Moldovan Food Recipes

Moldovan food recipes reflect a long and colourful history in a country with rich soil. The cuisine has many similarities to Turkish, Greek and other Eastern European countries.

Some History
Small agrarian societies replaced hunter-gatherers about 5000 BC, later part of todays territory was part of the Roman Empire. In the Middle Ages invasions by among others Huns, Tatars and Mongols were recurrent. In 1359 the principality of Moldavia was declared, although paying tribute to the Turkish Ottoman empire it remained autonomous until the late 19th century when it became absorbed into the Russian Empire. Under the Russian rule there was an influx of people from other parts of the empire, a common tactics to weaken resistance in occupied regions; thus the ethnicity became quite mixed with among others Germans, Bulgarians, Ukranians and Jews. A fact that has affected how Moldovan food recipes are today. Between the World Wars they were part of Romania and Russia for periods. During the WWII it was invaded by the Romanians (during Nazi-Germany's attack on Russia). In 1944 it was recaptured by the Red Army and remained part of USSR until 1991 when the sovereign Republic of Moldova was declared. Since then there have been quite a lot of political unrest. The introduction of market economy has been no great success.

Moldovan Cuisine
The ingredients in Moldovan food recipes do not differ much from other East European; Pork, chicken, beef, potatoes, cabbage, wheat, rye, barley and dairy products are base ingredients. One thing that differentiate them is the use of maize, this together with the extensive use of vegetables is something that connect the cuisine to the Mediterranean countries like Greece and Italy. Like mentioned earlier, Moldovan food recipes have a lot in common with those of Russia, Turkey, Greece and other cuisines of East Europe. They share many traditional dishes with the Romanians. Since the ethnicity recently has been very mixed up the minorities have brought their traditions and cuisine.

Some Typical Foods And Dishes Of Moldova

Branza Also known as brynza. A cheese made from sheep's milk with roots back to the Middle Ages.
Ciorba Is a kind of sour meat soup with roots in Turkey and the Middle East.
Mamaliga A kind of polenta that is enjoyed in porridge or or bread form, it is eaten with meals or on its own, then perhaps with some sour cream and cheese.
Musaca Much like the Turkish mussaca it is an oven baked eggplant gratin.

Moldovan Beverages
The Moldovan soil is good for wine production, various types of grapes are used to make red and white wine (both sweet and dry) and also sparkling varieties. Divin is a popular brandy. A curiosity is that Moldova has the highest per capita consumption of alcoholic beverages in the world.

Submitted Moldovan Food Recipes
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