Quince dish

Today, a traditional Romanian peasant recipe, simple and easy to prepare - quince dish. Ingredients:
2 kg quinces
200 g sugar
100 ml oil
100 ml white wine
50 g flour

Do not peel the quinces, just wash them well and wipe with a kitchen towel. Cut into quarters, cut the hard part in the center, and then slice the quarters like a orange. Cover the slices with flour and fry them in oil well heated, then remove them in another pot.

Put the rest of the flour and the sugar into the remaining oil and stir over heat until sugar begins to caramelize. Pour the wine mixed with 300 ml of water and still give some boil, stirring so as not to make lumps. Pour the sauce over the roasted quinces and seethed together a few minutes longer.

Serve hot or cold.

Images from here.

The only Romanian in NFL

The prestigious "Wall Street Journal" considers Zoltan Mesko (24 years), the only Romanian in American football, "the most interesting man in the NFL". The Romanian-born NFL rookie became an idol to Americans: "He speak five languages, has two degrees (Business and Sports Management), and is a Romanian proud of its origin. That makes him unique".

Zoli Mesko was born and raised in Timişoara, Romania, three years before the Revolution of '89. He was only 3 years old when the revolution started in Timişoara. It was Christmas Eve and he was ducking on the floor of his parents' apartment in Romania to avoid getting hit by cross-fire during the revolution. His father sat over him. "All my friends are shocked when I tell this". Zoli went to the U.S. when he was 10 years with his parents, both engineers, through the Green Card Lottery. In a fluent Romanian, although he never returned to the country, Zoli tells about the important moments of his life. "I never forgot my country and I am proud that I am Romanian. I can't wait to come again home, in Timişoara". In 1997 he had the chance to be seen by a football coach and this changed his destiny. When Zoltan's eighth-grade class played kickball one day, he boomed the ball so high it shattered a ceiling light. The teacher gave him a choice: "You're either paying for my light, or you're playing for my team".

Before his senior season, Zoltan Mesko had become the nation's top punting prospect. Indiana offered him a scholarship, then every Ivy League school offered him admission. After red-shirting his freshman year, Zoli started the next four seasons. In 2009, he set Michigan's records for gross yards per punt, at 44.5, and net yards per punt (gross minus the return), at 41. He was also named an Academic All-American and became the first specialist in 130 years of Michigan football to be named a captain. On July 16, Mesko signed with the New England Patriots for the minimum wage. In the NFL, that's not $7.25 an hour, but $325,000 a year—and the team tacked on a bonus of $187,250. He might be among the poorest players in the NFL but is probably the richest kid from Timişoara, Romania. His dream was to play with the famous quarterback Tom Brady... and the dream came true!

Photos from Gazeta Sporturilor.

Old Man's Cave

Peştera Bătrânului (Old Man's Cave) is located in Northwestern Romania, Bihor County, in Pădurea Craiului Mountains, on Zece Hotare (Ten Borders) karstic plateau, at 570m altitude. It was explored for the first time by G. Czaran in 1905 and between 1961-1963 was mapped by the researchers of "Emil Racoviţă" Institute of Cluj-Napoca.

Image from here

The Peştireu Valley Rivulet run through the Old Man's Cave, the Vadu Crişului Cave, then the waters surfaces and flows into Crişul Repede River. The Old Man's cave has a total length of 1633m, and develops on several levels. The Superior Complex has a total length of approx. 500m, and it is beautifully concretionated. By the down passage one can reach the underground stream, but here just after the descent of a 6 meter jump, that turns in a cascade on high waters.

All the cave, but especially the upper floors are beautiful concretionated, with stalactites, stalagmites, domes, columns, coralites, drawers, parietal flows, erosion formations. It can be visited only by those who have experience and special equipment, (a 10 m speleology ladder, protective clothing, and means of illumination). The air temperature is 9.2 °C and the water temperature is 8.6 to 10.2 °C. Here can be seen the coleoptera Duvalius redtenbacheri biroi and Pholetion (Parapholeuon) moczaryi.

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Photos from Welcome to Romania