Romania is a land of a thousand faces.
The crossing point between the Occident and the Orient
and a melting pot of different cultures.
It is also a country unlike any other in Europe.
With over 60 percent of the Carpathian Mountains
weaving through it,
Romania is the custodian of Europe's last great wilderness area,
its largest remaining forest
and two thirds of its surviving alpha predators.
As well as native Romanians
it is home to a Saxon and Hungarian culture,
Roma, Aroman, Lipovan and many more disparate peoples
who have been united by the borders of a nation
that stretches from the edge of Serbia, Hungary and the Ukraine
to the very mouth of the Danube.
Here Europe's largest wetland fans out into the Black Sea
and provides the country with yet another vast,
priceless and fragile ecosystem,
a haven for wild birds,
interwoven with countless waterways, reed beds and lakes
that meander for over 3,000 square kilometers.
Inland Romania is rich with ancient villages,
majestic national parks, ruined castles, historic cities
and a legacy that dates back thousands of years.
But increasingly this unique country's natural and cultural heritage
is under threat from reckless development
and a race to modernize
which is often destroying the very things
that could ensure prosperity
and a sustainable livelihood for generations to come.
Over the next eight episodes I will be embarking on a road trip
through Romania's eight historic regions,
discovering fabulous treasures...
natural wonders...
medieval marvels...
mouthwatering dishes
and the people that make this
one of the warmest and most hospitable countries in the world.
En route I will be picking up some sensational recipes...
hearing songs and tunes that have almost been forgotten
and meeting a handful of people that still remember and preserve them.
We will also be finding out
how this hugely misunderstood country is emerging from post Communist chaos
and identifying some of the challenges it faces
and how tourism could provide one of its best hopes for the future.
Welcome back.
This week we are exploring Romania's largest and most iconic region,
mistaken by many Americans and others as a country in its own right.
In fact Transylvania is a name that most of the western world
still associates with Dracula, werewolves and folk legend.
But this land beyond the forest defies all preconceptions
and remains one of the most culturally important
and beautiful parts of Eastern Europe.
We commence our journey an hour and a half south of Cluj Napoca,
deep in the Apuseni hills above the small town of Salciua.
Here, perched on a mountaintop, is an eco-village
that some writers are describing as Romania's very own Shangri La.
I wanted to see if the tales were true and whether the so-called Raven's Nest
might make a good role model for rural tourism.
The only issue was getting there.
Well, I was warned that Raven's Nest is a bit remote,
but I wasn't expecting this.
I think I should have brought a scrambler instead of a road bike,
however we shall try and get there.
I may not make it.
-Adrian! -Hey Charlie!
Hi!
-Welcome to the nest! -Thank you very much.
Actually this is the first Harley to make it here, congratulations!
You don't have hoards of Harley Davidsons coming here?
Well, we are a little bit off the track...
You are a bit off the track.
Good to have you here.
This is just... What a location!
-Seriously! -Thank you!
How on earth did you manage to get everything up here?
Well with a 4x4 and a lot of patience. Five years to be more exact.
It must still feel like a dream.
Well it is actually.
What a beautiful room.
Thank you! This is the man who painted it, this is Silviu.
-Silviu. Charlie. -Nice to meet you.
Cheers.
It feels slightly American Indian you know.
It might be because there are actually traditional roots everywhere
and you have here the symbols of water, of sun, of fertility, or...
-The four elements. -Exactly.
It's fascinating because it puts a good case
for one universal cradle of civilization, doesn't it... originally?
Yeah, exactly.
Because I've seen drawings and paintings like this in South America, in Peru...
Even if you take a deep look actually
in the Romanian carpet models and designs you can find...
-You can find themes of that as well. -Exactly.
Obviously it's a painstaking process.
So fortunately it's an ongoing project.
Yeah, so you need to spend a lot of time here,
eke it out for another couple of years if I were you!
Yeah.
I'm imagining that this is probably palinca
judging by the prune on the side.
This is brandy and this is a dry prune.
Is this a palinca to slug or is it a palinca to sip?
Well, you can do it both ways, but I would do it my way.
I'll just watch you first.
Right, there's my answer.
-Cheers guys! -Thanks.
That will put hairs on your chest!
Very nice!
So it's like having a tequila with a slice of lemon,
but you have a palinca with a plum afterward.
It's exactly the same, but our way.
It's a sweetener.
Very nice.
-Cheers! -Cheers!
Let me show you where your room is,
and then when you come back I have a surprise for you.
Fantastic, we like surprises.
Look at that view.
What a beautiful room.
I think I got the best seat in the house.
Having dropped my bags I joined Adi for the grand tour.
I love the hammocks.
Actually the idea is to make them
a chilling place for the tourists that come here to Raven's Nest.
-So you can just find your own space. -Just relax, read a book,
enjoy the sounds of nature and take a nap.
-Take it all in. -Yeah, take it all in.
How did you find this place seriously?
I was a student 15 years ago.
I was hiking through these mountains and I found this spot and I said:
-In few years... -I need to be here.
I need to own this, I need to be here, I need to make a good thing.
But how did you go about doing that?
I mean it must have been tricky to find even who owned the land?
Romanian bureaucracy yes, it was hard, but we finally made it
and after that we realized that we can start a great project.
So where are we going? I'm thinking a viewpoint right?
Well there is a view point yes, and you are going to love it.
It's actually our surprise that we have here.
That is the surprise.
I was expecting something good, but not quite like this.
We're in paradise.
Do you find that some people are put off by how remote it is here?
Yes and I tell them that's why is called the hidden village.
It needs to be remote
in order to give you the true experience that we want to provide.
And it's a good process of natural selection
because the sort of people that don't appreciate a place like this
don't come presumably?
Most of them appreciate the remoteness of this place
and they need this, they need the silence,
they need the energy,
and they need the intimacy that this place provides.
When I see something like this
it sort of sets a standard for other people to follow,
did you consider yourself when you were doing this
to be creating a place that represents all that's beautiful about Romania,
the tradition, the natural beauty, the forest, all these things,
or did it just happen?
No, it just happened because I think this is the way,
the right way to do it,
but I hope we can be a model for other people
in order to promote Romania.
This is my way of showing other people my country...
I'm sure that there are other good ways,
but people should be focused on
authenticity, architecture, gastronomy.
-And the natural beauty. -Yes.
I was racking my brains to try to think what I would add to this
because you always go somewhere and you think,
"Well, what's missing?" and really I can't think of much,
I guess maybe you could have a hot tub, you know?
Charlie we thought about this already.
-You've already considered this. -And the hot tub is right behind you.
-The place you didn't show me earlier? -Yes.
-That's very annoying! -Yeah.
So the one thing I thought
might potentially be an improvement you've already done.
That's right.
That's hot, that is seriously hot.
This is perfect.
-So, welcome to Transylvania Charlie. -What can I say!
Flavors of Romania, it just keeps getting better and better.
-Enjoy! -Thank you so much.
You're welcome.
To your very good health.
That's it! I quit!
Raven's Nest is one of the best places to relax I've been to in Romania.
After a delicious dinner,
it was time to indulge in that national past time
and deeply primeval human urge to sit around a campfire,
drinking beer, playing musical instruments
and making up songs and stories late into the night.
After 20 beers I can sing almost anything
The next day I booked a mountain bike to explore the surrounding area.
A feat best attempted after a hearty breakfast.
What a fantastic spread!
Bean salad, eggplant salad, baked vegetables, homemade pate,
local cream cheese, more salad, well moving on from the salad,
what have we got?
Sausages, bacon, and eggs
the quintessential ingredients for a full English breakfast.
Marvelous.
There we go,
see if I can find some toast.
The great thing about setting off on a trip from the Raven's Nest
is at least for the first half of your journey,
it's downhill all the way.
Well it's on foot for now.
I don't think I dare ride this through the thicket of bushes.
I've gone too far again, I always go too far.
The waterfall is 50 yards up there.
But still, it goes to show
that even if you take the wrong way you still find something beautiful.
The river is just flowing straight into this rock.
I think it's the entrance to a cave called "Huda lui Papara"
and no one has managed to squeeze through it from this end.
I'm certainly not going to start trying now.
However for more reasons than that,
you could describe this as a bottle neck, quite literally.
And it's a shame,
more evidence of people just chucking their rubbish into the river.
Finally, I've found it.
About 20 yards from where I put the bike
as suppose to about a mile through forests,
and down cliffs and along riverbeds.
Still it was worth the trip albeit the long way round.
Look at the colors in the rocks, pinks, blues, greys, whites,
it's like a painting.
I reckon there be gold in these hills.
In fact there is, and that is proving to be a bit of a problem.
After a long pedal back up the hill
it was time to say goodbye to the Raven's Nest
and set off to explore the rest of Transylvania,
excited, recharged
but a little reluctant to leave this panoramic paradise.
Well I don't think you need a dream catcher, it's already happened.
This has to be one of the most beautiful eco lodges
I've seen in the whole of Romania, perhaps even in Europe.
The attention to detail, the rooms, they are meticulous without being fussy
and as for the view the location is just out of this world.
I think if anyone wants to start an eco lodge or a hotel
in this country and do it right
they should come here and study the Raven's Nest for a couple of days.
You can write a dissertation on this place.
It is an enchanting drive back through the hills
along the Aries River Valley, despite the odd novelty development.
Turning right at Buru,
we head south on a scenic road that winds down out of the hills,
on its way towards Aiud.
En route it's worth stopping at Rimetea,
a 13th Century Hungarian mining town on the edge of the Trascau Mountains,
recently granted Unesco World Heritage status.
White washed houses and cobbled streets
make this a picturesque place to stretch your legs
and watch scenes that probably haven't changed much for hundreds of years.
The major difference being the influx of tourists keen to spend their money
or a night or two in one of its flourishing guesthouses.
While some visitors arrive and leave by the coachload,
this is also a delightful place to come for a long weekend hiking
and exploring several ruined fortresses
that lie hidden in the surrounding hills.
But with too much to see and too little time,
there was barely a moment to take it all in before driving on
and southwards towards my next port of call,
the medieval town of Alba Iulia.
The history of this formidable city goes back to the Romans
when Alba Iulia, then Apulum, was the capital of Roman occupied Dacia.
This was mainly due to its proximity to gold mines in the Apuseni hills,
one of the main reasons for Trajan's desire
to conquer Dacia in the first place.
Following the adoption of Christianity by Stephen the 1st
it became a key religious center
and the seat of the Roman Catholic church in Transylvania
right through the middle ages.
At the heart of the city is the Alba Carolina Citadel,
constructed by Hapsburgs in the 1700's
and laid out with seven bastions to form a heptagram,
interestingly also a pagan symbol of magic power.
The citadel has undergone extensive restoration in the last ten years
and has now become a beacon
for cultural tourists visiting Transylvania.
I'm here to meet one of the people behind its spectacular makeover.
Mihai.
-Hello, Charlie, welcome to Alba Iulia. -Thank you.
-So these guys are volunteers. -Yes, they are all volunteers
and they are doing this every Friday for the public
because almost all the country knows
that this is the place where Romans and Dacians meet every Friday.
It's, let's say the dynamic attraction of the city.
They are the living lesson of history, of each day in Alba Iulia.
It's annoying that the Romans always win isn't it?
Yes, I would reverse the history a little bit but you know,
as in real life, we cannot do that
but it's a pity that the Dacians are always down.
Yeah we should see the odd Roman soldier getting winged as well!
We should pay someone to lose from the Romans.
These two have to be brothers.
I can tell you for sure that brotherly love can kill you sometime.
And it's one of the major points of attraction
between these re-enactment guys.
They are judo instructors, if you want, trainers.
-You can tell. -Professional.
And they do all this for the love and happiness of the children.
Yeah, kids must love this.
Don't forget it's a re-enactment, but it's a show in the end.
I guess the amphitheater, the gladiators, the slaves, I mean it all happened here?
Yeah. We try to re-establish the history as it was
and these volunteers do their best for that.
Yeah, it's pretty good. It's informative.
Alba Iulia is quite a mirror of the historical times
or if you want it's a time machine.
OK, Charlie I think that we should follow history by foot now.
It's a good idea, we've seen the show let's walk.
The commentator was saying that this is an actual temple right under our feet,
these foundations.
Yes, here were discovered the ruins of the first Christian temple
from the whole of Romania,
so it is in a period of conservation
but we are deeply sure that in the future we're going to display it.
So they were literally just filled in after they were discovered,
protected and then covered over until the money is available.
Yes. We have to wait just for another opportunity
to get the right finances for this.
Tell me a little bit about the restoration work
because you were heavily involved in that, weren't you?
The citadel was forbidden just because of the fact
that the military was inside the ancient walls
and the access was not allowed for anybody.
After we managed to gain all the territory from the military,
we invested European money, which was deeply great
because otherwise it would have taken more than ten years for us to...
-To raise the funds to do this. -Yes, to raise the funds.
There is still a fair amount of work to do here isn't it?
It is, it never ends because the history it never ends itself.
And we are still aiming for more funds and other opportunities to continue
what we propose to do here in Alba Iulia.
How do you go about making sure that you do get it historically accurate
when you undertake a project like this?
We are taking into consideration the advice of the scientists
who observe what the historical facts were
and we try as much as possible to respect those.
-To stick to those. -Yes, stick to them.
Alba Iulia doesn't mean just the citadel, it is developing the city.
I think that's the point, it's not just about the citadel,
it's about actually bringing tourists here to look at them
but also giving them reasons to stay and to spend the night here
and to therefore put their money back into the local economy.
Probably, but you should consider this:
all that has been done here was done for the citizens of Alba Iulia.
-Yes for the residents. -The residents.
It was made for them first and second we are looking at it as a touristic tool
and yes, in a very short time
Alba Iulia will mean something on the European Historical tourist maps.
At midday every Friday and Saturday from May to September
you can also watch the changing of the guard,
a ritual dating back to the Austrian Empire.
For half an hour,
cavalry and artillery divisions march through the streets of the citadel
before gathering on the ramparts to finish with a bang.
I have to say it's a far cry
from the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace,
but arguably more spectacular.
Although I do have a slight ringing in my ears.
Sorry to interrupt.
I think the point is that restoration is a tricky business,
it's not always possible to get it exactly right
but they've done a pretty good job and in five years, with you know,
the fund available and the people here
are working hard to recreate the citadel in its former glory,
so thumbs up to Alba Iulia.
South of Alba Iulia and the horizon climbs towards the clouds.
Here the Carpathians are at their most breath taking
with the Fagaras, Parang and distant Retezat mountains
providing an almost impassable barrier between north and South West Romania.
While there are of course trunk roads and highways skirting these misty peaks,
several of the most beautiful roads weave right through them.
I have taken time out from my cultural tour
to explore the Transalpina or Kings Road
that links Transylvania with Oltenia to the South.
Being a route famous for its serpentine coils and breath taking views
I asked a couple of fellow bikers from Sibiu to join me for the ride.
Thank you so much.
Easy to find, obvious mark points.
This is a nice spot, I guess is much more spectacular further up.
You will see, it's one of the most spectacular bike roads in Europe.
Let's do this.
We made it.
What a great ride.
That was a lot of fun, thank you so much.
-We said we'll get to the lake and... -Here we are.
Sadly no time to go to the top.
-And not enough gas. -And not enough gas.
It's another 80 km up and another 80 km back down.
So this is where the buck stops
and also we would be in Oltenia and we've already been to Oltenia.
So Ovidiu you take tours around Romania by bike, how does that work?
It works good because we are lucky, we are in the heart of Transylvania,
every cool destination around it's let's say like 80 or 100km from Sibiu
and this is like a very nice one day ride,
like 200 km with some breaks,
visit some castles or fortified churches,
the road is nice, have some traditional food,
you have everything, you have the lake, you have the river, the mountains.
Except a gas station half way up.
Yes, this is a bit more adrenaline than we need.
Well we've got enough gas to make it down the hill I think.
So is there like a bikers club in Sibiu?
Yeah there are some biker's clubs,
the scene is quite big now and goes in different directions.
What about you Paul,
what do you actually do when you are not on your bike?
When I'm not on my bike at work at a tech company
and it leaves me a lot of free time
and I just tour around the country with my friends.
I think it's a really great way to experience the Romanian countryside.
It is a slight risk with the roads I guess.
You see today everything is flat and sometime bam, a hole.
The roads were worse, but now it's getting better and better.
You see this road here is perfect.
Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful it's a joy to be on a bike,
and Romanian drivers are not as bad as people say.
No, no they are not that bad.
And the biodiversity,
I've seen a lot of biodiversity on my windshield.
I think there must be about a hundred different varieties of insect life
that I've squashed on my way up here...
-And Ovidiu you are a tattoo artist. -Yes.
So you design your own tattoos as well and you draw them and create the art?
Yes, I travel a lot in Europe at tattoo conventions
and I try to find new horizons for me
because my job was almost illegal and didn't exist a few years ago
and especially in the time when the border was closed for us,
that was in the communist time
and after the communist time was something like a stigma, but not anymore.
Yeah.
Well it seems to have gone the other way now in Romania.
Yeah sure. Now it's almost in the mainstream.
So if I come to you with some ideas
then you can help me distil them into a symbol or a drawing.
Yes, definitely,
if you come with the idea then I'm the one who makes it real.
Well, let's head back to Sibiu, have a beer
and I'll have a think about that.
Better think about it first and then have the beer.
-Yes, that's a crucial mistake. -Yeah, sure.
To have a beer and then think it's a great idea for a tattoo.
OK, well thank you for taking me up here.
I feel like we are on the roof of the world.
Thank you for bringing us here, actually we need people like you guys
to remind us what a beautiful treasure we have here in Romania.
Let's hope it continues to be so, because in many areas it's under threat.
Yes, you see the wood trucks there are a lot,
especially in the night.
Yeah, that's when they come through.
Well I'm pleased to say that there haven't been so many on this trip
and this area is mostly protected, isn't it?
Yes, but I cannot say the same about the villages
which are not on the main streets.
Well, we are going to be see in more of that later in the series,
but for now, let's go back down to Sibiu
and have ourselves a beer.
Maybe talk about tattoo's first and then have a beer.
OK, let's do this.
My leg, I think it's gone to sleep, take it easy!
The next leg of my journey takes me towards the heart of Saxon Transylvania.
This is an area famed for its historic villages
and fortified churches and citadels,
a place largely defined by the German speaking peoples
who were invited here in the mid 12th Century
to defend Hungary's eastern borders against foreign invaders.
While relatively few Saxons remain,
their architectural legacy serves as a magnet for cultural tourists
who pay sumptuously
to experience Transylvania's so-called medieval landscape.
Unfortunately this landscape is now under threat,
as ancient villages lose more and more of their traditional houses
to lack of subsidies, neglect, or insensitive redevelopment.
The old russet tiled rooftops are almost entirely disappearing in many places,
replaced by modern industrial materials.
I have come here to the village of Apos to see how one association,
run by friend and fellow conservationist Eugen Vaida,
is helping to combat this trend by setting up traditional tile factories
and training local people to once again produce and sell the genuine article.
It's lovely to see it operational because you've been closed over the winter?
Yes, it has been closed for five months it is just seasonal.
So how's demand?
Demand is very high, and we have sold out last year,
also this one, all the tiles before even starting the production.
Do you think people are waking up to the importance
of putting traditional tiles back on traditional roofs?
Definitely because everyone wants to have also the history,
you know the story behind their products.
These tiles integrate perfectly with the monuments.
We have foreigners who buy,
also Romanians from towns who are making guest-houses,
they are buying these tiles, but also villagers just a few,
not so many but still we also have villagers who buy.
So they are not much more expensive
than the industrial tiles that you constantly see advertised everywhere?
They are quite similar I would say, it's just ten percent more
because each hand made product is almost double or triple,
but these are quite the same price.
It is still quite a big sum of money for someone who is living in an old house
where they need to fix the roof.
Yes and you need support from the state definitely
if you want to preserve the landscape and you have rules
you should also get the help.
People don't want to come to these villages
and see ugly modern roofs on old buildings.
Definitely.
-You lose that timelessness don't you? -Certainly,
but we should not do it just for tourists,
it's a good income and we should promote this,
but it's also part of our local identity because it's so different,
Transylvania is so different, it's multicultural.
How important is it to do everything the traditional way
because it's quite a long process to create the tiles.
Yes but is very important because it's preserving the landscape,
the roof landscapes of Transylvania which are unique all over the world
and this is also why it's called last medieval corner of Europe
because it's also about the landscape. It's not just about nature.
Each step is needed because otherwise you are not doing a high quality tile.
You need time to dry them, you need good clay to be mixed,
you need a good firing and you know they say after ten years
you are a good beginner, so you need this experience.
-It is a huge amount of skill involved. -Yes, exactly.
Do they source the clay locally?
Yeah we have here just in 200 meters, a hill.
-The clay is squeezing out- -Yeah.
Like cream.
-So you wet it and then...? -You put the water inside
and it goes around and is mixing it and it comes out on the bottom
and here he also has some mixed clay
with water so it's not so dry otherwise you cannot mix it so fast.
What other projects have you got going?
I mean this is a big concern I know.
Yes, we do also conservation and training courses
and we also want to preserve monuments.
We have over 600 monuments which are in a stage of collapse and pre collapse.
Just in southern Transylvania we want to make a pilot project
which then different stakeholders should take over in other regions.
So basically create once again an example
that can be rolled out across the country.
It's called The Ambulance for Monuments.
Is it an actual ambulance?
-It is, it has tools, it has... -Do you have a light at the top?
No is not just calling 112.
If someone gives free materials we are doing the job
so we need a donor for materials at least so we can intervene.
This is the rule otherwise it is not sustainable.
If we just go around and...
So you provide the labor force to come and restore and repair these...
And also the documentation and then we get the permits for them.
So maybe you can stop more of these beautiful old churches
from falling down and the towers.
Yes, we focus on Saxon and Romanian churches.
Yes it's a nice idea.
Before leaving the area
I drove to the village of Altana to track down the architects ambulance
which was parked outside the local fortified church,
precariously perched on a hill and facing imminent collapse.
Or at least it would be were in not for these guys.
This is a typical example of a monument
that without help is on the verge of falling down,
so it's a case of prioritizing the most urgent patients
and rushing to their rescue before the bell tolls.
What we need of course is hundreds of schemes like this
all helping all the buildings all over Romania
because there are so many, as we've seen so far in the series
that desperately need attention.
And while we are here, there is a perfect example of a house
that was well restored behind me using traditionally made tiles.
Next to it is another building probably same sort of date,
but they've put modern industrial tiles on the roof.
So which do you think looks more fitting in a setting like this?
No prizes for guessing.
Fresh mountain air is renowned for giving one an appetite
so it was fortunate that a short drive away in the village of Ilimbav,
there was a banquet being prepared.
As a way of bringing tourists together with local producers
a foundation called My Transylvania
organises regular gastronomic brunches in villages across the region.
I was lucky enough to be invited to join them.
But I also wanted to come here
to grab some culinary tips from top Sibiu chef Ion Bebeselea
who was lending his expertise to the occasion
by preparing something of his own devising.
Hi Charlie, welcome to this great British summer.
Yes I'm used to this.
So here we have really traditional recipes,
both are pork recipes,
that's a stew done just after the pork was sacrificed,
it's in the honour of the pork.
So it's the first thing you prepare after you've slaughtered your pig?
Yes. And here is a gulas with some Hungarian influences.
-But with pork, not beef. -With pork, it's not beef.
So this would have been prepared by the Saxons for hundreds of years.
Saxons and Romanians, the inhabitants from this region.
So your kitchen, as it were, is over there?
-Yes. -OK.
And what are you going to be cooking?
I'm cooking a traditional modern recipe,
I took parts from a lot of recipes and made one.
We are using the neck of pork
because it's very tasty with a lot of fat
and we make it with an apple sauce.
So here we have the lovely piece of meat.
That looks gorgeous. How long have you slow cooked it?
Around two and a half hours just to make a nice roast.
-To seal it. -Yes.
First we are going to put the oil,
we will cut the onion, and the garlic.
-You crush the garlic. -Yes.
Brings up the flavour.
Yes, the flavour and then we cut it very small.
Some salt, a little bit of pepper...
OK. That's quite a lot of pepper.
Yes, the cream will take the heat
and also because is nice to feel a little bit spicy.
Yeah.
So now we put the thyme going very well with the apples.
So most of these ingredients are things that people can find in their garden.
This is the idea we are trying to use more our products.
It's a great shame
that Romania has so many amazing vegetables and fruit and herbs
and yet you find in supermarkets constantly foreign produce.
Yes, this is the supermarkets policy,
they need to know that they will have the apples all year round.
I think also people have to start to go in the farmer's markets
to buy their vegetables, and fruits
and to start being used to apples with different shapes,
they are not perfect, but...
They are organic.
-And they taste better actually. -Yes.
When I was a kid I was growing at my grandparents in the village
I was sourcing my own food going to take the potatoes out of the ground
and then make some French fries or a stew or something like this.
This could be a good idea getting groups of people together
so that they can supply the supermarkets
and that way you can actually have
organic Romanian vegetables and fruit on the shelves.
It would be really great.
We are starting to put together some small producers
to be able to source the restaurants with some really great ingredients.
That's a fantastic idea.
Now the onions are starting to caramelize,
we have to add some wine, just a little bit,
and apple juice in the pan.
We are going to put the cream.
We put the cherry plum to give a little bit of sourness.
You can taste the sauce now see how it is...
-Very sweet. -Yes.
And we are going to put a teaspoon of this paste
and the magic will happen soon.
-It's alchemy. -Yes.
Let's try that again now and see how it's changed.
Completely different. Real tang to it with the cherry plum.
And now we have to chop the apples.
-Finally we've got some sun. -Yes.
Now we are back in Romania.
We will leave them few minutes just to become a little bit soft.
Looking very nice.
Now the meet has to be done.
Beautiful it looks cooked to perfection.
OK, so now we are going to serve it.
Now we are going to put the sauce over the meat.
-Really nice looking sauce. -Beautiful.
I think two pieces of apples are enough.
Let's dive in and let's see. We are cutting easy the meat.
Sensational.
-Congratulations! -Thank you!
It's actually quite a complex flavour.
You got a lot of different things going on with that.
You have all the flavours that you need,
you have a little bit of spicy, you have sour, you have sweet.
So it's another recipe you can do yourself which is what we are all about.
-So many thanks. -You're welcome.
I'll have some more.
I don't know if that is my stomach or the thunder.
I think we are going to get wet again.
With storms lashing the horizon we must take a rain check
on the rest of our journey around this fairy tale region,
which being so big and exhaustively beautiful
has defied all our efforts to fit into one episode.
So join us again next week
when we will be completing our grand tour of Transylvania
and following more roads less travelled.