Zacuscă

Zacuscă is a vegetable spread very popular in Romania. Similar spreads are found in other countries throughout, or bordering, the Balkans.

Recipe

The main ingredients are roasted eggplant or cooked beans, roasted red peppers (belonging to a local cultivar called "gogoşari") and chopped onion. In North America "gogosari" equate with pimento peppers and are available in farmer markets late in the summer. Some add tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots, beans, or celery. Other ingredients are also added according to taste, including spices. Every cook seems to have his/her own recipe. Traditionally, a family will cook a large quantity of it after the fall harvest and preserve it in sterilized jars.

It can be eaten as a relish or spread, typically on bread. It is said to improve in taste after some months of maturing but must be used within days of opening. Although traditionally prepared at home, it is also commercially available. Some Bulgarian and Middle Eastern brand-names are available in the United States.

Etymology

The word "zacuscă" is of Slavic origin ("закуска, zakuska") and originally means simply "snack" or "appetizer". The Slavic root of the word ("кус, kus") indicates "tasty, delicious," or "to bite."

Typical Ingredients

*Onions
*Bell Peppers
*Eggplants (Aubergines) or beans
*Tomatoes
*cooking oil

ee also

*Ajvar, a similar relish from Serbia and Montenegro
*Lutenica, another similar relish from the Balkans
*Biber salçası, a Turkish spread made from red peppers alone
*Meze