Sunday, March 11, 2007

Food?!!!

February 28, 2007

Well, winter weather has FINALLY reached Moldova- we got about 2 ft. of snow the other day and it’s been really, really cold. During the day the temperatures get to around 32oF, but at night it’s well below freezing. Despite wearing at least three layers of clothes (long underwear has become my favorite article of clothing) everyday, I am almost always freezing. Insulation is non-existant in Moldovan buildings and houses and outrageous gas prices, thanks to president Putin, make keeping warm expensive and difficult. Getting around in this type of weather is also pretty interesting; snowplows and salted roads are also not to be found in Moldova. I’ve become quite adept at falling in the street. So far, so good- no major injuries to report. I was walking home from work for lunch with my host mother yesterday arm in arm when she slipped and took me down with her. Our neighbors were outside shoveling and thought it was quite hysterical to see my host mom layed out on her back in the street with me on top of her!
Besides the wintery weather to report, we also have some new additions to our household. In the last two weeks we had five momma pigs give birth to- get this- 55 piglets! Yes, we have 55 piglets at our house currently. One of our dogs also had puppies today. It’s like I live on Old MacDonald’s farm! After the piglets get to be ten kilograms, they will be sold at the market and to neighbors. My host mom said that last year the piglets sold for 600 lei (about 50 dollars) each, but this year the price has gone down to maybe 450 lei.
Since the average Moldovan household income is less than $2,000/year, most households rely on subsistance agriculture to supplement their income and feed their families. My family has a huge “garden” that resembles a vineyard more then an American-style vegetable patch. A garden this large requires a lot of work- my host mother and 80 year old “babushka” already started pruning the grape vines early this month. My host mother works from 8:30 AM- 12:30 PM Monday-Friday as an accountant in the mayor’s office and comes home and works in the garden until sundown, weather permitting. Besides grapes (for wine, cognac, and eating), they grow watermelons and various other melons, raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, garlic, dill, parsley, zucchini, squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, eggplant, a variety of peppers, carrots, beets, scallions, cabbage, all types of beans, and mushrooms. We also have walnut, hazelnut, peach, plum, apricot, apple, quince, pear and cherry trees.
Besides fruits and vegetables, we also have A LOT of animals. The amimals all live in the “backyard”, which is attached to our house. Besides the 60 some-odd pigs, we have turkeys, ducks, chickens, geese, cats and dogs. The latter two we no not eat. We have sheep too, but they live in a field somewhere sheparded by a real live shepard and come home only in the spring to give birth or to get butchered. Since we have a lot of foul, we eat poulty and fresh eggs often. I would say that we eat mostly goose, followed by pork, then turkey, chicken, and duck. Sometimes we have fish (which Peace Corps told us not to eat, but I haven’t gotten sick yet), usually fried, but sometimes raw. My host dad butchers the pigs at home with the help of another man, usually my host uncle or brother. The women butcher and pluck the fowl and save the goose feathers for pillows. My dad makes all types of homemade sausage and also smokes and cures the some of the meat in the garden. The rest of the meat is cooked in various dishes by host mom. Moldovans are very proud of their homegrown “natural” food, which I think is wonderful. I’m pretty sure that I will get sick when I return to the United States because of all of the preservatives, hormones, and additives that we put in our food.
Getting used to eating pork was traumatic at first because I didn’t eat pork at all in the U.S., but I am trying to make the best of it- it’s not all that bad. I know that I will never like any sausage-type meat no matter what meat it is made of, which is unfortunate because “kilbaska” and “sausiski” are staples at Moldovan tables. I tell my family that I will try anything once, and so far I haven’t had too many dishes that I cannot stomach. It’s not like when I lived in Indonesia and was served dishes containing totally foreign, unidentifiable substances not found in the U.S. For the most part, ingredients in Moldovan food are the same as used in the U.S. The most “interesting” dish I have come across is called “kholodetz” in Russian or “racciture” in Romanian. No matter what it’s called in either language, I think it’s yucky. It is a dish of cold, clear animal gelatin with pieces of meat suspended in it. Usually the meat is pork, but I have also seen turkey and fish kholodetz. Thank god kholodetz is a “treat” and only served on holidays and special occassions!
I consider myself fortunate as far as food goes in Moldova- my family is ethnically Bulgarian and cooks mainly Bulgarian dishes. My host mom is a wonderful cook, much like my mom in the States. In contrast to Moldovan food, Bulgarian food is spicy and flavorful. I usually have coffee and some type of oatmeal or cream of wheat-type food for breakfast, but sometimes get lucky and get crepes filled with sour cherries or strawberry preserves instead. Everyone goes home for lunch, which is the biggest meal of the day. My family doesn’t drink water, really- we have homemade red wine with every meal and tea or coffee. We always have bread, usually accompanied by homemade Bulgarian feta and a bowl of homemade pickled tomatoes, cucumbers, apples (yum!), and chili peppers at every meal. There is always a first and second course at my house. The first course is soup, usually a type of vegetable soup, or “borsch”. Sometimes the soup has lamb or chicken in it. The second course(s) are a type of meat, usually roasted, smoked, or in a vegetable sauce, and a vegetable, like baked or mashed potatoes, beans in chili sauce or a salad. In the summer the salad is fresh vegetables, usually tomatoes and cucumbers, but in the winter we have a lot of “Russian” salads with mayonnaise like a potato salad with peas, carrots, and ham-type meat. We also have pasta, either with feta or plain, quite often. Dinner is normally meat, maybe shish kebab, and vegetables. My host mom makes awesome Greek-style “dolmathes”- stuffed grape leaves, stuffed cabbage or red peppers. She also makes a Bulgarian dish called “malina” which is thin dough stuffed with feta or pumpkin, rolled into a tube, coiled into a spiral and baked in a big round pan, which is delicious. As far as I can tell, desserts and pasteries are non-existant.
Well, if you’re not hungry yet, there is no helping you. I hope this painted an accurate picture of how food is procured and presented at my house. Don’t get me wrong- I still appreciate the care packages with twizzlers and granola bars! Take care and stay warm!

Anastasia Kolivas, PCV
Corpul Pacii
Str. Grigore Ureche # 12
Chisinau 2001
Republic Moldova
anastasia.kolivas@gmail.com

1 comment:

Unknown said...

YUM! Your host mother sounds like a wonderful cook! Bulgarian food sounds delicious (and Moldovian food too, but if you say Bulgarian-style food is more flavorful, I'll go for it!).