RECENTLY I got the chance to experience the home cooking of Moldova when I attended Sorina Savascu’s pop-up in Edinburgh. She had me hooked with the event's evocative title – Journey Back To My Romanian Roots – alone, but the story of her desire to preserve the integrity of her heritage cuisine, and her passion for local sustainable food, is endearing.
Growing up in the western Romanian city of Timisoara, Sorina used to complain whenever she visited her grandparents' country home about the muddy surroundings and lack of basic facilities. "My youngest uncle used to annoy me by showing me a bunny and saying, 'Look, this is your dinner tonight!'" she recalls. Now, she realises her relatives weren't killing for fun but for food.
Sorina moved to Scotland over eight years ago to study, and during her last year of university she worked in a franchise restaurant. “I don’t regret working there," she says now, "as it opened my eyes about the food industry.” After graduating she decided she wanted to work in hospitality.
Today Sorina heads the Southside Food Assembly in Edinburgh, where she digitally connects local producers with consumers, allowing local produce to be available easily to local people.
Her connection with Scottish produce and seasonality, has made her think about her own Romanian heritage, and during a reunion with her family at her grandparents' homes in Moldova last year, she set out to discover how things have changed in the food landscape of her homeland.
During her own city-based childhood, her mother cooked traditional Romanian dishes, and although she had access to ready-made supermarket food, she choose to cook her own meals.
“Every Saturday morning," recalls Sorina, "she would drag me out of bed to make sure she got the farmer’s market for 7am to pick the freshest produce.
“I’m really glad now that I got the chance to help my mum and learn from her, but back then I was really annoyed at her. I wanted to be outside, enjoying the summer weather and playing with other kids, not stuck in a hot sticky kitchen.”
Memories of summer and preserving quince or sour cherries, or making slow-cooked roasted pepper and aubergines in tomatoes ... these are food memories she wanted to keep alive.
"What made me most to go back to my Romanian roots was to see the big changes that happened in the villages," she says. "People gave up their gardens and livestock to build bigger villas. Most of them work abroad and believe everything that’s imported is better. Why bake a cake when you can buy one ready-made?
"I don’t want to be like that. Yes, I moved abroad but that doesn’t mean I should forget where I come from. Now I can choose my lifestyle and what I want to eat.”
She wants to show people that what are now seen as "trends" such as fermentation, foraging, grow your own, were part of a natural way of life where she grew up. She is glad that today, many people are choosing to shop local and learning to preserve.
Sorina was really humbled by the interest shown in her Romanian themed pop-up dinner and now hopes it will lead her in a new direction in which she has a chance to share her cuisine.
Essentially, she sees herself as a farmer, and wants to learn how to grow her own. “I would also like to preserve my grandad’s vineyard," she says. "He has a lovely vineyard with Romanian grape varieties but sadly he cannot look after it any more. At the moment my uncle looks after it and makes delicious natural wine. He used to be a sheep farmer and make traditional raw milk cheese but he stopped. I'm afraid the same may happen to the vineyard.”
In Sorina I have found a kindred spirit.
Special thanks to Sorina Savascu for her time and Gillianne Jennifer Rodger for the introduction.
Sorina’s mother’s apple pie:
My mum used to make this almost every week in autumn, writes Sorina
Shortcrust pastry:
500g white flour
250g cold butter, cubed
125g icing powder
15 grams of vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp vanilla paste mixed with 15 g caster sugar)
2 eggs + 2 yolks
2 tbsp sour cream
1 tsp lemon zest
Pinch of salt
Apple filling:
2kg cooking apples (I prefer Bramleys)
200g sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Zest of one lemon
Juice from ½ lemon
60 g walnuts
Make pastry: If using a food mixer, put all the pastry ingredients together. Mix it quickly and briefly. If kneading by hand, mix the flour and butter, then add the other ingredients and knead fast. Don’t over-knead. Divide dough into two portions, one slightly larger than the other (for the bottom sheet). Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for one hour.
Prepare filling: Wash the apples then coarsely grate them, peeled or unpeeled. Add sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice. Toast the walnuts and chop them. I prefer to keep them chunky.
Make up: Remove the larger dough piece from the refrigerator and spread on a baking sheet. Roll thinly to reach the edges of the tray. Pierce it well with a fork to avoid any bubbles while baking. Squeeze excess liquid from the apples by hand or using a muslin cloth. Place the apple filling on top of the dough sheet and spread evenly. Add extra cinnamon or sugar if you wish and finally, the toasted walnuts.
Finish: Take the second dough sheet and roll it evenly on a baking paper. Place on top of the apple filling. Pierce it with a fork and brush it with a yolk for a nice golden looking pie.
Bake: In a preheated oven (170°C), bake the pie for about 35-45min. When ready, let it pie cool before slicing, otherwise the pastry may break. Sprinkle with icing sugar and slice.
Tonight (October 29) Sumayya is collaborating with Glasgow's Cail Bruich restaurant in a celebration of Scottish produce with a Pakistani modern twist www.cailbruich.co.uk She will also teach a cookery class titled Spiced Kingdoms And Colonies at Edinburgh New Town Cookery School on November 12 www.entcs.co.uk
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