#peacecorpsvegetarians

Day 86: Înghețată! Ice cream!

One of the first language words Volunteers often master is înghețată, ice cream. We arrive in the heat of the summer and these cold treats are nearly everywhere and quite affordable on a Trainee or Volunteer limited budget.

The taste is noteworthy - creamy & rich, robust vanillas and chocolates, a wide variety of styles and flavors. Cones, popsicles, cups, sandwiches, tubes, and tubs are all easily found with a variety of chocolates, caramels, nuts, fruits. Those six photos for this post? Those were all taken in ONE store - one mid-sized supermarket carries all those options.

We support local business when we eat the creamy, delicious Sandra and Drancor brands.

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Day 73 - Moldovans Meet their Meat

In America we often are very distant from our food production.  Some children go never seeing the animal that produced their chicken nuggets or hamburger.  In Moldova, however, the raising, preparing, and cooking of animals is all around everyone.

While we chose not to eat animals for a variety of reasons, it's easier to respect Moldovans who eat meat because we know they are often involved in the process and understand what goes into meat production.  They feed their animals, look them over to see if they need medical care, and when the time comes, the personally "cut" the animal and slaughter it for consumption.  Whether it be chickens, cows, goats, rabbits, or other animals, Moldovans often know they animal they are eating very well before it hits their plate.

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[Photo Credit:  http://www.libertatea.ro/feminin/retete/retete-sarmale-de-post-1552726]

Day 52:  Sarmale de Post

One of the tastiest things you will ever eat is sarmale.  Traditionally these cabbage or marinated grape leaf wraps are stuffed with rice, vegetables, and usually pork.  During fasting periods, called Post, or for vegetarians like us, Moldovans make Sarmale de Post.  This version may include mushrooms or additional vegetables in place of the meat.

I love to eat a plateful of sarmale de post.  I’ll even sometimes add smântâna, sour cream, as is the tradition.  These are a time consuming dish to make but I am always grateful when they are on the table.  

If you would like to try to make this yourself, here is a recipe:

In Romanian:  http://www.libertatea.ro/feminin/retete/retete-sarmale-de-post-1552726

Translated with Google Translate:  https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.libertatea.ro%2Ffeminin%2Fretete%2Fretete-sarmale-de-post-1552726&edit-text=

Day 40 - Carmez Veggie Hot Dogs

Photo credit:  http://carmez.md/produse/produse-vegetale/

While Moldova really enjoy eating a variety of meat, because of it's Orthodox Christian traditions there are many weeks where many people observe fasting (called Post) by avoiding all animal products.  The bonus for us vegetarians is that there is a wide variety of vegetarian products for us to sample.  My favorite is the Veggie Hotdogs made by Carmez.

These tasty veggie-dogs are made with a mushroom and sunflower oil base and are very tasty.  If it wasn't for a small amount of red dye made from an insect byproduct, this sausage alternative would be vegan.  

I love cooking some up and eating them with Russian Mustard that is packed full of horseradish.  These are far tastier than anything I've tried in the USA and I will miss having my refrigerator stocked with a supply of veggie-dogs we purchased from our favorite vendor in Piața Centrala.

Day 30 - Bucuria candy!

“Bucuria” was one of the first Romanian words for emotions I learned. It means “joy.”

The 71-year-old sweets brand got their name right: Their wide range of products bring a lot of joy! And, as their slogan promises, our lives are sweeter with them.

Bucuria makes candies, chocolates, caramels, toffees, jellies, drops, waffles, cookies, and marshmallows, as well as some low sugar options targeted toward people with diabetes. The sweets are delicious and I feel like I have too many favorites to name here. Eating them feels all the more delicious knowing we’re supporting a local company.

Get a sense for the wide range of products they have on offer in this video made for the 2016 MoldExpo

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Day 23 - Nr 1 Hypermarket in Chișinău

This dinosaur in the Nr 1 Hypermarket asked if I wanted a selfie so of course I said yes.

While most of our Peace Corps Volunteer peers live with host families, we live in an apartment that our host family rented to us.  That means all the cooking is our responsibility.  While we are fortunate to live in a district center that can sell us most of the things we need to cook, when we are in Chișinău we like to visit the Nr 1 Hypermarket for some special treats like:

-Sriracha

-Curry and other spices

-Taco Seasoning

-Cocoa Covrigi (an unsweetened pretzel like item that is great to dip into Nutella)

While we could have happily lived in Moldova for 2 years without these special items, these little extras help make life just a little easier.

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Day 22 - Masas

When it’s time to celebrate, Moldovans will invite you to the masa (table.)  Because celebrations always involve eating at the table, masa also means celebration.

One thing I love about Moldovans is they enjoy celebrating.  There are many religious and secular holidays on that warrant a masa plus every birthday, anniversary, or other important day could be worthy of a masa.  It unusual to go more than 2 or 3 weeks without an invitation to a masa to celebrate.  

And what a celebration it is... 

Moldovans pack their table full of food, sometimes so full that plates begin to stack on top of each other.  It seems like there is always room to add another plate and another person to a table, even if you need to share a chair.  Usually everyone is served wine or cognac to go with their placinta, bread, cheese, and other tasty items.  It’s always something to look forward to.

These celebrations can happen anywhere and everywhere.  It’s normal to start a a day off at work with a masa or end a day with one.  The photo above was the first masa in a professional celebration that I was invited to.  After attending the regional librarian computer training, the librarians celebrated the end of the training with a masa and wanted to make sure I was included.  We ate food and delivered toasts to everyone’s health.

Hai la masa!