Moldovan Recipes

Moldovan cooking shares its roots with the Romanian-speaking world, with Slavic, Turkish and Gagauz touches, especially in the south. It is a food of the vineyard and the garden: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, beans, walnuts, grapes and sunflower oil go into almost everything. Mămăligă (cornmeal porridge) replaces bread at many tables, topped with brânză (brined sheep or cow cheese) and sour cream. Plăcinte, thin pies filled with cheese, potatoes, cabbage or pumpkin, are the everyday treat. Soups are soured with borș (fermented wheat bran) or lemon, and zeamă, the chicken noodle soup, is the one many families name first. Pork and lamb are the main meats, cooked in stews, rolled into sarmale or grilled over charcoal. Late summer is canning season, when zacuscă and pickles fill the cellar. Wine is part of the table, and holidays bring cozonac, pască and plenty of roast meat. Hosts tend to keep feeding visitors until they give up.

Staple ingredients

• cornmeal (mămăligă)
• brânză (brined cheese)
• sour cream
• pork
• eggplant and peppers
• walnuts
• borș (fermented bran)
• sunflower oil

• Appetizers 1
• Soups 1
• Main Dishes 5
• Side Dishes 1
• Breads 1
• Desserts 1
• Drinks 1
• Pickles and Preserves 1

Appetizers

• Salată de Vinete (Moldovan Smoky Eggplant Salad)MD1 hEasy

Soups

• Zeamă (Moldovan Chicken Noodle Soup)MD1 h 45 minMedium

Main Dishes

• Mămăligă cu Brânză și Smântână (Moldovan Polenta with Cheese and Sour Cream)MD40 minEasy
• Plăcinte cu Brânză (Moldovan Cheese Pies)MD1 h 10 minMedium
• Sarmale (Moldovan Cabbage Rolls)MD3 h 45 minMedium
• Ghiveci (Moldovan Summer Vegetable Stew)MD1 h 45 minEasy
• Tochitură Moldovenească (Moldovan Pork and Sausage Stew)MD1 h 50 minEasy

Side Dishes

• Fasole Bătută (Moldovan Bean Spread with Fried Onions)MD1 h 40 minEasy

Breads

• Poale-n Brâu (Moldovan Cheese-Filled Pastry Parcels)MD1 h 15 minMedium

Desserts

• Cozonac cu Nucă (Moldovan Walnut Sweet Bread)MD1 h 35 minMedium

Drinks

• Compot de Fructe (Moldovan Stewed Fruit Drink)MD25 minEasy

Pickles and Preserves

• Zacuscă (Moldovan Roasted Vegetable Spread)MD3 h 10 minMedium