A ciorbă from Transylvania

Join our culinary tour in Transylvania this September.

Following the story about tarragon in my previous Substack post here, this week’s recipe is about how to use it. This has been my favourite ciorbă since I was little, and at some point, I drove Mum so crazy by constantly requesting it for dinner that she eventually stopped asking what I wanted to eat.

Transylvanian potato and tarragon soup with smoked pork ribs

But what is Ciorbă in Romania?

It is a clear soup with a sour element added at the end of the cooking time. The soup can be made with meat or fish and vegetables, or only with vegetables. I eat ciorbă for lunch and dinner if I have a pot in the fridge. Some people in rural Romania also eat it for breakfast. Other people eat it only for lunch OR dinner. One thing is for sure: we eat ciorbă every day all over the country. When you visit someone, they will ask ”Are you hungry?" and before you can answer, you'll find yourself sitting at the table with a spoon in your hand eating a ciorbă. 

You will get plenty of opportunities to eat this type of dish on our culinary tour in Transylvania this September. Have a look here and read here.

One flavour stands out: tartness.

So what is the sour element we add to ciorbă? Called acreală, it can be vinegar or unripe fruit (like plums and damsons) or ripe fruit that is very sour (like rhubarb and gooseberries). It can be lemon juice, but very rarely. It can be sour cream mixed with beaten eggs. It can be whey and cheese (since cheese is fermented and has a natural tanginess). It can be the juice from fermented cabbage like sauerkraut juice. It can even be sauerkraut itself or pickled herbs such as tarragon. And finally, it can be borș - in which case the ciorbă is called borș, and it’s the juice from fermented wheat bran (long story for another post, but there is a recipe in my first book, Carpathia)

Bold pairing with another defining Romanian flavour: smokiness.

Smoked flavours are not just for ‘warming’ dishes. They are for contrast and vigour. They are for seasoning since many are also salty. Called afumătură, smoking is an ancient way of preserving meat and fish, and in Romania, also fruit. We also use smoke to flavour cheese. Many old houses in the countryside didn’t have chimneys, and the attic was laden with ingredients, waiting patiently for the smoke to drift upwards and do the job. This smoke also protected the wooden beams and structures from degrading.

In the UK…

I use a hot smoking method as opposed to the Romanian traditional cold smoking, mainly because I don’t have the kit or the right climatic conditions. For hot smoking, you can use a saucepan or frying pan with a lid or a tray wrapped in foil. Or a Camerons stovetop smoker. You place some sawdust for smokers on the bottom of the pan/tray, a trivet on top and the ingredient you’d like to smoke. Cover and keep on low heat with the windows open and an eye on the smoke detector. 

Now…for the recipe

Transylvanian potato and tarragon soup with smoked pork ribs

Did I say in my previous post that tarragon is the flavour of Transylvania? I did. Did I say that in Transylvania, we like intense flavours? We do. 

So here you have two bold ingredients: salty, vinegary, punchy tarragon and smoked pork, fatty ribs. The potatoes bring everything together in a friendly way. They round the corners and mellow the edges. 

Note: This recipe requires two elements you must make ahead if you decide to follow it to the letter: the pickled tarragon (find it in a previous post here on Substack) and smoking the pork ribs in a hot smoker (if you have one). I keep the pork ribs for 30 minutes on low heat and plenty of smoke. If not, you can use fresh tarragon and unsmoked pork ribs for a milder version of the original, but add plenty of white wine vinegar. It's still very good.

Ingredients:

2L good beef stock (or pork stock)

1kg pork ribs, separated and smoked (see above note)

2 medium size onions, sliced

4 bay leaves 

2 red bell peppers, diced

600g potatoes (or more if you like), cut into cubes

2 tbsp pickled tarragon or white wine vinegar 

200g sour cream or crème fraîche

2 medium or large egg yolks

Method:

In a large soup pan with a lid, I bring the stock to a boil, then add the smoked pork ribs, sliced onions, and bay leaves and boil together for a few minutes. Then, I lower the heat, cover the pan and simmer for 1 -1 1/2 hours until the meat is tender. I add the potatoes and peppers and simmer for 30 minutes, with the lid on, until the potatoes are cooked.  

In a bowl, I mix the sour cream with the yolks. If you use fresh tarragon, you can chop it finely and add it to the sour cream.

When the soup is ready, I take it off the heat, add the pickled tarragon, and wait 10 minutes. Then I start to transfer some of the broth into the bowl with the sour cream mixture, little by little, stirring quickly. When the temperature of the mixture in the bowl is similar to that of the broth in the pot, I pour the sour cream into the soup and stir quickly until it’s distributed evenly. I taste it to see if it needs more salt, tarragon and tartness and adjust them to my liking. Personally, I won't be looking for mildness. 

How to eat:

I like to go in with a spoon, slurp the tangy broth with potatoes and tarragon, and savour every bite of the tender meat I pull off the ribs with my fingers.

Culinary Transylvania Tour 21st-26th September 2024

Join us in this beautiful location this September. Details on my website here and in a previous Substack post here.