Romanian Spring Menu with Irina Georgescu

Online Cooking Class with Irina Georgescu

Join us on a virtual culinary adventure around Romania with Irina Georgescu, acclaimed food writer and author of Carpathia and Tava. You will remember Irina from our 2020 Sensory Journeys series.

In the first class on March 19th start a journey to the heart of Romanian cuisine with three iconic dishes. Irina Georgescu’s class will be focused on a Romanian menu using only staple ingredients.

We’ll start by making a cornmeal and cheese layered dish, called mămăligă în straturi, while learning about why this ingredient is part of Romania’s gastronomic DNA. We’ll continue with a conversation about pickles and fermented vegetables while making a fantastic, tangy-sweet gherkin stew in tomato sauce, mâncare de castraveți, that pairs perfectly with thick slices of bread. To finish in style, we’ll also make a popular version of the famous Romanian dessert: papanași fierți, simmered curd cheese dumplings served with crème fraîche (smântână), and jam of your choice. While cooking, you will learn about the cultural influences in Romanian cuisine and more than a few tricks on how to cook with cornmeal ‘the Romanian way.’

To recap the menu:

Starter:  layered cornmeal with cheese, mămăligă în straturi

Main course: pickled gherkin stew, mâncare de castraveți acri

Dessert: simmered curd cheese dumplings, papanași fierți

The menu is for 4 people. The dishes are vegetarian but not dairy and gluten-free. Duration: 90 minutes.

Course fee: $30 (Please scroll down to pay)

Register HERE

After you register and pay, you will receive the recipes so you can be ready for your culinary and cultural adventure with Irina!

Don’t miss the next class, Romanian pies or plăcinte!

This course series is organized by ARCS with support from ARCS Arizona and ARCS Detroit.

Photos credit: Irina Georgescu, Jamie Orlando Smith and Matt Russell.

Irina Georgescu

Irina Georgescu is a UK food writer and author from Romania, whose work draws on her Eastern European heritage. She writes with integrity and respesct towards this rich heritage, and constantly raises the profile of Romanian culinary identity, bringing forward traditions and realities little known outside of her country.

Her first book, ‘Carpathia, food from the heart of Romania’ was shortlisted by the UK Guild of Food Writers for the Best International Cookbook Award, while its German translation was awarded a Silver Feather by the German Culinary Academy. The book was also translated into Hungarian and Dutch. Her second book, ‘Tava, Eastern European Baking and Desserts from Romania and Beyond’ is a meticulously researched baking book celebrating centuries of diversity and overlapping cultures that form today’s cuisine in Romania. A German translation is due in February 2023.