Today's dish: Papanasi
Once again, repeat after me: pa-pa-nasi! Ever heard of them? Yes, it's the plural form coming from "papanas" and it's got into the usual language as such because there are, traditionally, two pieces served.We're talking about doughnuts, Romanian type of doughnuts, made with cheese and... semolina (is that how you call it?) and covered in sour cream and jam! Arrgghh! No, really, you'll get to kill for them. :)
The tiny problem with the recipe used in public restaurants is that the "papanasi"... don't have cheese in their composition, it is just normal dough - flour, milk, sugar, oil and stuff - which is fried in a pot of oil. Well, that doesn't make them any less delicious, anyway. "Papanasii" are the size of a tennis ball (sometimes even bigger), a round sphere of dough which, like I said, is fried in a pot of oil - forget about fats right now!! :)
There are situations (in Moldavia for instance) when the doughnuts look like the american ones, the policemen usually gulp for breakfast, lunch and dinner - with a hole in middle. They all have in common the mixture of jam and sour cream. It's very usual to pour over wildberry jam, or forest-fruits jam, whatsoever.
It is a very "heavy" type of food, considering the oil, cream and the jam, so you must consider no more than a light soup before this kind of dessert. Usually it takes long in Bucharest restaurants to make papanasi, that is because it takes time for them to cook well in the middle.
The best papanasi in town you can eat at Burebista, La Mama, City Grill (the dough is made with cheese, we tested it) and Thalia. You can also try Bellini or Athene Bistro. Normally they cost no more than 7-8 RON.
