pwell, some of you know that for a few years I've been collecting information for a universal encyclopedia of sarmals. They're also made in China, they're also made in Argentina, and November 30th is National Sarmala Day in Sweden. I read several thousand recipes, identified dozens of different leaves, hundreds of combinations of fillings, different wrapping and cooking techniques. In recent months I have discovered sarmales made on the grill, breaded sarmales and even pickled sarmales: onion, garlic, root vegetables (the first recipe I found had carrot and beetroot), spices are put in the scalded cabbage leaf, they are folded in the classic way and they are pickled in a normal brine. A little more work, but it's a fabulous substitute for cabbage stuffed pepper tarts.
In Romania I found hundreds of recipes and variations on the theme. I tasted a few dozen. There are places where festive meals are not complete without a duck stuffed with sarmals or sarmals baked in a hollowed pumpkin. Bucovina is famous for the sarmale nest: four or five pieces filled with different minced meat (even wrapped in different leaves) all wrapped in a larger leaf and cooked together. Find a perfect recipe on the blog of Constanța Carmen Paraschivescu, aka gardaculinara.ro. I had fish fritters in the Delta – fresh water fish, I read about fritters filled with canned tuna. And just when I thought I'd seen them, I'm exaggerating, this surprise from the seaside appears on all of them.
I was in Vama Veche at an end-of-season party, towards the end of September. From word to word we arrive at sarmales and from there to local food and from there to sarmales with rapane made by a lady from May 2. The truth is that rapana lends itself to two types of dishes: fast or cooked slowly, otherwise it becomes gummy and impossible to chew. Unfortunately, I had no way to research the story in more detail and as there is still a lot until the summer, I am asking for your help here. If you know more special recipes for sarmales, especially sarmales with a local Constanta specialty - those with rapane are a perfect example - please let me know on cosmin.dragomir@gastroart.ro. I am curious if there are sarmales with fish from the Black Sea, with mussels, with seaweed, but also variations with mutton, for example, from mainland Dobrogea.
Text written for Tomis magazine
Photo credit: Photo 110083153 © Lyudmila Habrus | Dreamstime.com
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