somerville kitchen: Knights and Maidens in Medieval Transylvania

Friday 12 November 2010

Knights and Maidens in Medieval Transylvania

Transylvania Flavour Restaurant - A beautiful gem of a restaurant hidden on Broadway west of Arbutus. Unless you are looking for it, you may pass it, so look hard, it is worth it.

The owners, who are from Sibiu, Transylvania where the Cistercian 13th Century monastery still stands, are there to welcome you, make excellent food recommendations, serve you and look after your needs for a fantastic dinner experience. The owner's mother actually made the cabbage rolls and custard cake we ate, while the owner's father made the sausages. How more authenticity can you ask for.

This dinner adventure began with the appetizer special; the Continental Platter.

Think of it as a Transylvania version of afternoon tea sandwiches: mini ham and butter sandwich, salmon and meat rolls, deviled egg, a tomato with eggplant caviar mix and seedless olives.

We also tried the other appetizer special - pears wrapped with prosciutto in a cheese capers sauce.

For dinner, the two hungry knights and two hard working maidens opted for the regular platter for two and the owner designed an alternative platter for two that included other delicacies on the menu, allowing us to sample almost all of their offering.

Platter 1: The Meats

Shnitzel, Yam Perogies, Sarmale (cabbage rolls made by dad), Mititei (the Transylvanian sausages made by mom), and Kiftele (meatballs).

The platter also included Caesar salad, crunchy paprika dusted fresh cut fries and we doubled up on one of the maiden's favourites - Mamaliga, Polenta cheese croquettes that could be a dinner on their own.

Platter 2: The Meat Alternatives

Cascaval Pane - pan fried Provolone cheese bites best eaten hot. Vegetarian open faced stuffed peppers topped with Provolone cheese and creamy yogurt sauce. and mini fish fillets.

Those were served with mixed pickles, Zakuska (roasted mixed vegetables spread) and the delicious roasted beets and walnut spread.

Now you'd think the knights and maidens were stuffed and not able to get off their seats. But the uniqueness of the desserts and the owner's offer to provide a four-dessert sampler kept us in our seats. The dinner ended with, from left to right: Papanash (Transylvanian doughnuts freshly fried), La Vie en... Vert (a lemon & basil meringue cake), Sacher Torte (flourless Austrian chocolate torte) and my favourite, the custard cake made by the owner's mom.