James Beard award winning Tava showcases Romanian baking at its finest

Tava: Eastern European Baking and Desserts from Romania & Beyond wows award panelists and readers alike with elegant baking and dessert recipes layered in old country flavor.

In Tava, renown food author Irina Georgescu introduces readers to the baking traditions of six of Romania’s many cultural communities: the Magyars, Székelys and Saxons in Transylvania, the Banat Swabians, the Armenians, whose ancestors settled in the 18th-century city now known as Bucharest, and the Jewish communities of Moldavia.

Not only does she do a great service to these areas in description, she goes to great length to weave the culinary history into the recipes she lays out. More, she excellently exhibits her love of the journey in tasting foods to find understanding of the flavor combinations.

It's loving to explore through food using your palate.

In winning a James Beard award for her work, you can see through her comments just how much the acoloade means.

"Winning this award encourages me to keep writing and telling the story of our nation throughthe values of traditional cooking. Romania is a country that is often misund erstood because people know very little about it. The award puts Romania on the American culinary map as a valuable participant and raises awareness about the culinary values we bring to the table. I’m hoping that people will lo ok more closely at Romania’s complex history and experience our cuisine. This is the purpose of everything I write: to challenge preconceived ideas about Romanians and to re-anchor our story to something positive. In Tava, I bring together the people and the dishes that came to represent our country. Every dish tells the story of our cuisine. I treasure them all."

The admiration of the culinary legacies and cultures truly shows in Tava. You should look at this as a true culinary adventure you're soul wants you to have.

The one recipe I highly recommend is the Rum Chocolate Cream Sandwich Cookies. It makes 18, enough to introduce family and friends to a nostalgic Romanian dessert. The dark chocolate drizzle just compliments the divine cookies.

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You can get this In the U.S. at Barnes and Noble, Omnivore Books, Kitchen Arts and Letters, Book Larder, Amazon.