Romanian native brings passion for food to New World
Saturday, September 16 2006, 01:11 AM EDT
Contributed by: Clare Howard
HOME COOKING
Adriana Gradea once shunned the idea of spending hours in the kitchen preparing food only to see it consumed in mere minutes.
"I thought you would have to be complacent about life," said Romanian-born Gradea, who is researching a book on traditional Romanian recipes.
Growing up under the repressive rule of Nicolae Ceausescu, Gradea had little contact with culinary traditions in the rest of the world. She went to a student symposium in Norway and was shocked when she tasted shrimp and smoked salmon.
"That was a surprise. Those foods were not found in Romania. Smoked salmon is so special, and shrimp remains my favorite food," she said.
After college in Romania, Gradea went to Johns Hopkins University in Bologna, Italy, on a full scholarship. Italian food changed her life.
She started cooking for student gatherings and never stopped.
About half the students at Johns Hopkins were American and half were European. They organized a traditional American Thanksgiving meal in November. In March, the European students organized a meal, and Gradea took a dish she called cabbage a la Cluj, named after her hometown in the Transylvania region of Romania.
Rather than rolled, stuffed cabbage, she layered cabbage with meat and tomato sauce. It was a hit.
"You cook for half a day, and it's gone in five minutes. I used to wonder why people would cook rather than pursue art and literature," said Gradea, 38. "Then I went to Bologna, capital of the best food in Italy. Tortellini. Mortadella. Fresh ravioli. As soon as I figured out how to do it, I started to love having people over. I learned the pleasure in preparing and the pleasure in sharing."
Italy also taught her the artistry of cooking, she said.
CULINARY DISCOVERY
"In Italy, cooking is a creative process. In Romania, food is very traditional," she said. "Romanian cooking also has more fat. My project is a Romanian cookbook with a creative spin and shortcuts on traditional recipes."
Gradea married in Romania, and she and her husband, Tudor, applied for green cards to work in America. He is a mechanical engineer and works at Caterpillar Inc. in Peoria, Ill. Before that, they worked in Virginia, Washington, New York and Pennsylvania. She is a freelance copy editor and translator as well as cooking instructor. She speaks Romanian, Italian, English and French.
Since coming to the United States, Gradea finds it difficult adjusting to grocery store tomatoes and strawberries. She makes almost everything from scratch and is still surprised by commercially prepared American desserts.
"In Europe, not so much cane sugar is used. In Romania we use beet sugar, but sweet in Romania is not so sweet as in America. Sometimes all you taste here with commercially prepared desserts is the sugar. I have tried some homemade desserts here, and they are pretty excellent," she said.
Under Ceausescu, the Romanian economy had few resources for producing commercially prepared convenience foods.
"We were always trying to economize and do more with the homemade side of life. Women had to rely on themselves. You could not purchase a birthday cake for someone," she said. "All the homemade cakes were moist. We added extracts that were wonderful, but the cake did not look like a magazine picture."
She has returned to Romania twice since emigrating to America. She loves visiting her grandmother Anica Cordali, 87.
"She is like a queen bee. We all grew up around her. I make her goulash, and it is wonderful with chicken and dumplings and a red sauce," Gradea said.
"I have come to enjoy food in new ways. The ultimate goal is not food itself but the relationships formed with sharing food."
ROMANIAN MUSHROOM SALAD
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 (16-ounce) cans champignon (white button) mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
Pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped green onions (optional)
Yields 4 to 6 servings.
In bowl, mix mayonnaise and drained mushrooms. Add garlic, pepper, parsley and green onions (if using). Chill and serve spread on fresh slices of toast.
POLENTA WITH CHEESE AND BACON
1 quart water
1 tablespoon salt
1 pound coarse cornmeal
1 tablespoon butter
4 to 5 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound grated cheese (provolone, Swiss, feta, cheddar or other)
Pepper, to taste
Yields 4 servings.
Bring water and salt to a boil. Slowly pour corn meal into water, stirring to mix. Let boil 20 to 25 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring often. When done, add butter and set aside.
In a skillet over medium heat, lightly brown bacon.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9x12-inch baking dish with butter.
Pour polenta into baking dish to depth of 1 inch. Cover evenly with 1 cup grated cheese and sprinkle evenly with 1/2 of bacon. Pour remaining polenta evenly on top. Cover with remaining cheese. Add bacon on top of cheese. Sprinkle with pepper, to taste.
Bake in oven at 350 F for 15 minutes. Serve hot.
CHICKEN SOUP WITH CREAM OF WHEAT DUMPLINGS
1 1/2 pounds chicken parts (preferably with bones), washed
3 medium carrots, sliced in 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 parsnip, sliced in 1/2-inch pieces (optional)
2 medium onions (whole)
1 to 2 celery stalks cut in 1-inch pieces
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
1 to 2 chicken bouillon cubes
Dumplings:
2 eggs
5 to 6 tablespoons regular Cream of Wheat
Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
Celery leaves, for garnish
Serves about 6.
To prepare soup: In large pot 3/4 full with cold water, place chicken parts, carrots, parsnip, onions, celery, salt and pepper, to taste, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and boil, slowly, about 1 hour. Drain broth into large pot, add 1 cup water, bouillon and bring to a simmer. Reserve vegetables, except onions, and chicken (see note).
To prepare dumplings: Break eggs in bowl, beat lightly with fork. Slowly add Cream of Wheat to eggs while stirring. When all the Cream of Wheat has been incorporated, bring broth to boil over medium heat. Take scant teaspoon of Cream of Wheat mixture and with a finger slowly slide into boiling broth. Mixture should yield about 20 dumplings. Let broth boil on medium or medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes. Test dumplings by cutting them with a spoon. If they seem hard, boil a little longer.
When dumplings are finished cooking, add reserved vegetables, parsley and celery leaves to pot. Serve hot. A portion should be about 3 dumplings, a few pieces of vegetables and 1 cup of broth.
Note: Boiled chicken pieces can be added to broth, or eaten separately with other steamed vegetables sprinkled with olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper.
ROMANIAN GOULASH WITH FLOUR DUMPLINGS
2 large white or yellow onions, chopped finely
7 to 8 tablespoons vegetable, sunflower or olive oil
1 1/2 pounds chicken wings
Salt, to taste
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 tablespoon sweet paprika
1/2 tablespoon hot paprika
2 cups water
4 tablespoons tomato sauce or diced fresh or canned tomatoes
Dumplings:
2 eggs
4 to 5 tablespoons flour
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Yields 2 to 3 servings.
To prepare goulash: In stewpan, saute onion in oil over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add chicken, salt, pepper and paprikas. Continue sauteing for 15 to 19 minutes, making sure the onion doesn't burn and turning chicken on all sides. Add water and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 25 minutes over medium-low heat, semi-covered, stirring occasionally.
To prepare dumplings: Break eggs in a bowl and beat slightly with a fork. Incorporate flour slowly, stirring until well mixed. After all flour has been added, dumpling mixture should be consistency of firm sour cream. While chicken is still boiling in its sauce, use 1/2-teaspoon to scoop up dumpling mixture and push off measuring spoon with finger, slowly dropping mixture into boiling chicken sauce. Let dumplings boil slowly for 5 to 7 minutes. When done, add fresh parsley and serve.
Variations: Add 1 large grated carrot and 1 tablespoon diced green pepper when tomato sauce is added.
Add 1 to 2 diced garlic cloves before dumplings are dropped in.
Add hot pepper for a spicy dish. Replace dumplings with three large potatoes cut in 1-inch dice.
COTTAGE CHEESE BALLS
(Papanasi, traditional Romanian dessert)
1/2 pound small-curd cottage cheese, drained through cheesecloth
1/2 pound ricotta cheese, drained through cheesecloth
2 eggs
1 tablespoon sugar
5 tablespoons flour (divided use)
3 tablespoons Cream of Wheat
4 tablespoons flour
1 quart water
1 cup plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 (8-ounce) tub sour cream (for garnish)
Yields 4 to 6 serving.
In medium bowl, mix together cottage and ricotta cheeses, eggs, sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and Cream of Wheat. When mixed, roll into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. (If balls are too watery, add more dry ingredients.)
Place 4 tablespoons of flour in shallow bowl. Roll balls in flour.
In large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Slowly and carefully, so that they don't disintegrate, drop cheese balls into boiling water. Boil at medium-low heat for about 10 to 15 minutes (about 5 minutes more after they have risen to the surface). If balls stick to bottom of pot while cooking, gently scrape free with long-handled kitchen spoon.
Meanwhile, in a skillet, brown bread crumbs over low heat for 3 minutes and set aside. Add oil and sugar, mixing well. Carefully remove cheese balls from water and roll in bread-crumb mix. Serve hot, plain or with a dollop of sour cream.
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