''Plăcintă'' () is a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

n and

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

n traditional

pastry Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" sugges ...

resembling a thin, small round or square-shaped cake, usually filled with

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

s or a soft cheese such as Urdă.

Etymology

The word ''plăcintă'' comes from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

placenta The placenta is a temporary embryonic and later fetal organ that begins developing from the blastocyst shortly after implantation. It plays critical roles in facilitating nutrient, gas and waste exchange between the physically separate mate ...

,'' which means "cake", from the Greek , "flat cake".

History

As shown by the etymology of the word, the ''plăcintă'' has its origins in

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

, and dates from when Romania was a part of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

, see

Placenta cake Placenta cake is a dish from ancient Greece and Rome consisting of many dough layers interspersed with a mixture of cheese and honey and flavored with bay leaves, baked and then covered in honey.. The dessert is mentioned in classical texts such ...

. Ancient Greek bakers made their bread with olive oil, herbs, and cheese. The secret of making cakes was given to the Romans during the invasion. At first there were only two varieties of cakes, called the ''libum'' and the ''placenta''. The ''libum'' was a small cake, used as an offering to the gods. As for the ''placenta'', the Romans developed the recipe as a cake made of fine flour covered with cheese, honey, and fragrant

bay leaves The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form. It may come from several species of tr ...

. Ancient Roman bakers customarily prepared a large ''placenta'' which was cut into squares to be offered for sale. This is the way that Romanians continue to prepare their ''plăcintă''.

Traditional varieties of ''plăcintă''

* ''plăcintă cu mere'' is filled with apple. * ''plăcintă cu brânză'' is filled with sheep or cow cheese, such as

telemea Telemea () is the name of a Romanian cheese traditionally made of sheep's milk.About Telemea
at cheese.com

. * ''plăcintă cu cartofi'' is filled with potatoes. * ''plăcintă cu urdă'' is filled with ricotta and dill, or raisins. * ''plăcintă cu ciocolată'' is filled with

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

. * ''plăcintă aromână'' is filled with spinach and white cheese. * ''plăcintă dobrogeană'' is a type of plăcintă registered as a Romanian protected geographical indication (PGI) product in the European Union. * '' plăcintă clătită'' (lit. "rinsed pie"), nowadays simply called ''clătită'', is the Romanian

crêpe A crêpe or crepe ( or , , Quebec French: ) is a very thin type of pancake. Crêpes are usually one of two varieties: ''sweet crêpes'' () or ''savoury galettes'' (). They are often served with a wide variety of fillings such as cheese, ...

-like variety of pancakes, also known in other East and Central European countries as the ''

palatschinke Palatschinke (or palaccinka, plural palatschinken) is a thin crêpe-like variety of pancake of Greco-Roman origin. While the dessert is most common in South and West Slavic countries, it is also generally known in other parts of Central and Easte ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Placinta Romanian pastries Moldovan cuisine Ukrainian pastries Street food Stuffed dishes

Etymology

History

Traditional varieties of ''plăcintă''

See also

References