Radio România Internațional

Tag: fatback

  • SlanaFest

    SlanaFest

    Every
    traditional Romanian product has its own feast, and this time of the year is
    when several celebrations are devoted to fatback. Apart from the traditional
    recipes that delight consumers, every time there are new products that appear,
    which are the result of chefs’ ingenuity. At the SlanaFest festival held in
    Cluj in the first week of February, the public were happy to taste fatback and
    mozzarella pie and éclairs with pork rind cream, fatback specialties decorated
    with culinary gold leafs, as well as pralines with chocolate, chili and
    fatback. Apart from exchanging recipes and promoting products, participants
    were also interested in organic pig farming, using only grains and fodder, with
    no chemicals and preservers.


    SlanaFest festival in Cluj was at its 4th
    edition this year. Eighteen participants entered the competition, including
    Ionut Mangu, who combined traditional fat back with a variety of vegetables,
    like horseradish, beet and chili paste to obtain new tastes. To make things
    even more interesting, he improved the white and red mix with a little 24-carat
    gold, which according to chef Mangu, makes people happier.


    We also found out that out of the traditional fatback
    recipes, one of the tastiest is cooked by keeping the fatback in sauerkraut
    juice prior to smoking it, and then scrubbing beech sawdust into it to give it
    flavor.


    Another active participant in relevant festivals is Chef
    Radu Garba, who brought a variety of recipes to Cluj:


    I’ve cooked 4 types of fatback, one with chili powder, one with garlic and
    spring onion paste, one with coriander and caraway, and a smoked variety.


    Out of Chef
    Radu Garba’s recipes, the fatback-based deserts were particularly popular among
    visitors:


    My
    desserts are éclairs with pork rind cream, éclairs with bean paste and bacon, a
    ham, cheese and fatback pie, and pralines with chocolate, chili and fatback.


    Fat
    back pralines have been especially designed for the festival, because at such
    events people usually come with the expectation of trying something new, a
    variety of tastes and they are open to any new idea. But chef Gârba says that the idea of doing something
    new is not original:


    Last year at the SlanaFest one of our colleagues made something similar, and
    we wanted to continue the idea this year, by making different recipes. We made
    pralines. Our pralines are made of a chocolate shell filled with pieces of
    chocolate and of fatback and are coated with ground pistachio, sesame or
    walnut. Visitors have been delighted and promised to return next year.


    Another
    team came to Cluj with an impressive product from a visual point of view: a
    small house made of fatback from Mangalita pig and prosciutto, which replicates
    the Romanian traditional architecture. The house chimney was made from a sausage
    just like the fence. There came people at the festival who prepare pork in
    their households traditionally, without making it into a business. They see the
    festival as an opportunity to socialize and exchange recipes. We asked Chef
    Radu Gârba why he participates in such events:


    I like to compete, that’s why I take part in these festivals. I like what I do
    and I like to see others’ work, I find inspiration in my colleagues’ works.
    This year I have won the silver and bronze medals.


    We also
    asked Chef Gârba about the role which fatback can still have in today’s world when
    there is a lot of hype about healthy food, healthy meaning the opposite of fat:


    Fatback is an important product, it is a
    staple food, everybody eats it, it’s very tasty and in small amounts it cannot
    be harmful.


    This
    week another event featuring ‘fatback’ will be hosted by Sibiu, in central
    Romania. Chef Gârba, who will be there, says visitors are in for a lot of
    surprises.


  • Pig Lard

    Pig Lard

    In traditional households, lard is obtained around Christmas, because that is when people slaughter the pigs they raise in their households. It is used in a wide array of applications. It is used for frying things, since it obviously predates the appearance of vegetable oil, a product of the industrial era in these parts. It is also used in making certain kinds of dough, and also as a preserver, as people keep pieces of fried meat in lard.




    Lard is made in the home from fatback. It is sliced or cubed and put in cast iron vessels, such as Dutch ovens. Over very low heat, the fatback starts oozing out the lard. As the fat melts, more fatback can be added, and even slices of bacon. When the lard is cooked out, you may leave the cracklings to cook further until they start browning. Then strain the lard out in the jars you will keep it in, taking care not to crack them from the heat. Traditionally, the cracklings are kept in the lard they yielded. Keep the jars in a cool place. People eat the cracklings with polenta, fried eggs and cheese. Another thing they do with their cracklings is to put them through the meat mincer, about half a kilo, along with one onion, mixing well, then seasoning with black pepper and hot paprika. The resulting paste is used as a spread for toast, served with raw onion or dill pickles.



    Of course, bear in mind, this type of diet was is the diet of farmers doing hard physical work all day, in case you were shocked at the saturated fat content of such a combination. Romanian cuisine preserves well many such dishes and preparations that are very heavy in saturated fats, which are obviously associated with people who live in villages and do farm work. Think of it as a sort of soul food.



    At the same time, don’t think that these food traditions have turned Romania in some sort of heart attack bonanza. Bear in mind that many of the Romanians in the countryside who eat such heavy food often also follow closely the traditions of fasting during holidays, and observe Lent and Christmas Fast, when they don’t eat even dairy products (which admittedly can be very fatty sometimes). In fact, Christian Orthodox fasting forbids any food of animal origin altogether, except for special days when exemptions for fish come into effect. This results in traditional Romanian cuisine having a wonderful array of vegetarian dishes of a staggering variety, if one digs deep enough. The best place to have excellent such food and to learn recipes are monasteries, where the monks by definition follow every single fasting day.



    Also, even though the population of Europe has been getting fatter, and Romania is no exception, people here have also latched on very well to new healthy eating trends, especially in cities. Therefore let’s agree to call this edition of the Cooking Show a documentary edition. (Please enjoy lard responsibly!)

  • Pig Lard

    Pig Lard

    In traditional households, lard is obtained around Christmas, because that is when people slaughter the pigs they raise in their households. It is used in a wide array of applications. It is used for frying things, since it obviously predates the appearance of vegetable oil, a product of the industrial era in these parts. It is also used in making certain kinds of dough, and also as a preserver, as people keep pieces of fried meat in lard.




    Lard is made in the home from fatback. It is sliced or cubed and put in cast iron vessels, such as Dutch ovens. Over very low heat, the fatback starts oozing out the lard. As the fat melts, more fatback can be added, and even slices of bacon. When the lard is cooked out, you may leave the cracklings to cook further until they start browning. Then strain the lard out in the jars you will keep it in, taking care not to crack them from the heat. Traditionally, the cracklings are kept in the lard they yielded. Keep the jars in a cool place. People eat the cracklings with polenta, fried eggs and cheese. Another thing they do with their cracklings is to put them through the meat mincer, about half a kilo, along with one onion, mixing well, then seasoning with black pepper and hot paprika. The resulting paste is used as a spread for toast, served with raw onion or dill pickles.



    Of course, bear in mind, this type of diet was is the diet of farmers doing hard physical work all day, in case you were shocked at the saturated fat content of such a combination. Romanian cuisine preserves well many such dishes and preparations that are very heavy in saturated fats, which are obviously associated with people who live in villages and do farm work. Think of it as a sort of soul food.



    At the same time, don’t think that these food traditions have turned Romania in some sort of heart attack bonanza. Bear in mind that many of the Romanians in the countryside who eat such heavy food often also follow closely the traditions of fasting during holidays, and observe Lent and Christmas Fast, when they don’t eat even dairy products (which admittedly can be very fatty sometimes). In fact, Christian Orthodox fasting forbids any food of animal origin altogether, except for special days when exemptions for fish come into effect. This results in traditional Romanian cuisine having a wonderful array of vegetarian dishes of a staggering variety, if one digs deep enough. The best place to have excellent such food and to learn recipes are monasteries, where the monks by definition follow every single fasting day.



    Also, even though the population of Europe has been getting fatter, and Romania is no exception, people here have also latched on very well to new healthy eating trends, especially in cities. Therefore let’s agree to call this edition of the Cooking Show a documentary edition. (Please enjoy lard responsibly!)

  • 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. 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 a 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!

  • 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. 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 a 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!

  • Dishes from Maramures

    Dishes from Maramures

    Influenced by the Hungarian and Austrian cuisine, the historical region of Maramures boasts many delicious soups and sour soups, known as borsch, as well as many stews such as ragouts, paprikash, dishes of sheep cheese and plum dumplings. Plum dumplings is a dish commonly found in Hungary and Serbia and also in Transylvania. In Maramures, people use a lot of fatback or lard to cook, just like in Transylvania. Cheese and polenta are also frequently used in many dishes. The people of Maramures make stuffed cabbage rolls seasoned with sour cream, bulz – a dish consisting of cheese covered in polenta, and pancakes with sweet cheese and sour cream, which are cooked in the oven. Another dish specific to the region of Maramures is chicken stuffed with liver and vegetables, greased with lard and then cooked on a charcoal grill.



    An easy-to-make dish specific to Maramures, which is very tasty and quite filling, is polenta with cheese and pork scraps which is also known as layered polenta. Here is the recipe. Make regular polenta in a pot. Grease another pot with butter and place it over medium heat until the butter melts completely. Add a first layer of polenta, 2 centimeters thick, then add a layer of soft cheese and top with a thin layer of polenta. Continue to layer alternately polenta and various cheeses, like feta cheese, soft cottage cheese, which is similar to ricotta cheese, or sharp cheese and end with a layer of hard cheese mixed with sour cream. Cook the layered polenta in the oven over low heat. Serve with strong plum brandy distilled.



    In autumn, Baia Mare plays host to the Chestnut Festival, because the region is famous for the edible or sweet chestnuts grown there. Locals usually make chestnut puree served as a dessert, with whipped cream topping.



    To make this dessert you need one kilo of sweet chestnuts. Notch the chestnuts with a knife and boil them for half an hour, remove the husk and mash the remaining nuts. Add three tablespoons of sugar, a little butter and a few drops of rum flavor and mix into a puree. You can serve with whipped cream topping and grated chocolate. Enjoy!


    (Translated by A.M. Palcu)

  • 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!

  • 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 neighbouring peoples use a similar term, since most of them speak Slavic
    languages. Slanina generally indicates fatback and 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 a brine made by dissolving two tablespoons of salt per
    litre 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 flavour
    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 defence 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 flavour to cooked dishes. One
    of them is the famous sarmale. 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 flavour. In any case, there is nothing like the taste of smoked and
    salted fatback.