|
|
|
Products
|
Authentic tastes and high quality craftsmanship
Flavours and tastes burst out of the Tarnava Mare area because the food grows in such a high quality environment, soils rich in minerals and organic material. You can buy jams, honeys (taste the difference between the dark and mysterious forest honey and the light and delicate polyflora honey), meats, cheeses, bread and cakes. Similarly, the quality of life and workmanship produces artifacts and crafts of exceptional character and style.
|
|
Transylvania Food Company SRL
|
The
Transylvania Food Company Srl is a social enterprise established to
commercialise the project activities started by Fundatia ADEPT and will continue
to market traditional food products from the Tarnava Mare area.
Training
courses are provided on basic food hygiene for small scale food producers based
on the internationally recognised course from the Royal Society for Public
Health. Completing this course is a condition of joining the association.
A facility has been built in Saschiz to provide
producers with a food production facility that has been authorised for retail
sales. The “food barn” is a traditional barn on the outside but inside is a dedicated
food production facility
.
On 23 May 2009, HRH The
Prince of Wales came to Saschiz to inaugurate this model food processing unit.
This
“food barn” is a simple conversion of a farm courtyard barn, and has been
authorised
by the Directorate for Sanitary Veterinary & Food
Safety Authority (DSVSA)
for the production of local
products for retail sales in
Romania,
and to other countries. The food barn will help small producers in the area to
continue to use their traditional recipes while meeting new food safety
requirements.
The food barn will be used initially to produce a
range of
jams and
pickles and to bottle honey and pack
sun
dried herbs. This will enable the bulk buying of ingredients such as sugar
and jars and the consolidate production for marketing, quality control and the
provision of labeling and packaging.
The food barn will also be used to develop a range of
cheeses from the fabulous milk of cows and sheep grazed on the flower rich hay
meadows.
Foods produced by members include:
-
Jams, including Saxon Village Preserves
-
Pickles
-
Herbal products
-
Cheese
-
Meat products
-
Bread and Cakes
-
Drinks
-
Oils
-
Fruit and Vegetables
|
Slow Food Tarnava Mare, the first convivium in Romania, has members from the Tarnava Mare area bringing together producers, consumers, hotel & restaurant owners. The Slow Food Presidium, Saxon Village Preserves is a project created in Tarnava Mare to capture the ancient tradition of making different kinds of Preserves
Slow Food promotes good, clean and fair food. The food we eat should taste good; it should be produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment, animal welfare or our health; food producers should receive fair compensation for their work and food consumers should be charged a fair price. To achieve this, Slow Food encourage short supply chains that directly link the producer with the consumer wherever possible and support education to promote the flavour and taste of local produce. Click here to join Slow Food in Romania and receive direct news about the latest events.
Slow Food Tarnava Mare will be arranging events in 2010 that promote this philosophy.
|
The Goat Keeper's Story
'In the late Autumn of 2006 Adrian Suciu, the goat keeper, was in despair about how to improve sales of his cheese and was on the point of giving up. He asked Fundatia ADEPT if they knew anyone interested in buying his herd, otherwise he would turn them into sausages.
In the spring of 2007, the European Film Festival had food as the main theme and ADEPT were invited to participate in markets being run at each venue showing the films. This gave Adi an opportunity to sell more cheese than ever before and he now regularly attends the Farmers Market in Bucharest. A Slow Food cheese expert has described his cheese as of very high quality.'
|
|
And of course, Granny knows best....
It is so important to capture old recipes and skills before they are lost. In 2008, a range of pickles were added to the product range, many based on old recipes handed down over many generations to the current occupant of "The House on the Hill" in Saschiz. The chilli pickle was a great success as were the gherkins and sweet red peppers called gogosari which are much tastier than ordinary red peppers.
Click here to read what culinary anthropologist Anna Colquhoun has written about what Granny knows |
 |
|
Tarnava Mare Artisans
Tarnava
Mare Artisans is a project created to promote traditional craft skills and to
help with design and access to market. Fundatia Adept has held several
workshops in Saschiz on the use of natural plant extracts to dye wool used by
weavers. A
London
exhibition in 2008 displaying hand woven carpets from the area has led to
increased sales in 2009. Further workshops are planned for the summer of 2010.
|
|
|
|
 |
Food and Drink
 |
Bread and Cakes
Bread special traditional sourdough bread baked in traditional courtyard ovens.
Click for Bread and Cakes |
 |
Cheese and Milk
Cheeses (Sheep and cow milk):Telemea is fresh feta-type cheese, Caş is a higher-fat, salty cheese, Brînza de burduf has a strong taste, and keeps very well, Urda is similar to ricotta.
Click here for Cheese and Milk |
|
|
Honey, Pickles and Preserves
Honey the most symbolic product of the traditional hay meadows, which contain many rare and endangered species. Jams are a local speciality and are made from wild, orchard and garden fruits and contain no additives. Pickling is the traditional method of preserving food for winter.
Click for Honey and Preserves |
|
Meat Products
Meat Products include: Home-smoked Transylvanian fat bacon, slanina and kaiserspeck, Home-smoked ham, şunca afumata, Pork liver-paté sausages, caltaboşi and Salami.
Click here for Meat Products |
|
|
Fruit and Vegetables
Fruits and Vegetables are grown in Courtyards, taste divine tomatoes and shockingly sweet sweetcorn among many other treats
Click for Fruit and Vegetables |
|
Herbal Products
Herbs are cultivated in courtyard gardens or collected from the wild. Solar dried herbs and teas are available for sale.
Click here for Herbal Products |
|
|
Drinks
Drinks: Local home made Elderflower cordial, Vişinata, a mix of alcohol and sour cherry cordial, Tuica a once distilled spirit, pălinca a stronger twice distilled spirit.
Click for Drinks |
|
Oils
Oils, new products are being developed for example hemp oil.
Click here for Oils |
Artisan Craft Products
 |
Barrels, Baskets and Furniture
Handmade oak Barrels are made in various sizes. Baskets are hand made and used for protective and attractive packaging for the local preserves.
Click for Barrels, Baskets and Furniture Entries |
 |
Carpets, Curtains and Soft Furnishings
Carpets and curtains are woven from hemp and local wool, a programme hopes to involve young people and save the skills and patterns at risk of being lost.
Click for Carpets, Curtains and Soft Furnishings |
|
|
Clothing
Socks, hats and gloves are knitted by a group of 140 women from Viscri. The wool is hand washed, spun on a machine owned by the group, dyed and knitted to create some fabulously warm garments which make excellent gifts.
Click for Clothing |
|
Ceramics
Ceramics- the traditional blue and white Saschiz pottery designs are currently made in the nearby Hungarian village of Korund. These are sold in Saschiz TIC.
Click for Ceramics |
|
|
|
