We invite you to experiment a recipe from the
Romanian region of Wallachia, alternatively known as Muntenia, the
southern-most territory inhabited by Romanians, on the northern side of the
lower Danube. It is Romania’s gateway to the Balkans, and as such it has a
wonderful medley of influences in its cooking. There are mainly Balkan
influences, from Turkish to Greek to Bulgarian, and in the last two or three
hundred years it has started adopting western European cooking ideas, such as
French desserts, Italian pasta or German minced meat preparations. It is also a
cooking culture in which pickled vegetables in brine are omnipresent.
And now, on to our recipe. Since this is the
season for quinces, we will show you how to make roast chicken with quinces.
You need 4 to 6 chicken thighs, 10 medium sized potatoes, two quinces and one
onion. Peel and cut the potatoes in round slices, cut the onion julienne, and
lay them in a covered oven dish. Cover the bottom of the dish with potato
slices then put in the onion. Put the thighs on top. Cut the quinces into
slices a few millimetres thick, and put them on top of the chicken. Add water
to cover the bottom vegetables, cover and set to cook in the oven for about 45
minutes. Take off the lid, add salt to taste, then put the dish in the oven
once again for the thighs to brown and get crispy. You can use a ceramic oven
dish as well, as is traditional in peasant households. Serve with pickles and a
semi-dry white wine, well chilled.