Zacuscă is a popular vegetable spread in Romania made from roasted eggplant, sautéed onions, tomato paste, and roasted red peppers. It also sometimes includes mushrooms, carrots or celery. The main ingredients are roasted and chopped or pureed, then simmered with olive oil, salt, pepper and bay leaves. Traditionally large batches are made in the fall from harvest ingredients and preserved through canning for use throughout the winter.

1. Zacuscă (Romanian pronunciation: [zaˈkuskə]) is a
vegetable spread popular in Romania. Similar
spreads are found in other countries throughout, or
bordering, the Balkans.
The main ingredients are roasted eggplant, sauteed
onions, tomato paste, and roasted red peppers
(Romanian pepper called gogoșari).Some add
mushrooms, carrots, or celery. Bay leaves are added
as spice, as well as other ingredients (oil, salt, and
pepper). Traditionally, a family will cook a large
quantity of it after the fall harvest and preserve it
through canning.
RECIPE:
● 3 kg of eggplant
● 500 g onion dry
● 1 kg of pepper
● 1 kg of donuts
● 200 g tomato paste / broth
● 700 ml of oil
● 20 black pepper grains
● 4-6 bay leaves
● salt
Preparation:
Eggers, peppers and donuts are bake, cleaned from the
bark, let it drain into a sieve, and then pass through the
chopping machine once.
Onions, cut very small or past through the chisels, are
kneaded in oil until gold becomes golden. Add over the
onion peppers and donuts and let them ride along with
the onion to the right heat (mix for 5 minutes). After
about 15 minutes add eggplant, tomato paste, bay leaf,
salt, pepper and let it boil until the oil rises to the
surface. Zacusca is allowed to boil in small heat and is
carefully monitored, mixing at short intervals of time.
The recommended container is a dough or a saucepan in
which it boils to boil without clinging to the bottom of
the bowl.
Zacusca is ready when the oil rises to the surface.
Dumitrica Adrian, IMAPA, group 8114