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The Slavic east and the Balkans · Volume 30, The Living Culture, the Roman Vein and the Rose Valley

Papanași

Romania

Papanași, Romanian fried cheese dumplings with sour cream and jam: two golden fried cheese dumplings stacked on a plate, one large ring shaped and one small round ball balanced on top, a generous dollop of white soured cream crowning it with a bright spoonful of dark red berry jam trailing down the side.

Illustration

Time
2 hours

Romania, fried cheese dumplings, sour cream and jam.

As tradition built it

Makes 4 to 5. The dough chills at least 2 hours.

Ingredients

  • 250 g urdă or very well drained brânză de vaci
  • 1 egg
  • a pinch salt
  • to taste lemon zest and vanilla
  • optional 1 tbsp sugar
  • 200 g flour
  • 1 tbsp semolina
  • ½ tsp baking powder or bicarbonate of soda
  • 4 to 5cm deep oil, for frying

To serve

  • to serve sour cream or yoghurt
  • to serve sour cherry, cherry or strawberry jam

Method

  1. Mix the egg with the salt, the cheese and the flavourings. The cheese must be well drained or the papanași lose their shape.
  2. Mix the flour, semolina and raising agent and stir them in a little at a time, to a moderately soft, slightly sticky dough that holds its shape. Do not overwork it.
  3. Wrap it, pat it into a disc and chill at least 2 hours.
  4. Divide it into 4 or 5. Flatten each ball 1.5 to 2cm thick, push a finger through the middle and widen it into a ring. Keep a little dough back for a small ball for each.
  5. Heat the oil to 170 to 180°C, hot but not smoking.
  6. Fry over a medium heat, turning gently several times, until evenly golden and floating.
  7. Drain on paper 2 to 3 minutes, then top with sour cream and jam as you serve, with a ball on top.

Notes

The cheese folded through the dough, rather than left as a separate filling, is what actually distinguishes papanași from a plain doughnut.

The recipe is Gina Bradea's, at pofta-buna.com. Savori Urbane uses 400 g cheese, 300 g flour and 2 eggs, puts no sugar in the dough because it makes them spread, chills 30 minutes, cuts rings with a doughnut cutter, and fries them 2 to 3 minutes and 2 more at 170°C. Both fry; neither uses breadcrumbs.

What a modern chef changes

A chinois-strained curd, a sous vide poach and a blended fruit gel

About 1 hour

Method

  1. Pass the cheese mixture through a chinois before shaping, for a genuinely smooth, lump-free interior rather than the traditional slightly grainy curd.
  2. Poach a portion of each dumpling gently sous vide before its final fry, giving a controlled, custard-soft centre against the crisp fried exterior.
  3. Build the jam element as a high-power-blended fruit gel, set just firm enough to hold a quenelle shape, rather than a spoonful of jam straight from the jar.
  4. Finish with a light sour cream foam, whipped and lightly stabilised, in place of the traditional dollop.
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