Exploring sweet Romanian baking rituals

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Apples and sultanas (golden raisins) are added to a cheese curd plăcintă, or pie, to give texture to this Romanian dessert. Photo by Matt Russell.

Romanian culture follows many traditions, especially around the holidays. Cookbook author Irina Georgescu, who now lives in Wales, began a journey of discovery into why certain dishes were eaten in Romania. 

"We are a culture of wheat," she says, "Everything that is special is translated into wheat and bread." In Moldova, which borders Romania to the East, it's traditional to mix cornmeal with flour. Georgescu describes a cornbread that is leavened with yeast. Designs decorate loaves for special occasions including a pair of birds on a wedding bread. Money bags, locks, and horseshoe shapes are hung from the Tree of Life at funerals, symbolizing good wishes to the departed on their journey to the afterlife.

Curd cheese is integrated into dishes using immature cheeses in the spring that aren't available at any other time of the year. Lamb, often seen on Easter tables, is used nose-to-tail in Romanian cooking. Georgescu reminisces about her favorite desserts and baked recipes while surveying the Romanian table in "Tava."


Excerpted with permission from "Tava" by Irina Georgescu, published by Hardie Grant London, November 2022.



Now living in Wales, Irina Gerogescu missed the food her Romanian mother and grandmother cooked. Photo by Matt Russell.


Cookbook author Irina Georgescu reminisces about her favorite desserts and baked recipes while surveying the Romanian table in "Tava." Photo courtesy of Hardie Grant.