Taste as Heritage

A popular recipe competition taking place in Timisoara

Ana-Maria Cononovici, 18.09.2018, 12:04

In the first week of September, the city of Timisoara hosted the launch of the “Taste as Heritage Traditional Recipe Competition. This is the first event in the project called “Slowing Down, a collaboration between the Timisoara European Culture Capital Association and the CRIES Association, standing for the Resource Center for Ethics and Solidarity. Participants can register recipes between 6 and 30 September. Mihaela Vetan, president of the CRIES Association, told us who can participate:

“This competition is for everyone who is passionate about cooking, but who is particularly interested in Banat cooking, because that is the theme: old recipes from the area of Banat. The participants don’t have to be indigenous to Banat, and the recipes can be anything: side dishes, desserts, drinks, anything they want.

Since the competition is centered on old time recipes, we asked Mihaela Vetan how they check the authenticity of the recipes that get registered as traditional:

“We will have a jury that will look at the area where the recipe comes from, because the competitors have to specify where they got the recipe, they look at whether the recipe complies with principles for recipes from that area, such as the sweet and salty principle. It is well known that in Banat we eat steak with sour cherry compote or plum compote. Another criterion we are considering and have proposed is the use of natural ingredients specific to a certain ethnic community in the area. That is because over here gastronomy is influenced by the ethnic groups inhabiting this place together, and we wanted to emphasize recipes that are important for them.

This competition is part of a project that wants to promote traditional local cuisine, according to our interlocutor:

“I wrote down some recipes that are dear to me, such as a local pumpkin pie, local tomato soup, plum filled dumplings, and another very old recipe made of turnip. And because these vegetables are not grown a lot, this recipe is not often found in our diet.

Mihaela Vetan also explained why taste can be a heritage:

“Taste, and food in itself, because we are talking about eating, can tell us a lot about the way of life of a people in a given area, the way in which they related to food, the importance of certain days of the week or of the year. For instance, I remember that my grandparents ate cake only on Sundays, that day was special. And all these things are part of our culture, the way in which we relate to life. By looking at these recipes we would like to bring to light aspects of day to day life in days gone by. Also, as you know, Timisoara will be European Culture Capital. Cultural tourists who come here will definitely be interested in having authentic experiences, including those related to food. Which is why we would like to have restaurants adapt their offer, to find on menus of restaurants dishes that use or reinvent older recipes, using local ingredients.

On October 10, declared Romanian Foodstuffs Day, three winners will be selected by a jury, and three teams of cooks will prepare the winning recipes. The organizers are confident that villages, especially more remote communities, will contribute the most important recipes, as they conserve traditions the most. “Slowing Down organizers want to promote a responsible consumption and production model, especially among young people and small scale producers, organizers of cultural events, and restaurants and cafés interested in introducing local products on their menus. The target public is complex, trans-generational, made up of people interested in our cultural heritage.

(Translated by C. Cotoiu)