Radio România Internațional

Tag: cheese

  • Romania has higher inflation rate

    Romania has higher inflation rate

    In November 2022, Romania’s inflation rate stood at
    16.8% exceeding the forecast announced by the Central Bank governor, Mugur
    Isarescu, of 16.3%. That has been the highest inflation rate in the past two
    decades. In 2002, Romania reported an annual inflation rate of 22.5% and from
    2005 until last year the country had only single-digit inflation rates.


    This alarming pace seemed to be
    slightly going down at the beginning of the year, but went up again last month
    as compared to January from 15.07 to 15.52% against the latest price hikes in food
    products and services. Figures released on Monday by the National Institute for
    Statistics prove that the prices of these products and services saw the highest
    increase in the first months of the year, but experts say this shouldn’t alter
    the forecast by the Central Bank (BNR) according to which the inflation rate will
    again return to single digits towards the end of the year.


    Food prices saw the most significant
    increase in February by roughly 3.4%, while services rose by 2.5%. At the same
    time, prices in non-food products slightly dropped by 0.5% on an average.


    Significant price hikes were registered last month in
    the category of fresh and canned vegetables, up by 6.35% followed by the fresh
    fruits with roughly 4.9% and services for making and mending clothes and
    footwear over 3.5%.


    Prices in fresh fish, cheese, personal hygiene and
    care products as well as other non-food products have grown between 2% and 3%.


    Prices in air transport services went down by more
    than 12%, whereas prices for cooking oil, electricity and heat by 1% on an
    average. According to the latest forecasts, prices were supposed to continue
    their downward trend, but experts said this process isn’t a linear one. The
    same tendency has been noticed in other EU countries as well where the
    inflation rate in February proved to be higher than a month before.


    According to experts, this process of keeping
    inflation at bay is likely to continue but will have its monthly ups and downs.
    In a Radio Romania interview, the financial expert and Central Bank advisor,
    Adrian Vasilescu, has confirmed this theory.


    In the meantime, the INS data show that Romania’s
    trade deficit in January stood at 2.338 billion euros, 203.6 million higher
    than in January 2022. The rise was partly caused by the growing inflation,
    which raised the imports value, but the main cause is the fact that the
    domestic output cannot cover the demand, not even in sectors with tradition,
    such as the agro-food industry, the chemical or the car-making sectors. Experts
    say that the authorities should step in and take action in order to prevent the
    situation from worsening.


    (bill)

  • Cheese pie

    Cheese pie

    At the end of this week it’s
    Shrovetide when people are allowed to eat cheese, fish and dairy products
    before the beginning of Lent. In southern Romania there is a custom according
    to which daughters-in-law are offering sweet cheese pies with raisins to their
    mothers-in-law so that they may have a smooth relationship all throughout the
    year.




    In order to bake a sweet-cheese pie
    we need half a kilo flour, half a kilo cow milk
    cheese, a cup of milk, butter or cream, sugar and vanilla sugar, 100
    grams raisins, rum essence, a little bit of oil and two egg yolks. Mix the flour
    with the yeast, with two-three spoonfuls of sugar a little bit of butter and
    two-three spoonful of cream. Stir until full combined and the mixture looks
    like dough.






    Roll the pastry into two sheets and
    place one of these two sheets into a tray, which was previously greased with
    butter. In order to obtain the filling, mix the cheese with the two egg yolks,
    two spoonfuls of cream, 3-4 spoonfuls of sugar and a sachet of vanilla sugar.
    Spread the filling onto the first sheet, cover it with the second and place the
    pie into the oven. Puncture the upper sheet in several places then bake it into
    the oven at low heat for half an hour. Take the pie out of the oven and
    sprinkle powdered sugar on it.






    The Dobrudjean Pie is a staple dish
    in Romania’s south-eastern regions; it can be made with salty or sweet cheese
    filling, multi-layered or crumpled sheets. For it we need at least half a kilo
    of sweet or salty cheese; as this pie is a traditional dish among
    sheep-breeders, the recipe is chiefly based on sheep-milk cheese.






    Mix half a kilo of sweet or salty
    cheese with three eggs. Spread the mixture over pastry sheets previously greased
    with a little bit of oil, roll them like strudels then put them into a tray to
    make a spiral form. Bake them into the oven until they turn brownish, after
    which pour half a kilo thick yogurt mixed with three eggs. Leave the tray in
    the oven for another 20 minutes then the pie is ready to be served.






    (translated by bill)

  • Going shopping

    Going shopping




    Going shopping every day
    provides a good opportunity to practise basic Romanian, especially if you want
    to develop conversational exchange skills, if you need to buy food and drink.
    So today it’s a bunch of food and drink words you’ll be exposed to, in the
    hopes that you’ll be quick to acquire functional Romanian.


    As usual, we begin
    with a series of useful words and expressions:


    Brinza=cheese


    Cafea=coffee


    Carne=meat


    Cirnat=sausage


    Legume=vegetables


    Ou=egg



    Piine=bread

    Proaspat=fresh

    Salata=salad


    Sandvis=sandwich


    Sare=salt


    Suc=juice


    Unt=butter


    Vin=wine


    Now let us use
    some of the words and expressions in meaningful sentences:


    You can
    buy fresh vegetables for a reasonable
    price close to the place I live.


    Poti sa
    cumperi legume proaspete aproape de zona unde locuiesc eu.


    A strong
    coffee in the morning really gets me going.


    O cafea
    tare dimineata este intr-adevar revigoranta.


    Bread and
    butter used to be the staple food in our grandparents’ time.


    Pinea cu
    unt era mincarea de baza pe vremea bunicilor nostri.


    When I was a kid,
    my grandmother used to prepare a tomato-and-cheese sandwich for me to take to
    school.


    Cind eram copil,
    bunica imi pregatea un sandvis cu rosii si brinza pe care il luam cu mine la
    scoala.


  • Going shopping

    Going shopping




    Going shopping every day
    provides a good opportunity to practise basic Romanian, especially if you want
    to develop conversational exchange skills, if you need to buy food and drink.
    So today it’s a bunch of food and drink words you’ll be exposed to, in the
    hopes that you’ll be quick to acquire functional Romanian.


    As usual, we begin
    with a series of useful words and expressions:


    Brinza=cheese


    Cafea=coffee


    Carne=meat


    Cirnat=sausage


    Legume=vegetables


    Ou=egg



    Piine=bread

    Proaspat=fresh

    Salata=salad


    Sandvis=sandwich


    Sare=salt


    Suc=juice


    Unt=butter


    Vin=wine


    Now let us use
    some of the words and expressions in meaningful sentences:


    You can
    buy fresh vegetables for a reasonable
    price close to the place I live.


    Poti sa
    cumperi legume proaspete aproape de zona unde locuiesc eu.


    A strong
    coffee in the morning really gets me going.


    O cafea
    tare dimineata este intr-adevar revigoranta.


    Bread and
    butter used to be the staple food in our grandparents’ time.


    Pinea cu
    unt era mincarea de baza pe vremea bunicilor nostri.


    When I was a kid,
    my grandmother used to prepare a tomato-and-cheese sandwich for me to take to
    school.


    Cind eram copil,
    bunica imi pregatea un sandvis cu rosii si brinza pe care il luam cu mine la
    scoala.


  • Dishes made from cheese matured in sheepskin

    Dishes made from cheese matured in sheepskin

    Referred to in Romanian as ‘branza de burduf’ this type of soft cheese is a traditional dairy product, which is left to mature in sheepskin and is usually produced by shepherds at their sheepfolds in the mountains. The term burduf is actually a reference to this sheepskin, which is skilfully sewn so as to form a sack, which is subsequently punctured in places to allow the whey to flow out of the fresh cheese.



    The cheese is mixed with salt to form a paste, which is later placed into the sheepskin and left to mature for two weeks. This type of cheese may have an expiration date of up to three months if stored in a cool dry place. Its colour is yellowish, it has a fatty texture and can be cut into slices, like any other type of cheese. Quality matured cheese should not be crumbling or sticking to the knife while being cut.



    Major dairy factories in Romania have replaced the sheepskin with a plastic wrap. Another version of this dairy product is that in which the sheepskin is replaced by fir-tree bark, which gives it a special flavour and also contributes to its look.



    This matured cheese can be eaten as such, cut into slices and placed on an entrée plate. It can successfully replace yellow cheese in cheese bullets recipes, when it is mixed with flour and eggs.



    It can also be combined with mushrooms and served as a hot starter. Remove the stalk of a mushroom and place a mixture of this matured cheese and dill into it. This mushroom-cheese mix is one of the ingredients of a Transylvanian stew, which actually has a simple recipe. Chop one-two onions, cut into slices two red peppers and sauté this mix in a pan with oil. Add cream and matured cheese and keep stirring to prevent sticking. Towards the end add finely chopped dill, a little bit of pepper, and salt if needed.



    Cheese matured in sheepskin is an ingredient of another traditional Romanian dish called bulz, which consists of alternating layers of polenta and cheese to which you can add sausages or bacon slices. Place the mixture in the oven and bake at low heat for about 20 minutes until the polenta gets a crust. Cut it into slices and serve it hot out of the oven.



    This cheese can also be used for many other dishes like cold or hot starters in combination with potatoes, or as side dish.


    (translated by: Daniel Bilt)

  • Bulz

    Bulz

    Todays culinary proposal is a shepherd dish,which has found popularity in the menus of restaurants all over the country, known as ‘bulz. It is polenta with cheese and sometimes other dairy products, which allows for a great deal of freedom in terms of how it is made. Proof of that is the attempt by a village in Covasna County to get into the Guinness Book of Records by cooking a ‘bulz nine meters long, a record they beat by building in 2008 one that was 150 meters long, 32 cm tick, using 10 kg of sheep cheese, and 400 kg of corn meal. They used 15 pots 50 liters in capacity, brought in by local shepherds.



    Our recipe is a ‘bulz made in layers, for which you need a kg of corn meal and half a kilo of sheep cheese. Make polenta out of the corn meal, trying to get a tougher texture. Spread out a layer on the bottom of an oven vessel, then the cheese, then another layer of polenta. Continue making layers, and you can also place in some chopped herbs of your choice. You can also throw in slices of sausage or bits of ham. When you place the dish in the oven, crack on top of it a few eggs. Bake for about half an hour.


    Enjoy!