Meatball Stew, Dagâța Style

Ancestral food, as old as the world and the earth itself, today’s dish accompanies the marching band from the Dagâța commune, because it is destined from above for music to always be in tune with a hearty meal. The recipe we propose today is prepared at the most lavish gatherings and brings together everyone who knows how to dance and play the cobza, trumpets, horns, and violins. The name of the village “Zece Prăjini”, a name with a descriptive story, evokes the granting of land to the Roma people by none other than Cuza himself, with no more and no less than ten prăjini (an old Romanian land measure) per person. Besides the joy of working the land with the covenant made to the ruler, music was the second nature. The creative and artistic activities of the commune’s residents were the foundation of celebration at all kinds of events, from birth to the end of a person’s life, for whom the musicians know how to bid farewell with songs of longing, sorrow, love, and especially dance.

Rediscovered in the Dagâța community, meatball stew a dish that delights the palate, and if it had its own melody, the harmonies would blend into the finest chords. Bon appétit and let the merriment begin!

Ingredients:

– 1 kg ground beef

– 1 beef bone (shank)

– 4 white onions

– Plenty of pepper for a spicy kick

– Wheat flour

– Cornmeal

– Fresh garden thyme

– Sweet and hot paprika

Preparation:

1. Mix the ground meat with finely chopped onion, add salt and pepper, ground thyme, 2 heaping tablespoons of sweet paprika, and 1 tablespoon of hot paprika. Then add 2-3 tablespoons of white flour and 4 tablespoons of cornmeal. Mix everything. It’s important to let the mixture rest for a few hours to allow the flavors to meld.

2. Separately, boil a beef bone with root vegetables, 2-3 cloves of garlic, and a bay leaf for a few hours. The resulting broth will be used to cook the meatballs.

3. Form meatballs slightly larger than those used for soup and roll them generously in wheat flour.

4. When the broth comes to a boil, add the meatballs and simmer over low heat, being careful not to thicken the sauce or stick to the pot. It’s preferable to use young veal meat as it will only take about 30 minutes to cook.

5. The flour used for shaping the meatballs will create a sauce. Add the broth until it covers the meatballs in such a way that a sauce the consistency of sour cream is obtained.

6. Serve the meatballs with chopped herbs.

Enjoy your meal!