[Sca-cooks] Romanian Cookbook: Sauces, beef, and snails

[Patrick Levesque]

Here are more recipes. I did not have time to copy the romanian text as
well, I will be happy to do so at a later time if some of you would like to
double check the translation as well.

One note on measurements: the dram (dramuri) is either a weight measure of
app. 3 metric grams, or a volume measures of app. 3.5 millimeters. The Oca
is a volume measurement, but I could not find the metric equivalent. It
might be about a bottle, 3/4 to a full liter.

a few unknown words: cucunari, a kind of nut seemingly. Sarpurel, and
macris, probably vegetables or plants. Iahnii: may be juniper berries. I've
left the expressions I'm not sure of in Romanian, feel free to give all the
feedback you want!

YIS

Petru 'cel Paros' Voda

P.S. Anghenarii, which I was wondering about, is 'artichoke'. Boranza is
indeed 'borage'. Matacina refers to 'dragon's head', What I thought would
be 'fatty herbs' is actually 'purslane'. Molotru seems to be 'melilot'

-----
Rosewater.

Have rose flowers, 2 parts, and elderberries, dried in the sun, 1 part.
Lovage(?), 1/2 part, cut them small and put into a boiling pot with ground
clove and cinnamon, 40 dram pistachio, and put in the sun for 8 days. Then
pour in a bucket and remove the water, and add 'moscos' or myrrh or the
drained deposite when you have removed the water.

Another way: Take roseflowers with their flowers yellow inside, 1 (oca), 8
dram cloves, 4 dram myrrh, 12 dram cinnamon, all these well ground and mix
with rose flowers and put in a bucket of well-water, to a soft fire, until
it will (esi) all (humezeala) the rose flowers. Then, remove water and but
in the stun to stand for a month to clarify and have it look beautiful al l
the way through.


Sauces.

Sauce in the imperial way. Have a (ulcelusa zmantuita: boiling pot?) or a
tin pot, in which you put 4 dram ground cinnamon, 2 dram ground cloves, 12
dram sugar, 8 dram vinegar, and cover the pot well with paper, then with
the lid, to perspire well(?). Then put on hot embers to boil until it
reduces by half. This warm sauce is to be eaten with all kinds of roasted
meat, domestic as well as wild animals.

Sauce of Pomegranate. Take seeds of pomegranate, squeeze the juice, 50
dram. Then put in the boiling pot on hot embers, covering well, until it
reduces by half, put in a grain of musk, 8 dram of white sugar. This kind
of sauce is eaten with all kinds of fowls.

Sauce of sardines to be eaten with fried fish and with fried sheep and with
fried wild fowl. Take 6 sardines and clean well with white wine, then put
in pot with oil in times of fast, fresh butter in times of meat, and melt
on the fire. Then put 50 dram vinegar, 24 dram sugar, 2 dram whole
cinnamon, and boil on a gentle fire, covering well.. When you serve over
fried fish, cover with cinnamon.

Sauce of lemon juice to eat with warm roasts, with partridge, pigeon and
hens. Have orange, lemon or grapefruit flowers (50 drams), well ground in a
mortar, then mix well with 36 dram of lemon juice, 12 dram of sugar, 1 dram
of ground cinnamon, and pass through a sieve. Chill and serve over the
roast.

Sauce of butter, to be eaten with asparagus, fried mutton ribs and other
things. Take 50 dram of fresh butter, melt in a pan, then add a fourth part
of nutmeg and a little ground clove, with sugar (16 dram), 3 egg yoalks
beaten with 12 dram of lemon juice. And serve warm with the meal.

Sauce of juniper berries, to be eaten with wild hens, with thrush,
blackbird, and other little game. Take 8 dram of juniper berries, wash well
in white wine and then let stand w days in the wine, removing wine in 2 or
so days. Then boil in a pot with 50 dram good vinegar, 28 dram sugar, a
whole clove and 2 dram whole cinnamon, cover well so it doesn't breathe,
until it reduces by a third.

Green Sauce. Take leaves of parsley, tops of spinach, (macris) to make in
herbs(?), anise and a little mint. Cut small and ground well, with almonds
or nuts, and a slice of fried bread. After you've ground, add ground pepper
and vinegar. Then, when you've ground the herbs well, pass [the liquid]
through a sieve.

Another Green Sauce. Take leaves of parsley, (sarpurel), and a little mint
and other fragrant herbs and ground well, then mix well with pepper, ground
savory, salt, and mix with vinegar, and pass through a sieve.

Sauce of dried plums. Take plums, and put in red wine, with fried
bread[crumbs], then drain, remove the kernel, and grind well [the plums],
and with the with the wine it has soaked in, and with a little verjuice,
mix well, add sugar, cinnamon and pass through a sieve.

Sauce of fragrant herbs. Take basil, parley (4 dram), cleand and crushed
'cucunari' (8 drams) 2 slices of fried bread and soak in rose vinegar and
squeeze the vinegar, ground all in mortar, add white sugar (8 dram), melt
in a little vinegar and with lemon must.

Powdered sauce, to carry everywhere, and long-lasting. 16 dram cinnamon, 2
dram pepper, 1 dram clove, 2 dram nutmeg, 1/2 dram orange peel,
breadcrumbs, then soak in vinegar and dry again, for 24 dram, 24 dram
sugar, 2 dram dried mint. Ground this powder, and when you want to serve
mix with vinegar.


Cow or Ox

Of sirloin. Have the sirloin with its fat and sprinkle with wine and with
rose vinegar and, sprinkling, sprinkle with salt, pepper, cinnamon, cloves,
nutmeg and melilot seeds, all these finely ground, and let stand thus a
little. Then roast on the spit, supporting 'mustul' that will scald it and
when it is about cooked, yet still raw, take the spit and put in a pot, add
2 flasks of meat broth and 1/2 flask of vinegar and one of spiced or
sweetened wine, add "neavand musilez" (spiced wine, again?), dried
cherries, small currants, savory and the juice in which it cooked, and
onions fried in fresh butter, chopped small, and with all these boil. And
when you serve in the pot, add the juice over with cinnamon.

Another dish. After you've sprinkled and fried well, perfectly, put in a
pot, cut in morsels as you please. Then add a little of its juice and mix
with a little vinegar, wine or sugar, and pour over, warm.

Another dish. Have sirloin and cut in morsels, then wash with vinegar, wine
and water, and pass the liquid through a sieve. Then add sirloin in the pot
with this liquid, adding salt, pepper, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, savory,
slices of bacon, a little boiled must or sugar, chopped onions, and let
stand 2-3 hours; then close the pot with the lid and around with dough, so
it doesn't breathe, and boil slowly, slowly, 2 hours. Then when it is about
to boil, add currants and boil hard.

Udder. Have udders and clean with water and salt, then cut as you please
and fry with fresh butter, and add onions chopped small. Then after frying
put in the pot and add meat broth, to cover by 2-3 fingers, and 2-3 beaten
egg yolks. If you want sour, with lemon juice, if you want meat-flavoured,
with meat broth, salt, pepper and other spices, and boil. And when you
serve, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

Another dish. After you've boiled as above, cut slices of fat with a sharp
knife, then roll well in beaten egg yolks with sugar, rosewater, cinnamon,
safran and breadcrumbs, and fry in fresh butter, and fry. Serve the meal
warm, and cover with suggar or bitter orange juice or lemon juice, and with
cinnamon.

Another dish. Have udders and roast on a spit, not too well, then cut as
you please and put in a pot 'zmantuita' (a boiling pot?) with meat broth to
cover by 2-3 fingers, salt, a little vinegar, and a little white wine,
fried onions chopped small, spices of all kinds, currants, (cucunari... a
kind of nut) or almonds, sugar and boil.

Another dish. Boil with water and salt, drain and put in a pot, cutting as
you please. Then add juice in which it boiled to cover, a little vinegar,
mix with white wine, lard cut small, sugar and 3-4 (cepsoare?) whole,
pepper, cinnamon, savory, cloves and nutmeg, and boil in a closed pot. And
when you serve, put over, as you want, a slice of bread fried in fresh
butter, and cover with cinnamon and sugar.


Snails.

	For snails, after you've cleaned well of soil with warm water, then
remodev from the shell, and scrubbed with lots of salt, until you've
removed all the slobber, then wash again in some warm watter, that it is
well celaned of slobber and of salt. Afterwards, put in the pot, adding
oil, pepper, salt, cinammon, saffron as you want, chopped herbs, verjuice
as necessary or lemon juice, and water to cover by two fingers and, closing
the pot well with the lid, boil.

	Another Dish. After you've prepared and removed their shells, put
snails again in their shells after you've cleaned the shells well in some
water, so that they are clean. Then add oil, salt, pepper and fry on the
grillm and in such heat. Without anything over, serve the dish.

	Another Dish. Prepare the snails well, as customarily done, as said
above, ... and fry with oil. Then, after you've fried them, lay in the pot
and add over leafs of parsley fried and 2 cloves of garlic. Then fry with
parsley and mix with orange or lemon juice, or with crushed almonds and
with vineger passed through a sieve, or with a sauce of fresh parsley,
leaves of "jales" and other herps mixed with rosewater or other odorous
kinds and pass through a sieve, not too thight, yet not too thick.

	Another dish: After you've prepared as above, pound small with a
little onion and with a little leaves of parley, arrange to have 2 parts of
hashed snails with one of onion and parsley, put salt as necesary, pepper
and a little cinnamon ground fine. Then mix well with all (dinpreuna) and,
after you've well removed the shells, fill with that stuffing and add oil
and a little pepper moreover and fry on the grill.

	Another dish: To make and 'sweat' after frying with chipped onions,
(dinpreuna) and with root of parsley, mix of all leaves, 'cucunari' whole
and with dried cherries and a little vinegar or lemon juice.

	Another dish. To make snails and 'iahnii' (juniper?) sweet, with
fried onions chopped small, with root of parsley, salt, pepper a little
clove and cinnammon, and on the margins of the pot put lemon leaves and
other ornaments as you want.