Lucskos káposzta

( versiunea in limba romana...ceva mai jos)

Some gentle ridges by rough stone, down from the coast of the Apuseni Mountains, flowing in long waves straight to the west, smoothing and nearer, until the final merger with the plain of Arad. These are Zarand Mountains. This is Zarand Country. A "country" almost as big as the whole Maramureş  but about which we know almost nothing. 

Economical city center of the area is Brad.

If  Brad City had a major role in the troubled history of Zarand then, Baia de Cris was the city that gave it the secret, polishing and freedom that made the Zarand country a place of great spiritual significance  for  Romanian people. 

Archaeological sources attesting Baia de Cris since the late tenth century, but some documents claim that its territory had a "bath" of washing gold since Roman times. It can be assumed that the settlement was founded by those who exploit the gold mines, "băieşii" from the Tebea and Caracal Valleys .

No wonder why, Ludovic II, by a royal decree in 1519 said, Baia de Cris City is "the Imperial Free City". 

That period of time was, perhaps, one of the most prosperous periods in whole history of Baia de Cris.

Till the battle from Mohaci (1526), ​​Zarand county belonged to Hungary and included the teritorry from the rock of Vulcan, near Abrud, all the White Cris River, bordering the counties of Bihor, Bekes, Cenad, Arad and Hunedoara. After the Turkish occupation of Hungary, from the disaster of Mohaci, Zarand Land was joined Transylvania County, according to the Peace from Oradea, in 1538.

Data and facts are much more than I said here. But one thing is important after all: in keeping its Romanian specificity  while assimilating that SOMETHING, the foreign occupations they brought with them, merging their roots with others nations roots, Zarand Country remained and remains one of the richest preserves of the ancient traditions from Romania.

Lucskos káposzta(or 'Wet' cabbage) is one of the dishes by Hungarian influence that has been adjusted and changed in the traditional Romanian cuisine. If, in other Romanian geographical and ethnographical areas, Lucskos káposzta is a simple cabbage  sour soup, well, in the White Cris Valley, it has never kept the authenticity dictated by its hungarian mother.

Like that, Lucskos is cooked by my mother, learned it from a woman who was her host but the "adoptive mother" also in the period of '50s, when she was a young nurse at Vata, near Baia de Cris, so I cook it and, I  think and hope that, it will be cooked by my daughter also. Who knows ?

Directions:

100 gr smoked lard, cut in pieces

2 choped onions (I used green onion) 

100-200 gr meat (usually pork) but I used deer meat, put it in marinade  for two days before

2-3 tomatoes cut ​​in pieces 

1 fresh smoked sausage 

1 cabbage, very thin sliced

1-2 tbs of  sweet pepper paste  

cumin seeds, minced garlic (2-3 cloves), dried thyme

salt, ground pepper seeds

2-3 tbs sour cream

chopped dill and parsley

Saute the onions in melted lard. 

Add then meat; stir in it for few times. 

It follows tomatoes, sausages, cabbage and sweet pepper paste. Stir in it.

Add then:dried spices and garlic, salt, pepper and water as much as it is needed to cover all. Cover the pot and let it boil on low heat till cabbage become soften.

Add sour cream, boil again for about half a minute and turn off the heat.

Add "the greens". And, a fresh  green hot chilli pepper would be perfect.

That's all.

Niste coame blinde, de piatra aspra, coborind din coasta Apusenilor, curgind in valuri lungi spre apus, netezindu-se tot mai mult, pina la definitiva contopire cu cimpia Aradului. Muntii Zarandului. Tara Zarandului. O „tara” aproape la fel de mare cit intreg Maramuresul, insa despre care nu se stie aproape nimic. 

Centrul economic al zonei este municipiul Brad.

Daca orasul Brad a avut un rol extrem de important in istoria zbuciumata a Zarandului atunci, Baia de Cris a fost orasul care i-a dat taina, slefuirea si libertatea care au facut din Tara Zarandului un loc incarcat de semnificatii spirituale pentru neamul romanesc.

Surse arheologice atesta existenta Baii de Cris inca de la sfirsitul secolului al X-lea, dar unele documente afirma ca, pe teritoriul ei exista o „baie” de spalat aurul inca de pe vremea romanilor. Se poate presupune ca asezarea a fost intemeiata de cei care exploatau minele de aur, "băieşii" de pe vaile Tebea şi Caraci.

Nu degeaba, Ludovic al II-lea, printr-un decret regal, declara la 1519 Baia de Cris a fi Oras Liber Regesc. Si, atunci, a fost poate, una dintre cele mai infloritoare perioade din toata istoria Baii de Cris.

Pina la lupta de la Mohaci (1526), comitatul Zarand apartinea Ungariei si cuprindea teritoriul de la stinca Vulcanului, de linga Abrud, pe tot cursul Crisului Alb, invecinindu-se cu comitatele Bihor, Bekes, Cenad, Arad şi Hunedoara. Dupa ocuparea Ungariei de catre turci, in urma dezastrului de la Mohaci, comitatul Zărand a fost alipit Transilvaniei, in urma pacii de la Oradea, din 1538.

Datele si faptele sunt insa mult mai multe decit am spus eu aici. Un singur lucru e important insa: pastrindu-si  specificul romanesc dar asimilind in acelasi timp CEVA-ul acela pe care ocupatiile straine l-au adus cu ele , contopindu-si radacinile cu ale altor natii, Tara Zarandului a ramas si ramine una din cele mai bogate rezervatii de traditii arhaice din România. 

Lucskos káposzta este una dintre mincarurile de influenta maghiara care a suferit adaptari si transformari in bucataria traditionala romaneasca. Daca, in alte zone etnografice si geografice romanesti, Lucskos káposzta e simpla ciorba de varza, ei bine, in zona Vaii Crisului Alb, ea nu si-a mai pastrat autenticitatea dictata de mama unguroaica. Asa a gatit mama Luckos-ul, invatindu-l de la femeia care i-a fost gazda dar si "mama adoptiva" in perioada anilor '50 atunci cind era proaspat cadru medical la Vata, linga Baia de Cris, asa il gatesc si eu si, asa cred si sper ca-l va gati si fiica mea. Cine mai stie ?

1 varza, taiata destul de subtire

2-3 rosii taiate bucati

100-200 gr carne (de regula carne de porc); eu am folosit carne de vinat(caprioara), pusa la marinat cu doua zile inainte

1 cirnat proaspat, afumat

2 cepe (am folosit ceapa verde)

1-2 l-ri de pasta de ardei dulcei

cimbru, marar, usturoi tocat, patrunjel

sare, piper

smintina

Sotati ceapa in slanina topita. 

Se adauga carnea si se amesteca de citeva ori.

Urmeaza rosiile si carnatii, varza si pasta de ardei dulce. Amestecati. 

Adaugati apoi: condimentele uscate si usturoiul, sarea, piperul si apa atit cat este nevoie sa acopere totul. Acoperiti vasul si lasati-l sa fiarba la foc mic pana varza se inmoaie. Adauga smintina, fierbe din nou totul cam o jumatate de minut si opriti apoi focul.

Adaugati" verziturile". Un ardei iute si verde e cam tot ce-i mai lipseste lucskos-ului.

Asta-i tot.

Enjoy it!