Let's Talk About Moldova and Meet Mamaliga....

First of all, when I mention Moldova, I generally get a blank look, like, did you just make that up? Actually, that was my reaction about 18 months age, before our youngest joined the Peace Corps and went there. Then I had to learn something new, including where to find it on a map. Born out of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Moldova is a struggling nation, struggling to create a national identity, to feed itself, and to move forward. As a Scandinavian friend said when I mentioned the place, "the really Old Europe".  I had heard of Albania, Myanmar,  Lesotho, even Macedonia, but not Moldova. Bessarabia, Moldavia,  Romania all came to mind and all were linked to the place.  But now I know a little bit about Moldova, and I think when I named this blog "Closer to the Bone", Moldova was smoldering in my mind, as it is a place where people do live closer to the bone than we might be able to imagine.

As part of the Soviet Union, Moldova had access, in the 1970's and '80's to an influx of economic development funds and plans. With the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, Moldova was cut loose and cut off. The struggle began. Moldova was not without its strengths. The nation has fertile soil, a mild climate, and a hard working population. It is known for its wine production, not so much in the USA but in Russia and points east. Hubby and I were in B'ton Best Buy looking for a SmartPen and the fellow who helped us was from Poland. In the course of our conversation, he claimed that Moldova has the best wine in the world, better than Georgian wine, better than Armenian wine.  He ran down a mental list and France was about number 10 in terms of wonderful wines.  I accept his knowledge. I cannot argue with it.  According to our youngest, who has been there two years, the wine is great. Every house has a wine cellar and production of hundreds of liters of house wine. And then there are the wineries...Cricova, Purcari, Milestii Mici and more. Milestii Mici Winery has the world's largest wine collection, with over 2 million bottles and a cellar that runs for 250 kilometers. Who would have thought that?  Most production goes to the Russian Confederation, not the most dependable of consumers, but there you go. A lot of it is consumed right there in Moldova, which can boast the highest alcohol consumption in the world.

More to the point is the fact that Moldova struggles to gain a toehold in the modern world. Economic growth has been essentially negative and young people leave to go as guest workers to Italy, Belgium, Spain, England and the rest of Europe to make money to send home. Close to 40% of families rely on this source of money and it represents about 25% of the nation's annual budget. This influx helps families make improvements but still outhouses and wells are common outside of the cities and people cultivate their plots of land to have food to survive through the year. The gardening is not the hobbyist type. It is serious and important. Fruits and vegetables are preserved in many ways, including pickled watermelon and tomatoes.  Corn is grown to feed pigs, fowl, sheep, and people. Cheese is made in the home from the milk of cows and sheep.  Despite the poverty, there is culture and history and faith. The faith is Orthodox Christianity, having resisted the Ottoman onslaught. The history is proud and living, with Stephan the Great who ruled from 1457 to 1504 as a national hero. The culture is predominantly aligned with that of Romania but with strong Russian influences, thanks to the long association with Russia. The Romanian language is used with local tweaks, as Moldova was part of, dominated, and was lost to that nation. Now Moldovans use the Latin alphabet, the Orthodox calendar, and two languages, Russian and Moldovanesti, which is a dialect of Romanian. Our youngest, the Peace Corps Volunteer in Moldova, has learned Romanian/Moldovanesti and can hear the differences in dialects at this point, rather like hearing a southern accent against a yankee twang. In some communities, Russian predominates, all adding to the struggle to develop a true national identity in a country that has seen many invasions.  Union with Romania is a topic of conversation but only that, to date. And right now, Romania has its own issues.

So, maybe it is time to meet MamaLiga, the national dish of Moldova. You may already be familiar with a close, indeed, almost identical dish called polenta.  Cornmeal, of a finer sort than polenta, is boiled to thick consistency, then sliced, sauced, or just accompanying other dishes.  It is common in Romania as well, another link to that culture. Mamaliga is a staple in both countries, cheap and satisfying, a real peasant dish that has taken on the role of comfort food to the people of Moldova. Moldovan cuisine may also reflect the past Turkish and Slavic influences in its stuffed cabbage rolls, but mamaliga is the national dish.  Poftim, or  "that's that", as they say.

Just a final curious note: Romanian, and I include Moldevanesti here, is a romance language like Italian, French, or Spanish.  So a feast is a "masa" which is also a table.  To dance and to sing is "sa danseze si sa cante".  And they dance the hora, like many other eastern cultures. Here is a shout-out to crossroads and the marvelous infusions they produce. May the paths meet peacefully and with prosperity in Moldova.