Category: dinner

From Transylvania: Mămăligă

H. Ellen Browning, distant relative of English poet Robert Browning, chronicles her adventures in Eastern Europe in her travel memoir A Girl’s Wanderings in Hungary (1897). Though she claims to “belong to the category of ‘mouse-screeching’ women,” she finds stolidity enough to develop a deep love for “the sea, and the mountains, and the frank ‘natural-ness’ of the peasantry” during her travels (“garlic and drunken men” both disgust her, however). Of the countries she visits, it is Transylvania’s dramatic scenery that wins her heart, and she passes most of her time wandering its vast forests and marveling at the small, humble villages she finds along the way.

During her walks, Browning enjoys only those foods eaten by the region’s peasantry and herdsman. She prepares these simple dishes — “brigand’s beefsteak,” roasted potatoes, omelets and onion soup — with a forester’s help, cooking them over hot ash in iron pots.

Fryderyk Pautsch, Autumn in the Carpathian Mountains, 1936
Fryderyk Pautsch, Autumn in the Carpathian Mountains, 1936

A dish particularly loved by Browning is a corn pudding called mămăligă, which is cooked in a gigantic cast iron cauldron over an open fire. According to legend, if the mămăligă cracks while cooking, a member of the household is destined for an unexpected journey. The dish was quite popular with nineteenth-century kitcheners, and even merited mention in a best-selling novel: while traveling through the Carpathian Mountains, Jonathan Harker of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) enjoys a dish of mămăligă before departing for Dracula’s castle.

Harker unfortunately neglects to jot down the recipe for this toothsome dish. But Katharina Prato’s Die Süddeutsche Küche ( 1903) offers a recipe that doesn’t skimp on authenticity.

Mămăligă

In one liter of warm water mix one and a half liter Italian cornmeal. Add salt to taste, cover (but allow for some steam to escape), and let boil for ten minutes until most of the water has been absorbed. Mixes the entire mass until thick and let stand fifteen minutes over low heat. Then transfer half the polenta mixture to a baking dish greased heavily with butter. Sprinkle sheep’s cheese over the polenta and spread another layer of polenta over the cheese. Continue this process until the baking dish is full. Sprinkle butter over the top and back in a moderate oven until the mămăligă forms a brown crust.

 
Why Fast and Fermented Foods by Christine Baumgarthuber

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Schutzhaus Fare: Wild Mushroom Stew

Schutzhaus in the Tyrol Austria

The weary traveler wanders through the green valleys and steep passes of Tyrol. She finds she can walk no further; her hunger prohibits her from taking another step. Luckily a humble Shutzhaus, a haven for hikers, appears through the pines, offering shelter and hearty sustenance to succor body and spirit.

Schutzhaus fare is simple yet wholesome, intended to satisfy the often ravenous appetites of those who have been wandering, sometimes for hours on end, the mountain passes of Austria. The 1905 Manöver-Küche cookbook provides a fascinating array of simple recipes to satisfy those appetites. It also offers the Shutzhaus proprietor valuable information on how to best store and use provisions and cooking utensils under less than ideal conditions. Meat must be carefully selected, the silverware thoroughly washed, and only the finest oil and coffee purchased lest it grow rancid or stale after months of storage.

Because these tiny cottages are usually located in areas that cannot be accessed by roads, the meals served are simple affairs, made from ingredients that do not require refrigeration. Here is a recipe from Manöver-Küche for wild mushroom stew, a meal where most of the ingredients come straight from the forest.

Wild Mushroom Stew

1 pound mushrooms, wild or store-bought
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
1/2 bunch parsley
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 cup flour
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons sour cream

Clean the mushrooms and cut them into slices. Place them in a baking dish. Cut up butter and place on top of mushrooms. Add onion and sprinkle flour over the mixture. Pour in stock and sprinkle parsley and salt and pepper over the mushrooms. Cook in a medium oven for 1/2 hour, or until mushrooms are tender. Take out of oven and stir in sour cream. Serve immediately. This dish can also be prepared on the stove.

 
Why Fast and Fermented Foods by Christine Baumgarthuber

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From Matera, Italy: Bread Soup

olives and tree, schematic illustration

The hills near Matera, Italy stand brown and cragged against a cornflower-blue sky. For centuries their arid slopes defied nearly all attempts at cultivation; as a result, the inhabitants of Matera suffered the worst privation, such as living side-by-side with their livestock in caves. An 1878 guidebook describes Matera as “a dirty town [its] lower classes [being] the least civilized of the province of Basilicata.” But the farmers of Matera did manage to produce from the dry and rocky soil excellent wine and olive oil, and their traditional dishes reflect this meager but flavorsome yield.

Here is a recipe from the province of Basilicata for bread soup, a clever dish that turns day-old bread into a savory supper. Serve it with a green salad and red wine.

Bread Soup

9 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
4 eggs, well beaten
1/2 pound stale crusty Italian bread, crumbled or cut into squares
ground hot pepper
1 small bunch basil, chopped
1 pint (500 ml) water
Salt and pepper, to taste
Pecorino Romano cheese, to taste

Place crumbled bread in soup bowls. In a large soup pot, saute the garlic and ground hot pepper. Add the water and bring the mixture to a boil. Cook for a few minutes, then stir in the basil and eggs. Pour soup over crumbled bread in soup bowls. Add salt and pepper and grated Pecorino Romano, if desired.

 
Why Fast and Fermented Foods by Christine Baumgarthuber

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