Praz cu Măsline

Romanian leeks stewed slowly with tomato and olives until dark, sweet, and sour at once

Origin: Oltenia & Romania

From the journey of Leek.

Romania eats more leeks per head than almost any country in Europe, and Oltenia in the south-west grows and eats the most of them. Oltenians are teased about it everywhere else in the country, roughly as the Welsh are, and they appear entirely unbothered. Praz cu măsline is the dish that explains the reputation. Leeks are cut into lengths and stewed slowly in oil with tomato and olives until they collapse into something dark and glossy, sweet from the long-cooked leek and sour from the tomato and the brine. It takes an hour and almost no attention, and it is on tables across the south from November to March. It is a fasting dish, and that is not incidental. The Romanian Orthodox calendar removes meat and dairy for a large part of the year, and the country's vegetable cooking is correspondingly developed. Cooked in oil with nothing from an animal in it, this qualifies for every fast day, which is why it appears so often. The route by which the leek reached this level of importance runs through Istanbul. Wallachia and Moldavia were tributary principalities under Ottoman suzerainty for some four hundred years, and the olive-oil vegetable cookery of the Ottoman capital crossed the Danube along with a great deal else, meeting a local tradition of long-cooked winter vegetables and settling in. Set this dish beside the Turkish zeytinyağlı pırasa and the family resemblance is obvious. Where the two part company is temperature: the Turkish dish is eaten cold, the Romanian one hot, with mămăligă or bread.

Ingredients

Leeks

  • 1.2 kg leeks, trimmed, washed, and cut into 4 cm lengths

Base

  • 100 ml sunflower or olive oil
  • 1 whole onion, finely chopped

Sauce

  • 2 tbsp tomato purée
  • 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes
  • 200 g green or black olives, stoned
  • 2 whole bay leaves
  • 1 tsp sweet paprika
  • 1 tsp caster sugar
  • 1 tsp salt, or to taste
  • 0.5 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 200 ml water

To Finish

  • 3 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Method

  1. Soak the olives in cold water for twenty minutes and drain, then taste one.
  2. Cut the leeks into 4 cm lengths and wash them thoroughly, fanning the layers under running water.
  3. Warm the oil in a wide heavy pan and soften the onion over a medium heat for six to eight minutes until golden.
  4. Add the leeks and turn them in the oil. Cook for ten minutes, turning occasionally, until they begin to soften and colour lightly at the edges.
  5. Stir in the tomato purée and paprika and cook for two minutes.
  6. Add the chopped tomatoes, bay, sugar, pepper, and water. Bring to a simmer.
  7. Cover and cook on a low heat for 30 minutes, then add the olives and cook uncovered for a further 15 to 20 minutes.
  8. Continue until the leeks are completely soft and the sauce has thickened and darkened and no longer looks watery.
  9. Taste and adjust the salt and sugar, remove the bay leaves, and scatter with parsley. Serve hot.

Notes

Romanian cooks generally use sunflower oil rather than olive, which is the everyday fat of the country. Olive oil gives a rounder, more Mediterranean result and is a fair substitute. Green olives are the more common choice and give a sharper dish; black are milder and sweeter. Do not use pitted olives packed in vinegar. A glass of white wine in place of some of the water is a common addition outside fast days. It keeps four days refrigerated and improves overnight, and is eaten cold as often as hot in summer. Serve hot with mămăligă, the Romanian polenta, or with plain bread. Outside a fast it is often served with a spoonful of soured cream.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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