Sholm Pearly

When I read the title of this one, I knew I had to give it a go, crack the pages open and learn all I could from this Romanian Food & Folklore Cookbook. How catchy is this title? I loved that the author knows exactly what people’s mind first go to when they hear about the Carpathian region, and can joke about it so easily. Now let’s plunge into the foods that made Dracula’s region grow!

First I want to say from Dill to Dracula is a beautiful cookbook. I loved looking through this book and can imagine it being a great coffee table read. It was really a pleasure to look at the pictures of Romania, read about the folklore a little more and discover the local hearty cuisine. There is plenty of photos making it a very informative and visualy pleasing book.

I know very little about the region and have never eaten the local food but I was very curious to see what it had to offer. I recognised some dishes I had come across in Georgian, Slovak and Polish cuisine. It looks filling, full of winter veggies, cheese and thick cake slices. They look like they hold to your ribs, are very nutritious and are flavourful. I can really imagine cooking some of those for my family. Actually it encouraged me to buy a huge bunch of dill which smelled wonderful in my kitchen this week, even though it is a herb that I never usually know how to use. I was further embolden to make soup with some in it!

Every recipe here has a photo which lets you know exactly how the dishes are supposed to turn out. I really appreciate that as someone who is new to that cuisine and wants to recreate them the best I can, you know how best to present it, how to cut things up… My children can also participate in the choosing of what we get to eat. They also give me a better idea of what kind of ingredients and result to expect, which is important. It’s spring where I live, so I’m looking for the lighter recipes at the moment and some of the salads are very nice.

I particularly appreciated having a few drinks recipes at the end of the book, those are always fun and something we don’t see enough in local cuisine books. I’m always looking for things that can enliven the usual tea/coffee choice and like to try different things with what I eat and between meals.

Overall, a great book that I recommend to all the vampire fans out there, and the hearty eaters. Just a note, it is not vegan friendly, but then again you could hardly imagine a cookbook with Dracula in the title not to cook with meat and animal products. For everyone else, I do think it could make a lovely Christmas present.