Lovers of Dobrogean gastronomy, or those who want to discover it in the future, will always appreciate a Dobrogean wine to accompany dishes from this area.
Enjoying a diversity that is hard to find anywhere else in Romania, the cuisine of Dobrogea has the privilege of the gifts offered by the Black Sea, the Danube and its delta, the pastures where flocks of sheep, goats or cattle graze, the harvests of the gardens cultivated by the Bulgarians, the fruits of the orchards, the vines on the sun-kissed hills, game and many other culinary gifts. Such cuisine must also be accompanied by a diverse range of wines, from white ones, which go very well with sea fish or poultry, to rosés, perfect for seafood or desserts, to robust red wines, without which a steak of the famous Dobrogean lamb would not be complete.
When I plan a special menu, I usually think about what wine I can choose to highlight the qualities of both, because what would a good meal be without a matching wine? And the Histria Winery has proven to me on every occasion that it has a suitable wine for every Dobrogean dish I cook. This year, the first in which we celebrated the Romanian Gastronomy and Wine Day, we had the opportunity to celebrate these two components of Dobrogea's cultural heritage during some events: gastronomy and wine.
Here are some of the most delightful pairings made by the specialists at Crama Histria with the Dobrogea dishes I cooked.
We start, of course, with an appetizer: scordolea – a Lipovan dish from the Danube Delta area, made from dried fish with mashed potatoes and garlic, accompanied by Ammos Alb wine.
Another Dobrogean dish that is already widespread and highly appreciated in all corners of the country: piperchi târgâsiti , an Armenian dish made from roasted peppers, tomatoes and sheep's cheese, for which a Mirachi Merlot Rose seems to be made especially.
Lamb chop cooked sous vide with parsnip puree and forest berry sauce. The right wine for this dish can only be a Nikolaos red wine made from Merlot grapes, fermented with yeasts from spontaneous flora, a way to highlight the special characteristics of the Dobrogea terroir.
