Crap

“C’est Soir à Hermeziu: Carp in the Village of Trifești”

The commune of Trifești is full of lands about which countless texts have been written. Costache Negruzzi is one of Romania’s prominent writers who sharpened his pen here. The Negruzzi family memorial house reminds us of the illustrious nobles who lived here and made history. Among them, we remember Ella Negruzzi, the first woman in the country to obtain the right to plead in the bar of lawyers, and Costache Negruzzi. Alongside Mihail Sadoveanu, Costache Negruzzi wrote the first Romanian-language cookbook in 1841: “Carte de bucate boierești – 200 rețete cercate de bucate, prăjituri și alte trebi gospodărești” (Cookbook of Noble Dishes – 200 Tried Recipes for Dishes, Cakes, and Other Household Chores). We dared to leaf through the pages of this avant-garde book and let our imaginations run wild, projecting ourselves into those times and stories. We all know that these go well with a good wine steeped in local history, namely – the Hermeziu Winery.

Our eyes were drawn to a daring recipe from the book – pan-fried carp. And, to make full use of the available resources, we will also have fish soup on the menu.

First of all, we make sure to collaborate with professionals: Paul Nemeșu – a skilled chef who cooked with professionalism and seriousness, and a professional taster in the person of Vali Tătar, who will season the delights with carefully chosen wines.

For the pan-fried carp, we need 2 onions, 4-5 tomatoes, 1 bunch of parsley, a cup of vegetable oil, salt, pepper to taste, 3 handfuls of green watercress, and 2 tablespoons of buttermilk.

First, we portion the fish and separate it for the two recipes, then season it with salt to help remove excess water and enhance the fish’s flavor.

For the fish soup, we need: 2 onions, 3 carrots, 1 bell pepper, 2 tomatoes, herbs, fish remnants, and a fish stock cube, salt.

For the pan-fried carp, the chef starts with scaling the fish, then cutting the tomatoes into cubes. We start with making the sauce for the carp: heat the oil in the pan, then, once it’s hot, add the onions, a little salt, and white wine. After caramelizing the onions, add the tomatoes, a little pepper, and to give the recipe some personality, a bit of chili pepper and buttermilk.

In parallel, prepare the ingredients for the soup and put them to boil in already salted water. Fry the carp in hot oil. Before removing the fried carp from the pan, add butter and lemon, and in the plate, garnish it with fresh watercress. The dish is ready to be served.

The carp soup is ready, and at the recommendation of the taster Vali Tătar, it will be paired with a Sauvignon Blanc from Hermeziu wine cellar (Crama Hermeziu). The soup is slightly sour and salty, which pairs very well with the recommended wine, which has notes of gooseberries and green apricot.

The pan-fried carp will be paired with a rosé also from Hermeziu wine cellar – C’est Soir, made from Traminer grapes, a semi-dry rosé for both a gustatory and visual match, considering the dominant color on the plate. The recipe is very delicious, and the products complement each other: the sweetness of the carp and wine with the tangy taste of buttermilk, all accompanied by the scent of peony and rose found in the Traminer.

We wish your recipes at home turn out just as tasty and flavorful! If, however, you don’t succeed on the first try, don’t forget that you can get inspiration by tasting the dishes and products imbued with flavors made by the residents of the communities in the LAG Prut Valley (GAL Valea Prutului) territory.