Bery Burdin Sanford's story from Izmail and Galati

By Bob and Bery Sanford, Boston, MA

I remember my grandmother preparing for the winter, beginning about September. Preparations were made outdoors, usually in large cauldrons and included all kinds of fruit preserves for dulceata, a dessert, Sweet, apricots, Morello cherries, especially a favorite of us all, roses, usually the Bulgarian variety that were very fragrant.

Another important preparation was majiun, a sweet spread of plum marmalade that was delicious on bread and crackers. The preparation required stirring the mixture of plums and water in the cauldron over a fire outdoors for several hours until it acquired the uniform consistency of a spread.

A variety of tomato sauces were also prepared and stored for the winter in jars. Pickling was also a very important method for preparing green tomatoes, baby cucumbers and watermelon, as well as several vegetables, parsley, dill, etc. for the winter.

Since we lived near the Danube delta, fish preserves (marinated) were an important activity for protein sources during the winter, this included small fish called rushi. Marinated carp was a special favorite also prepared in a variety of ways that included gefilte fish. Tseri, a salted and sun dried small fish was stored and used during the winter with oil and vinegar as a course side, or appetizer.

My grandmother used to make csiorba de peshte, a fish thick soup, or stew, with vegetables. She used to make baked beans with honey and lots of seasoning, also chickpeas in the same type of preparation that puts Boston beans to shame.

On Purim, my grandfather’s birthday, she made the best hamantaschen I ever ate, very small ones with prunes, seeds and fruits, also a chocolate roll with nuts that looked like a salami. Delicious!

My grandfather used to make his own wine from special grapes. During the summer, we had the most wonderful barbecue outdoors, rotisserie chicken with crushed garlic and oil, salt and pepper called mujdei de usturoiu brushed on the chicken, also steak, and different types of fresh meats.

A specialty made at home was creier la capac, fried brains with spices, delicious. I ordered one at a very specialized restaurant in Boston and all my friends were scandalized by my taste. I loved it, but I will never order it again.

They used to prepare mamaliga with cheese and spices, salata de vinete (eggplant salad) with tomatoes and onions. My mother used to love to make icre from carp and other sweet water fish. It was difficult to make, but mother was a specialist in making it. She also used to make a terrific torte with a thousand calories, but the taste was outstanding. I am sure I forgot many wonderful dishes like goulash, Romanian style chicken and meat and sweet potatoes, fresh tomato with mamaliga (polenta).

I made good stuffed green peppers with meat, rice, tomato soup and tomato paste, or sauce and spices. Bob and I cook our evening meals together, he insists on cooking and me giving taste, washing the mess after.

My grandma also made pasta from scratch (no machine) which she used for chicken soup and varenikes with meat and potatoes, also coltzunashi, a Romanian dish with cheese and sour cream.

Robert Sanford’s Memories from Botosani, Romania:

Since we owned three restaurants and my grandfather’s tavern, cooking was a big undertaking both for the businesses and as preparations for the winter. Most of the items described by Bery were on our repertory, so I will add some that are beyond that.:

Pastrama de gasca, (goose breast smoked), pastrama de vita (beef pastrami, treated and smoked), piept de gasca ( goose breast variety), roast beef (actually called), mititei ( little ones ground beef), limba de vaca (tongue treated and smoked)), ficat tocat (chopped liver, chicken, goose, or beef), muschiu la gratar (grilled steak of several varieties), muschiuletz ( usually wild boar meat, smoked and spiced, definitely not kosher, but most of our clientele was gentile, both upper class and down to farmers and peasants depending on locale). We imported specialties from Turkey, the Middle East, including Egypt, Lebanon and Syria, like halvah (a sweet), halvitza (a Turkish and Lebanese specialty), figs, dates, oranges, lemons, coffees, etc. We imported nisetru fish and caviar,(sturgeon and caviar) both from abroad, origin from the Caspian sea, Iran and Russia) and other fresh and prepared fishes, also fish delicacies as prepared foods.

You can imagine that we ate often at my grandparent’s tavern, because they had an indoor brick oven and grill both to prepare for the tavern and for the restaurants. I used to love grilled steak fresh off the grill, still sizzling and indulged in the imported goods when I had a chance. I am still surprised I didn’t add on a lot of weight when I was young. Maybe the home diet helped redress the balance.