Our cookbook of the week is Carpathia: Food from the Heart of Romania by Irina Georgescu. Over the next three days, we’ll feature more recipes from the book and an interview with the author.
If you’re cooking for mom this Mother’s Day, Irina Georgescu’s polenta cakes with cheese and dill would make a delightful savoury addition. Baked for important occasions, they carry special significance in Romania. “Whenever somebody would return home, you’d say, ‘Do you want some alivenci?’” she says. “There’s a lot of symbolism there.”
Polenta (mămăligă) is a staple ingredient in Romania. In Carpathia , Georgescu uses it to coat anchovies and sweetbreads, to make fritters and dumplings, in side dishes, desserts, and borş (Georgescu dedicates a chapter to the fermented ingredient and the broths made with it).
“We have it in our DNA, I think — polenta DNA,” says Georgescu, laughing. “We (probably) eat more polenta than the Italians.”
ALIVENCI
Moldovan polenta cakes with cheese and dill
2 1/4 cups (500 mL) whole milk
4 tbsp (60 g) butter
1 1/4 cup (200 g) coarse polenta
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups (300 g) fresh ricotta
7 oz (200 g) feta, crumbled
1 cup (250 g) plain yogurt
1/2 cup (60 g) all-purpose flour
1 bunch of dill, finely chopped, plus extra to serve
1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder
Sour cream, to serve
Step 1
Bring the milk to a boil in a pan over medium heat, then add the butter and polenta. Stir continuously for a few minutes until thickened, then set aside to cool slightly.
Step 2
Meanwhile, separate the eggs and place the yolks and whites into separate bowls. Mix the yolks with the ricotta, feta, yogurt, flour and dill, then add this mixture to the lukewarm polenta along with the baking powder. Stir to combine well.
Step 3
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and grease a 11 by 9 (28 by 23 cm) baking pan. Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Carefully fold the egg whites into the polenta mixture. Pour into the pan and bake for 40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Do not remove the polenta from the oven — turn it off and don’t open the door for 20 minutes.
Step 4
Turn the polenta out onto a chopping board, slice and serve warm with sour cream and more dill, as an appetizer or lunch.
Serves: 8
Recipes from Carpathia: Food from the Heart of Romania by Irina Georgescu, published by Interlink Books, copyright © Irina Georgescu, 2020. Reprinted with permission of the publisher.
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2020
