Mamaliga with Mujdei

Okay, that's Polenta with Garlic Sauce for you non-Moldovan speakers. I'm back home and finishing an article on Corn Meal for The Valley Table, a local food magazine. I decided to make some Moldovan Mamliga with garlic sauce to test the cornmeal from Wild Hive Farm. Its good but, as it was in Kishinev, a bit rich for my blood

Mujdei (Moldovan Garlic Sauce)

1 head garlic (peeled and separated into cloves)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup sour cream
black pepper

Put the cloves of garlic in a mortar with the salt and crush into a paste. Put the garlic in a small bowl and add the oil. Beat with a fork until it is well mixed. This should take about 3 minutes. Add the sour cream and plenty of black pepper. Mix well. Set aside.

Mamaliga (Polenta)

3 1/2 c. water
1 1/2 t. salt
2 T. butter
1 c. coarse yellow cornmeal
Sour cream (optional)
Telemea or feta cheese (optional)
Fresh herbs of choice (optional)

Bring the water to a rolling boil. Add the salt and butter, stirring to melt. Using a wooden spoon, add the cornmeal very gradually, while stirring constantly in the same direction. 


Simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, until it thickens and starts to pull away from the sides of the pot, about 35-40 minutes. Serve hot with garlic sauce on the side or poured over the top.

I don't remember how to say bon appetit in Moldovan so here it is in Klingon: yISop! (sg) peSop! (pl)

Grilled Pike Perch with Garlic Sauce in Moldova

Las Taifas in downtown Kishinev is a very pretty restaurant -- it's designed to resemble a Moldovan farm house. When you enter, they give you a small shot of some paint thinner which you're expected to down at one time. I demurred. For dinner, I had grilled pike perch with a light garlic sauce and a green salad topped with tomatoes and white cheese.

According to the Food and Agriculture Ogranizations of the UN, the pike-perch (Sander lucioperca) is used as a biological improver in the aquaculture systems of Moldova, reproduction of which (up to 50 million pieces) is managed in the fish-breeding enterprise of the joint-stock company "Victoria" in the city of Edinets. The use of pike-perch increases pond productivity up to 100 kg/ha; however the size of the catches of pike-perch itself is not taken into account in the statistical data. I don't know what that means, but it tasted very good.

Here's my recipe for grilled pike perch with garlic butter sauce.

Since its raining, I grilled the fish in the George Foreman grill until it flakes with a fork (about 7 minutes).

For the garlic butter sauce, cook 6 T. butter and 1/2 cup of finely minced garlic over low heat for 15 minutes. This makes enough for two pounds of fish. Drizzle over fish and serve.