Milk Street Digital Class: The Flavors of Romania with Irina Georgescu

What’s on the Menu: 
Tomato Soup with Semolina Dumplings
Potato Stew with Filo Cheese Crust

What’s the best comfort food in the world? Before we met Irina Georgescu, we might have called it a toss-up between Shepherd’s Pie and classic grilled cheese and tomato soup. But then Irina showed us around Romania, introducing us to stews topped with stuffed filo pastry and tomato soups studded with cheesy dumplings. That’s how our definition of the most satisfying dishes got turned on its head. Join Irina, most recently the author of “Danube: Recipes and Stories from Eastern Europe,” in this pre-recorded virtual class where you’ll learn how Romanians transform humble ingredients like potatoes, tomatoes, semolina and cheese into the best hearty dinners you’ve ever had. You’ll make a dill-spiked potato stew topped with flaky filo stuffed with yogurt and cheese. While the filo-crusted stew is baking, you’ll learn to make a soup that uses tomatoes in three different ways to achieve incredible depth of flavor in under half an hour. That’s plenty of time to make a batch of the light, tender dumplings that feature a generous amount of cheddar—or Romanian cașcaval if you’re lucky enough to find it. As we cook, Irina shares stories of how Romania’s cuisine has been shaped by the Balkans, the Danube, its neighboring Central European countries, its unique geography and more.