The county of Buzau stands out thanks to a couple
\nof staple dishes bearing the name of the county. Each of the products came to
\nbe known mainly due to the fairs held in this south-eastern region of Romania,
\na genuine trade hub, bordering, on three sides, the great Romanian historical
\nprincipalities: Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
There are the Buzau pretzels, the
\nsmall ones, with a diameter of 7 or 8 centimeters, sold on the string and hanging
\non the baker’s door. They are made with leavened dough and are traditionally
\nbaked in proving ovens. It appears the pretzels were first brought to Romania
\naround 1800, by the Greek merchants who settled in Buzau. The pretzels usually
\nwent with the drinks that were ordered in pubs. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Buzau is also famous for its
\nsausages, for which they are two main sorts, the Buzau babic and the Plescoi
\nsausages. Similar products based on minced meat have surely been prepared
\nelsewhere around the country. However, the Plescoi sausages came to be known
\nthanks to the fairs held in Buzau. The best-known such fair was the Midsummer
\nfair held in June on the day the Dragaica was celebrated according to
\ntradition. Early 19th century documents make mention of the prices
\nfor which the mutton pastrami and the sausages were sold, brought from the
\nvillages of Berca and Plescoi. Initially, the hatchet-chopped mutton was used
\nto prepare the Plescoi sausages. The mutton was mixed with lamb suet and spiced
\nwith garlic, thyme and basil. The mix was then squeezed into thin sheep
\nintestines. The sausages were then smoked.
\nLater, a little bit of beef was added to the recipe.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In late 18th century,
\nBulgarian and Serbian nationals took refuge in the region of Buzau, because of
\nthe Russian-Turkish war. With them, they brought a different recipe for the
\npreparation of sausages. In the region of Buzau, the Serbs continued to do what
\nthey were best at and founded the so-called sarbarii, the Serbian vegetables
\ngardens. The Serbs had a penchant for using red chili peppers as a spicer,
\nwhich changed the preparation recipe for
\nthe Plescoi sausages. It seems that the Buzau babic or the Buzau Serbian babic
\nappeared at that time. Mutton was no longer used for their preparation.
\nHatchet-chopped pork was used instead, in stark contrast with the Ottoman
\nrecipe, for which mutton was used. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
For the preparation of the babic,
\nthe recipe was quite similar to the preparation of mutton sausages. The pork,
\nusually gammon, is minced with the hatchet. Then salt is added, while the meat
\nis spiced with hot chili pepper or sweet paprika powder. The resulting mix is
\nsqueezed in larger intestines, and then the sausages are formed. The sausages
\nare aired before they are smoked. In the end, the sausages are pressed into a
\nflat shape and then they are hung to dry. The recipe was changed so that the
\ndrying process could become shorter, with beef also used for the mix. In the
\nregion of Buzau, a babic-based thick soup is prepared, with lots of vegetables
\nand sausage slices, finely-cut. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The mouth-watering Plescoi sausages<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":125,"featured_media":174015,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45767],"tags":[46021,45768,45854,46020,45927],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-174717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-cooking-show","tag-hatchet","tag-minced-meat","tag-mutton","tag-plescoi-sausages","tag-pork"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n