Citrus × aurantium, commonly known as bitter orange or Seville orange, is an intriguing member of the citrus family with a rich history and a prominent presence in gastronomy. It is a hybrid, possibly between Citrus maxima (pomelo) and Citrus reticulata (tangerine), which spread from Southeast Asia to the Mediterranean. Its history begins thousands of years ago, when it was cultivated in China, India and all along the Mediterranean coast. In the Middle Ages, it was brought to North Africa and Europe by Arab traders and conquerors, where it quickly gained popularity.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, bitter orange became extremely valuable in Europe, not only as an ornamental plant in royal and noble gardens, but also for its use in medicine and perfumery. In gastronomy, its juice was used to add a unique taste to culinary preparations, and its bark was prized for the flavors it brought to sweets and drinks.
We know that it was used in the kitchen during Brâncoveanu's time. From that era, a collection of recipes has been preserved, found in the archives of the Romanian Academy, attributed to Postelnic Cantacuzino, the one who was directly responsible for the dishes at the royal tables. The manuscript, which contains 293 recipes, was published only once, in 1996, at the publishing house of the current ICR, in a small print run, in an edition coordinated by Ioana Constantinescu with an introductory study by the historian Matei Cazacu. The collection of recipes is entitled: Book in which to write the dishes of fish and crayfish, oysters, snails, vegetables, herbs and other dry and sweet dishes, according to their order.
It is the oldest such document known from Wallachia. A manuscript (dated 1550-1600) and a printed book (first edition in 1693, later in 1695) were preserved in Transylvania, preceding the document commented on in this article. I will write a separate material about the two texts from Transylvania. In Moldova, the oldest cookbook appears in 1841 and is a collection of recipes collected, translated and adapted by Mihail Kogălniceanu and Costache Negruzzi.
Below are some recipes from this book that use naramza:
LEARNING TO MAKE MANY SLICES OF OAO FOODS
Take almonds and mash them well and mix them with a little rose water or marigold flowers, and pass them through a sieve, which should be coarse. So he mixes them with oaole and beats them well, adding some salt, and then he fries them in pie flour. If you want, when you beat them, put a little sugar, and on top of that, put sugar and ground cinnamon, they have sugar and sour grape must, according to the taste of the fish.
Take 8 au 10 oao and beat them well with salt, then mix them with a glass of cow's au goat's milk, even better, with a little isma and well-pounded marjoram and a handful of well-ground cucurbits, and then make them a pie, turning it over, so that it is well fried on both sides, and on top put sugar, cinnamon and sour grape must.
LEARNING TO MAKE MANY SLICES OF SALADS, AFTER WEATHER
Another salad of capers, soaked in vinegar, on top with lemon wedges, pomegranate seeds, rose water and sugar.
LEARNING TO MAKE MANY SLICES OF SWEETS
Orange and lemon peels
Peel the lemons thickly and remove the pips or peels from below. So you put them in water, let them sit for 4 days and 4 nights, mixing the water twice, aunt, then take them out of that water and put them in the water when you boil, boiling them until they soften. So take them out and put them in cold water to stand for another two days, moving the water often, then have ready for each liter of peels a liter and a half of melted and cleaned sugar, and put the peels in that sugar and, slowly, slowly, he boils them like a clock, foaming them with a spoon. So he takes them off the fire and lets them sit in sugar for 8 days, heating them on the coals once every day, so that the sugar penetrates the skins better; and when those days are fulfilled, put them in a vessel and keep them.
Of course
It's the same as making the fennel skins, only they have to stay longer in water and boil in a little water, first boil a little, and milk that water, then add more water and boil them more, until they soften as much as possible tribuie, and then proceed to make them as they said about the lemon peels.
Another way, of limes and naramze
Take the lemons and limes and peel them thinly, grate them on a fine grater until the top yellow peel comes out, and don't spoil the white flesh. So what will you clean them after , cut the peel into 5-6 parts and remove the core, then put them on the boil with water, putting a squeeze of lemon juice from the clean, whole ones, first squeezing some must into the water with the peels and thus boils them as much as possible. After that, take them out of the water where they boiled and put them in cold water, let them sit until you boil the sugar for a long time, then clean them of the skins and anything else they have and wash them well, put them in the syrup to boil like a quarter, then put them in a jar to stand 2 days and 2 nights, they have even more; then he cleans the sugar and boils them again like a quarter they are even better, then he puts it over the skins again, cold, to stay for another day, then he boils them with a little sugar at the same time and, cooling down, he puts them in a jar and they will be done.
Another way
After you have cleaned the naramz as mentioned above, boil them with a little water, at their boil, until the core peels off, then take them out and put them in cold water. So he chops them with the didsupt knife and hollows them out with an iron spoon to remove all the core and, after you remove them, he boils them again in the water they boiled in, until they come to their boil, and then make them as they said above and the others cut into slices.
Another way
Take the peels of lemons and limes and put them in water for 8-10 days, mixing the water once every day, until the peels are shiny and clean and lose their bitterness, then drain them out of the water and whips them. So he takes boiled and foamed honey, warms it, and puts it over the shells to cover them, and once every day he heats them well, until the honey penetrates them well, then boil the honey well and put it over the shells and they will be done. Again, I want you to make them with sugar, boil the sugar and put it over the skins.
LESSONS TO MAKE MANY SLICES OF BEEF
Naramza peel vitca. Take oca wine 10, naramza peels 30 drams, make broth as mentioned in the others, then add 5 drams of peels.
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