The actor Bob (Bogdan) Rădulescu from Cluj found out why there are fewer divorces in Transylvania from a poem dedicated to palincia. He also explained how Transylvanians drink “this miracle that is called here, in our country, palinca”.
Bob Rădulescu brought the host a bottle of quince palinca. PHOTO: Video capture
Bob Rădulescu told, on the podcast Vin de o povește by Radu Țibulcă, how he learned, during a three-hour drive, a devotional poem “these miracles, which here in Transylvania are called palincă”.
Rădulescu recited the poem dedicated to the palinca:
“Blessed be thy name for ever,
That you left on the way to Zalău
So many trees where plums hang.
These fruits, very good
In pudding, in magiun, in tarts or gumbos,
They are wonderful in their liquid form – palinca.
That you took care and planted trees
On any ditch, on any hill, Magnify
And so you only see happy faces
And you don't even see drunkards, poor people
And I looked at the other trees, thin,
You can barely see three or four versions,
Not riches like you found in plums
They hang like crazy in ignorance.
The peasants put sticks as proptea, so that the fruit branches don't break
And I'm waiting for one not to fall
And I sprinkle them spitefully: No! To!
Every house has a boiler and autumn
When the borhotu ends,
The road to Zalău smells like everything
Brandy gets you drunk.
You don't see many divorces around here,
That if there is plenty of palinka.
Men stay at home and don't run away,
That they find women beautiful.”
“Palinca is for everyone, but it's not for everyone”
“I learned the poem and was laughing when I got to the end. I was laughing alone at the wheel. I think it's very cool. That's why since the past few days, since I learned it, once a day I pour myself a glass of palinca and pay it like this, a tribute. And I'll say it one more time, myself“, confessed the likeable actor.
The Transylvanian served his host with a glass of quince palinca and continued to philosophize on palinca.
“Palinca is for everyone, but it's not for everyone. And that's what I experienced, think, that I went to the States as a student in 1999. Why should I go to those people? Don't get upset, why should I go from Romania to those people?Bob asked rhetorically.
He took palinka in small bottles to PET: “Cut the label off, because that's how it is done in Transylvania, I don't know in other parts, but if you put something other than the label, take the label off, don't… I gave it to the people I worked with there. Brother… so people resonated with it, felt it, he was not one to drink and not hold on to something the moment he swallowed. Everyone's eyes turned red. Understand...”.
Then, in all the years that followed, everyone he worked with asked the man from Cluj to bring them more “living water”.
“Instead I gave it to a gentleman I admired very much. I worked for him in an artistic context. And, brother, I brought him a pout of picai plums down as good as they were. The man tasted it and came to work the next day.” he tells. The American confessed to him: “Bob, out of respect, I tasted it, but I'm not man enough to drink it.” So he brought the bottle back to him so it wouldn't go to waste.
How to drink palinca in Transylvania
It's a matter of taste, I mean, you like or don't like palinka, Bob concluded.
Rădulescu also taught his host how to drink palinca in Transylvania, after Țibulcă told him how he finished a bottle one night, together with two other people.
“You have to have balance, know how much to drink. If that palinka was good, I shared it and drank it for a month. I wasn't getting into it in one night“, explained the Transylvanian.
