So, is there vegan and vegetarian food in Moldova? The short answer is yes, and, frankly, the options are abundant. Of course, a lot depends on the chosen diet: some dishes contain dairy and eggs, others don’t, but, nevertheless there is food for everyone. Anyway, for vegetarians Moldova is a paradise as we have lots of very delicious egg or dairy based food 🙂
But let’s start with some interesting facts about food in Moldova.
Vegan and vegetarian food in Moldova during fasting
As you may already know, Moldova is an Orthodox country, which means that people here (not everyone) respect the fasting periods. Fasting means refusal to eat any food that contains animal products be it meat, eggs, dairy, etc. In addition to longer and very important fasting periods like the Nativity Fast before Christmas and the Great Lent before Easter, there are multiple shorter ones, and Wednesdays and Fridays are also fasting days. Usually it’s very religious people who respect all of them.
If you are a vegan and visit Moldova during the two long fasts I mentioned above, it will be a paradise for you. During these two periods our restaurants usually have separate fasting menus (‘meniu de post’ in Romanian or ‘постное меню’ in Russian) and our meat-containing dishes turn into vegan ones: for example, sarmale or wrapped cabbage or grape leaves rolls are made without meat, so you can try this local food. The same is true for borscht: it is usually made with beef, but a vegan version is available during fasting.
When it comes to the days outside these two fasts, we still have lots of vegan and vegetarian dishes in Moldova, and you will usually find them (especially the vegan ones) in the section of snacks or garnish (usually includes some type of potatoes, rice and noodles).
Vegan food in Moldova
Grilled vegetables
This one is pretty popular in Moldova: it’s simple, fast and delicious.
We usually grill peppers, button mushrooms, tomatoes, marrow, eggplants, carrots and onions. And, as it is boring in this country just to serve vegetables, it is sometimes accompanied by a sauce, usually dairy-based like tzatziki, but it is always in a separate plate and never touches the vegetables.
And we have the so-called vegetable platters: it’s just fresh raw vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and green onions. But they can also be served with sheep or cow cheese, so it’s better to ask.
Eggplant caviar
I am sure you have heard about this dish: it’s very popular in the former Soviet Union, at least it is here in Moldova. It has nothing to do with fish caviar, but it has an interesting etymological origin. I have read that the Russian word ‘ikra’ means not only fish caviar but a dish from finely chopped vegetables, which perfectly describes eggplant caviar.
First the eggplant is cooked over an open fire, it’s not covered or protected anyhow from the fire, so that its skin starts cracking and flaking. Then the burnt skin is removed, the eggplant is chopped and mixed with chopped fresh tomatoes, onion, parsley and a drizzle of vegetable oil. The resulting dish has a very specific burnt taste, but people seem to like it.
Fasolita
Fasole is beans in English, and fasolita is actually mashed beans. To make it white beans are soaked in water, boiled till they are soft and then mashed till its texture is smooth.
To add an interesting element to this, frankly, bland dish, it is customary to fry an onion and put it on top. Personally, I am not a fan of this dish, I have a more interesting way of cooking beans 🙂
Ghiveci
Ghiveci is a fully vegetable dish: it usually contains eggplants (we love them 🙂), marrow, peppers, tomato puree, onions, carrots, garlic, chilli pepper and herbs like parsley. Vegetables are first fried separately, then mixed together and cooked till ready with the tomato puree added in. Herbs follow in only at the end of cooking.
Frankly, it kind of looks like a more complicated version of ratatouille 🙂.
Mamaliga
Mamaliga is one of the most traditional Moldovan dishes. It’s true that it’s usually served with either scrambled eggs and sheep or cow cheese or fried or roasted meat, but mamaliga itself is very vegan: the traditional recipe calls only for corn flour, water and salt.
Though, like I said, it is rarely served as a standalone dish, the other ingredients are often served separately, and you can ask to remove them.
Pickles
Pickles are entirely vegan: we don’t add our favourite cheese or sour cream here 🙂
We pickle many vegetables: tomatoes (both ripe and unripe), cucumbers, cabbage, carrots, watermelon, apples. In addition, we make a mix of chopped cabbage, carrot, onion and herbs and stuff peppers and eggplants with this mix.
The recipe itself is very simple: you need vegetables, herbs, and water with salt to brine them in, and that’s it!
Of course, it’s not customary to have pickles as a standalone dish as it can be too sour and salty, but they go really well with the fasolita I mentioned above.
Salads
Salads are very popular in Moldova, and, naturally, many of them contain eggs, dairy products (we love our cheese and sour cream) and meat. But there are options for vegans as well: it is usually called ‘vitamin salad’ or simply ‘fresh cabbage salad’ and contains fresh cabbage, carrots and peppers. Or a very simple summer country-style salad: tomatoes, cucumbers and onions.
Traditional shepherd’s salad contains cheese in addition to vegetables.
Walnut stuffed prunes for dessert: tricky one
This one is exactly what it sounds: you take prunes and stuff them with walnuts. Then they are boiled in water with sugar or wine, and that’s pretty much of it. Of course, there is a catch: it’s not very interesting to eat prunes only, so it is quite often served with sour cream (surprise, ha?). Anyway, the prunes themselves are prepared in a fully vegan way, so, like with mamaliga, you can ask for a sour creamless version.
Vegetarian food in Moldova
Placintas
If you don’t know, placintas are a type of pastry of thin dough and various fillings inside. The fillings can be cottage cheese (very popular), meat, and very vegetarian and vegan options like potatoes, pumpkin, apples, sour cherries and pickled cabbage.
It can be vegan, but not always. It’s because of the dough: water and flour are the main ingredients, but sometimes cooks can use kefir (I saw recipes using it), a fermented milk drink similar to a thin yoghurt, which makes the end product fluffier and gives it an appetising golden colour. Some replace vegetable oil with butter or may add eggs. So, if you are fine with eating dairy products and eggs, then it’s not a problem. The safest way is to ask: if it’s a restaurant, they know what is used. Just make sure not to miss this deliciousness! And if you travel to Moldova during a fasting period, there will most likely be no dairy in placintas.
Vareniki/coltunasi
The situation is similar with dumplings: vareniki (in Russian) or coltunasi (in Romanian). If you heard the word ‘pelmeni’ as well, and you are wondering why I am not mentioning them, it’s because pelmeni is vareniki with meat.
The typical fillings are sheep/cow cheese, potatoes and sour cherries. And, while it seems that potatoes and cherries sound safe, it’s the dough again: usually, eggs are added to it. In addition to that, both pelmeni and vareniki are served with sour cream, so, if you are vegan, you can try ordering them during the fasting period, but always ask about the ingredients just to be sure.
Mother-in-law’s tongue
I know, I know 🙂 The name of the dish is very interesting: probably someone’s mother-in-law went too far in nagging 🙂. In my humble opinion, it’s one of the best eggplant dishes we have, though it’s not of Moldovan origin, but most likely adapted from a Georgian (country) version: that’s why you can see it in many post-Soviet countries.
Of course, there are different ways to prepare it, but the traditional recipe is very simple: eggplants are sliced lengthwise and fried, and mayonnaise is mixed with minced garlic. Then this mayo-garlic mix is spread thinly on the eggplant slices, a piece of tomato is put on top, and everything is folded into a roll. Now, it is very important to make sure that a part of the tomato is outside the roll, because it looks like a lolling tongue. And let me tell you that the combination of all ingredients is just perfect!
And if you use the so-called fasting mayo (we have it here), then the dish is fully vegan.
Crepes
Crepes are very popular in Moldova. We even have a chain of cafes that specialises on crepes called ‘Foisor’: they have a wide variety of both savoury and sweet crepes with dozens of fillings, with many vegetarian options available. As eggs and milk are used in making crepes, there is no vegan version here.
In general, there are two very popular ways of serving crepes in Moldova. One is the so-called Guguţă’s hat: Guguţă is a very famous book character and he wears a huge traditional hat in the story, hence the dish name. The dessert is pretty simple: after making crepes, preserved sour cherries are lined in a row, the crepes are rolled and put on a plate in the pyramid form, meaning each layer has less number of crepes. Every layer is covered with a mix of sour cream and sugar, and when the pyramid is ready, chocolate is grated on top. This is one of the most delicious desserts in Moldova, in my opinion.
Another popular crepe dessert is Moldovan mule. For this one cottage cheese is put on crepes and crepes are rolled in a specific way, something like triangle bags. Then the rolled crepes are put in a form, butter is spread on top, and everything is baked in the oven. Our local chain of restaurants ‘La Placinte’ bakes them in a honey sauce, and the result is absolutely delicious!
Syrniki
Syrniki is a very popular dish not only in Moldova, but in many post-Soviet countries. These yummy cottage cheese patties are usually served with jam and sour cream.
The main ingredient is, naturally, cottage cheese that is mixed with flour, eggs and sugar. Then they are either fried or baked in the oven. It’s a very simple and quick recipe.
Syrniki are usually eaten in the morning, that’s why you will see them in the breakfast section of restaurant menus.
Papanasi
Papanasi are also made of cottage cheese and frankly are very similar to syrniki. If you google it, you will see that some recipes specify that papanasi are syrniki. I had papanasi in some places in the city, and the difference may be only in the fact that papanasi have a bit more flour and aren’t as cheesy as syrniki.
Papanasi are also called cheese donuts because quite often they are shaped like donuts. ‘La Placinte’ I mentioned above serves papanasi in a rectangular shape with sour cream and jam. And they are just as yummy as syrniki.
Baba neagra and alba
Baba neagra (black from Romanian) and alba (white from Romanian) are very Moldovan desserts.
Baba neagra is from the north of Moldova. The ingredients include eggs, flour, milk, kefir, sugar and oil. While all the ingredients are of white colour, the resulting pie is dark brown and porous with a specific taste. Personally, I am not a big fan of this one, but many people like it.
Baba alba is pretty interesting. Noodles, better homemade, of course, milk and eggs are the main ingredients. Noodles are cooked first, eggs are beaten and mixed with the noodles, then milk is poured on top and the mixture is baked in the oven.
As you see, we have plenty of vegan and vegetarian food in Moldova, so come here: you will definitely find here dishes to satisfy your palate.
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