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Meet Felicia
Meet Felicia
Felicia is the mother of some good friends of ours. We first met her in Belgium when she was visiting her family. We were delighted to speak to her about jam making in her home country of Romania.
Location
Iași, ROMANIA
Iași is a university city in eastern Romania, near the border with Moldova. It is Romania's second city after Bucharest.
Curiosity
Romanians have at least seven words for jam. Some of them involve interesting ingredients like green walnut and aubergine, and mysterious old social rituals involving teaspoons and glasses of water.
Favorite jams
Bitter Cherry & Green Walnut.
Both are best made June-July.
Jam inspiration
Mother
Earliest memory of jam
Making Romanian ‘Magiun’.
When I was a child, we used to invite friends over for a cup of jam and a glass of cold water. It was our Romanian 5 o’clock tradition.
Top jam making tips
Make sure your fruits are fresh.
Better fruit quality makes better jam.
Make jam in small quantities.
After the jam is made, let it rest in a bowl covered with a wet tea towel before pouring it into a pot.
I remember the family gathering around the making of Magiun. Magiun is a very special plum jam. There is no sugar in Magiun and you tend to make it in big quantities. My mother used to cook 20-30kg of plums. The process of making magiun is very long. You boil it for one day and one night until it has the right consistency.
Most well known jams in Romania
Apricot jam and Plum jam. The most expensive jam in the world also comes from Viscri, Romania. Jam producer, Gerda Gherghiceanu, sells each pot for 365 euros. But for that you also get a silver spoon and a certificate for five oaks on the land of the Barca Valley. Gerda herself only receives 2 euros per pot. The rest goes to a charity that supports reforestation in the local area.
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