Bucovina is the right place for those who are looking for traditions, fun and gastronomic wonders at the same time, wonderful landscapes and unique memories to keep for the soul. Click reporter! he visited Bucovina and participated in culinary festivals that filled the hills with Romanians and foreigners.
Bucovina, land of stories PHOTO: C. Mazilu
The Truffle Festival, the gastronomic celebration of Bucovina
The first contact with Bucovina was the “Truffle Festival” in Cacica, the biggest celebration of the area and the only one of its kind in the country. Thousands of people from all over Romania and abroad gathered on a hill on the edge of one of the most famous towns in Moldova, attracted by a unique event.
A festival that has been celebrating for four years the “culinary marriage” between the diamond of edible mushrooms, truffles and good food. Bucovina is one of the places in our country where this mushroom appears in abundance.
The Truffle Festival is the biggest gastronomic event in Bucovina PHOTO: Click
What is truffle
“Truffle is for good food like a spell that perfects the taste, seduces the taste buds and leaves you wanting more. It is an essential ingredient like the spices pepper, thyme. Truffles go best in dishes with sauces, whites and dairy products”said Robu Mihai, one of the organizers of the festival. There are two types of truffles, white and black, and only the latter are found in the Bucovina area.
Truffles are an edible mushroom called the “culinary diamond” of Bucovina PHOTO: Click
These precious edible mushrooms are seasonal, they are harvested from late spring or early summer until the end of the year. Even harvesting them shows that it is a special mushroom: trained dogs are used to find them, it does not matter the breed, only the quality of the training. In Bucovina, the inventive locals have enriched the spirits prepared for generations in the household with the aroma of truffles.
Balmoş is the representative food of Bucovina PHOTO: Click
Apart from the locals, representatives of the traditional cuisine, attracted by this culinary gem, professional chefs also participated in the event, who cooked steaks with truffles, pasta with truffles and even burgers with truffles.
Balmos with truffles, the culinary wonder of Bucovina
But the biggest queue was for the truffle balm, the culinary star of Bucovina. Viorica (46 years old) and Vasilića (43 years old) prepared dozens of portions under the eyes of grandfather Ilarion (70 years old) whose family has been cooking balmoş with truffles for three generations.
“The recipe is secret but I’m only telling you. Curd fat is used, which is boiled and after it boils, corn flour is added. When the mixture is just right, sprinkle with truffles.” explained the old man. He also reveals to us what the truffle balm is popularly called: the “I want more” food.
The festival was not only about food, but also offered artistic moments, supported by popular music performers from 8 to 80 years old and the musical star was Daria, the youngest soloist.
I went to the “Slatina Commune Days”
After the stop at the biggest festival of local culinary traditions, the next day we went to see how the people of Bukovina spend time and participated in the “Slatina Commune Days”. The town is located on the banks of the Suha Mică River, at the foot of the Stănișoara Mountains and has around 5,000 inhabitants. It is located in the southern part of Suceava county, 52 kilometers from the municipality of Suceava and 25 kilometers from the city of Gura Humorului.
Apart from the locality with the same name, it also includes the villages of Găinești and Herla. During the day we walked among dozens of traders from all over Moldova, with games or food. I gave 10 lei for a blue cotton candy and a waist-high pie.
Open-air disco in “Costineștiul” of Moldova
In the evening, from 21.00 we participated in the “Retro outdoor disco” as the organizers called their party.
“We are in Costinestiul Moldova from the point of view of fun”the master of ceremonies shockingly began his speech from the stage. We are on the village road, guarded by a church and wooded hills.
Cristian Rizescu, Mr. Juve, Șușanu and DJ Flocky took care of the musical program at the “retro village disco”. Few bulbs, the most lit is the cobbled road behind the stage that provides access to the outdoor party. From place to place, several pieces of trees smeared with flammable liquid were placed and set on fire.
Open air dance PHOTO: Click
At the end of the road there is a huge pyre around which dozens of young people danced a devilish dance as if from another world. From the stage located a few steps away, you can hear “Everywhere Romanian is cool, everywhere we have value”. Dozens of young people gathered in front came to have fun and dance. It’s cold at the foot of the hills of Bucovina, but no one cares.
“Cine drink alcohol hands up! Who’s on vacation shout out loud!” shouts the artist from the stage and the world responds with cheers from all sides. Young people are frenzied, adults break into dancing from time to time, otherwise they drink and eat in the pale darkness lit by two or three light bulbs and the flames of the trees.
The old men chime in to lines they know, after which they awkwardly look around and retreat into the stillness of the night, just watch and listen. It’s past midnight when it’s all over and the locals go home satisfied. Slowly the tank is emptying, we are waiting for the car that will take us to the guesthouse.
In a corner, Mișu a lu Tuceac bewitches Florea: If I tell you that I only love you. I also gave a monetary dedication to Şușanu for you”, says the lover of Slatina. You don’t see her reaction, but you can hear: “And you’re not going to leave me and go to the city to Fălticeni? Will you stay in the village with me?”, asks the girl, as if shaken by a doubt.
The miracle icon from the Slatina Monastery
Apart from people, food and landscapes, Bucovina is also known for the famous monasteries Voroneț, Humor, Sucevița, Putna, Moldovița. Here is also a place of worship that few people have heard of but which the locals say works miracles: the nuns’ monastery in Slatina commune. It is one of the largest and oldest Orthodox monasteries in the north-east of Romania, a real fortress with high brick and stone walls.
The place of worship is named after the “Change of Face” and is the first foundation of ruler Alexandru Lapușneanu. The construction was started by Alexandru Lapușneanu in 1553 and finished in his second reign, in 1564. Until 1959 it was a monastery of monks and from 1962 it became a monastery of nuns.
The Slatina nunnery in Bucovina is one of the largest in Romania PHOTO: Click
Bathhouses and restaurants lost on the hills of Bucovina
If you arrive in Bucovina, you have two options for accommodation and you don’t want to stay in a hotel in Suceava or Gura Humorului, the main cities of Bucovina, the alternative is boarding houses. Click reporter! he was directed to a place considered a benchmark for Bucovina hospitality by local tourism specialists and bloggers: the Somara guesthouse.
It is located in Găinești, at a distance of 33 km from Voroneț Monastery. Here, guests benefit from services such as free bicycles, a beautifully landscaped garden, a spacious terrace and private parking, all of which are offered at no extra cost.
The property also has a restaurant, a conference room, a private dining house called the “Hobbit House”, a bar, a sauna and a hot tub. Want something different? You also have at your disposal “mushrooms” for nature baths. In addition, guests have access to entertainment facilities including karaoke and a kids’ club. Rooms cost between 350 lei and 590 lei per night.
And that’s not all. If you are fond of having a meal after walking in the hills, 1.5 kilometers from the guesthouse, on the heights of Bucovina, there is “Chalet Somara”, a restaurant with a spectacular view of the area. It is the best proof that the entrepreneurial spirit does not appear only in the big cities, but can also be found at the end of Romania, in the commune of Slatina in Bucovina.
