Browsing Category Recipes

EGGPLANT ROLLS

We call these eggplant rolls “Limba soacrei” or “Mother–in–Law ́s Tongue”. This appetizer, made of thin eggplant slices stuffed with a spicy-garlic filling, resembles the “hotness” of unwanted advice from your mother–in–law. Of course, it’s nothing but a stereotype developed in time. In fact, mothers–in–
law are kind and loving. Even when they stick their noses in your business, they do it with good intentions.

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ZUCCHINI PANCAKES

I admit I wasn’t a big fan of zucchini pancakes when I was little, but I came to really appreciate this dish when I grew up. The pancakes are savory and garlicky, ideal for a late night snack with beer, or an early breakfast with sour cream and a hard-boiled egg. You can make these pancakes using other vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes or peas. Sometimes I mix two different types of vegetables for a more fragrant taste.

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POTATOES WITH GREEN BEANS

n Moldova you can find several varieties of beans that are good to eat fresh, before they mature and are ready to be dried. These are early- harvested yellow flat beans, consumed in summer. You may cook the beans with garlic, new potatoes or braised with sour cream. My memory tells me that yellow beans with potatoes and dill came top of my summer food list, especially when cooked in the small cast iron pot, which I brought with me to Canada. 

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STUFFED ZUCCHINI

Similar to our traditional sarmale [sar’male], stuffed zucchini is made with the same filling but in a different way. I prefer sarmale; however, this dish is for those who don’t like the taste of vine leaves or pickled cabbage: a different recipe for those who seek new flavors. Do you know how delicious a stuffed zucchini with homemade sour cream can be?

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PRESERVED GRAPE VINE LEAVES

In our Moldovan cuisine grape vine leaves are used for making sarmale, those little rolls of grape vine leaves stuffed with rice, vegetables and meat, that we are very proud of. Although, you can easily find these leaves in Arabic stores, in Moldova, women prefer to preserve them at home, especially when every family in Moldova has access to a vineyard, whether it is their own or of a relative.

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