Plăcinte moldovenești

Plăcinte, filled pastries of thin dough, are perhaps the best-loved pastry dish in Moldova, a true emblem of the native kitchen, found in countless versions and fillings. Golden, crisp or soft, sweet or savoury, Moldovan plăcinte are synonymous with the warmth of the home and the skill of the cook, and are the dish with which Moldova is most often associated when it comes to traditional food.

How it is made

The basis of plăcinte is the dough, which may be plain (unleavened) or made with yeast, depending on the type of pastry. For stretched plăcinte, the sheet is drawn as thin as possible, sometimes until it becomes almost transparent, over a tablecloth dusted with flour — a genuine art that demands experience and skilled hands. The dough is filled, folded into various shapes, round or square, and baked in the oven, fried in a pan with a little oil, or cooked on the stove top, on a hot iron plate, according to the custom of each area.

The fillings are extremely varied. The savoury ones use curd or sheep's cheese, softened cabbage, potato, onion, mushrooms, urdă (whey cheese) or meat. The sweet ones are made with sweet cheese, apples, sour cherries, pumpkin, poppy seed or plum magiun. Among the best known are the pastry with cheese and herbs, vărzare (cabbage pastries), apple plăcinte and poale-n brâu, in which the corners of the dough are folded up over a sweet cheese filling.

When it is eaten and its cultural role

Plăcinte are made both on ordinary days, as a staple dish or a snack, and at celebrations, weddings, christening parties and memorial feasts, where they are never absent. They are served warm, often with sour cream, with a glass of milk or of wine, and are as much appreciated by children as by adults. During fasts, cooks make lenten plăcinte, without eggs or dairy, with fillings of potato, cabbage or mushrooms.

The plăcintă long ago outgrew the status of a simple dish and became a genuine symbol of Moldovan hospitality and national identity. The very expression of industriousness and love of home, it appears in folklore, in songs and in sayings. To receive a guest with warm plăcinte is, in Moldova, the supreme gesture of welcome, and their fresh smell remains, for many, the very aroma of the parental home and of a childhood spent at one's grandparents'.