Cuisine of Moldova

Moldovan cuisine is a style of cooking derived from Moldovan people. It consists mainly of traditional European foods, such as beef, pork, potatoes, cabbage, and a variety of cereals.

Background

Moldova is rich in fertile soil and in hardworking and caring people. Nature is very generous here, offering plentiful grapes, fruits, vegetables, meat and milk products and cereals, all of which have found their uses in our national food. The fertile soil (cernozeom) and the traditional agricultural methods make possible that Moldova performs an ecological agrar economy and cultives of a diverse range of ecologically pure raw materials.

National puzzle

Cuisine of Moldova has had a great influence on the traditional food of the other nationalities that live on this territory, deriving at the same time some elements from the Ukrainian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Gagauz and Russian cuisines, and from the Turkish and Greek cuisines during the past Centuries.

Dishes

The most famous Moldovan dishes are: mămăligă – a mash from corn flour/grits with a delicate and delicious taste; chicken soup; ragout (either meat or vegetable) and others.

Regional delicacies include "brinza," a cheese-like dairy product and "ghiveci," a mutton stew. Local wines accompany most meals. [ [http://www.allmoldova.com/index.php?action=viewdoc&id=1061992407&lng=eng All Moldova ] ] Mamaliga, a bread-like dish, is a staple food.

Traditional for the local cuisine are dishes from diverse vegetables like: tomatoes, pepperoni, egg plants, cabbage, beans, onion, garlic, leek, etc. Vegetables are used to prepare salads and sauces, one can bake, steam, pickle, salt, or marinade vegetables, thus making real cookery masterpieces. Dishes made from corn and corn flour: grits, pastries, soups, cereals, and nonalcoholic beverages, give a specific coloring to the traditional cuisine. Mamaliga is being served with greaves, roasts, cottage cheese, sour cream etc.

Meat products hold a separate place in the Moldovan cuisine, especially for cooking the first course and appetizers/snacks. Chicken soup is very popular along with borscht, mash, roast and grill from pork, beef force-meat balls, steamed lamb. Many dishes from meat and fish are grilled, being prior kept in marinade for a while.

None of traditional holidays is organized without force-meat rolls in cabbage leaves, jelly, noodles with chicken etc. The holiday table is being decorated with delicious dishes made from wheat flour: pastries, cakes, rolls, rolls stuffed with fruit, vegetables, walnuts etc.

In different zones the local cuisine is predominant: in the East zones the Ukrainians prefer the famous Ukrainian borscht; in the South the Bulgarians will offer you a traditional mangea: sauce with chicken; while the Gagauz people will offer sorpa: soup made with lamb and a lot of seasonings, in the Russian communities people prefer pelmeni: Siberian meat dumplings, etc.

Beverages

A diverse list of beverages is being served in the Moldova cuisine: stewed fruits, juices as well as strong drinks like wines, divin (cognac), brandy and vodca.

The Moldovan viticulture has got multi-secular traditions. The famous Moldovan wines are well-known and appreciated far away from our country. The wines can be dry for desert or strong, may have a diverse bouquet of aromas or chromatic blend. European species are being used to prepare the wine: Sauvignon, Cabernet, Muscat etc., as well as Moldovan: Feteasca, Rara neagră, Moldova etc.

Tasting tours are being organized to Moldovan wineries where one can taste any wine.

Strong drinks: vodka, brandy and divin (cognac) are being made according to the traditional technologies.

Sparkling wines have got a special role. The most famous sparkling wines are those made in Cricova – an underground town with tens of kilometers of caves, galleries, and niches, which is the cradle of white, pink and red effervescent wines.

Moldova was one of the first countries that launched the production of red sparkling wines. Currently this drink has got muscatel and rose petal aroma, competing successfully on the world market.

At present Moldova produces in large quantities classic sparkling wines, especially in reservoir ("Cuve close").

Trademarks of Moldovan sparkling wines: Negru de Purcari, Moldova, Chişinău, Cricova, Muscat spumant, National, Nisporeni and others disseminate the reputation of effervescent wines in the whole world, being highly appreciated at international contests organized in Paris, Bordeaux, San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Budapest, Bucharest, Yalta, Chişinău, Moscow, Sofia, Miculov, Bratislava, Verona, Madrid, Athen etc.

Fascinating quality to our sparkling wine is given by the noble breeds like Chardonnay, Pinot blanc, Pinot gris, Pinot menie, Sauvignon, Aligote, Traminer pink, Muscat blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot noir.

The local breed Feteasca Albă gives a rare delicacy to Moldovan sparkling wines, being cultivated since ancestors' times.

Viticulture has old tradition in the Republic of Moldova.

The main wine producers: wine factories from Cricova, Chisinau National Institute of vine and wine, Mileştii Mici, Nisporeni, Stǎuceni (The National College of Viticulture and Wine production), Salcuta, Hînceşti, Chirsova and other spots.

References

External links

* [http://www.moldova.md www.moldova.md - official Moldova site]
* [http://turism.md/eng/section/39/ Moldovan food and drink]