique flavor. In any case, there is nothing like the taste of smoked and salted fatback.



    Enjoy!