Why Romanian cooks love sour flavours
Taste a Romanian soup and the first thing you notice is the sourness. Romanians call many of their soups ciorbă, and a ciorbă is sour by definition.
Three ways to make a soup sour
- Borș. A fermented wheat-bran liquid. It gives a soft, rounded sourness.
- Sour cabbage brine. The liquid from fermented cabbage, also the base of sarmale.
- Vinegar or lemon. The quick route, used in ciorbă de burtă.
Balance is the point
The sour note is balanced with sour cream, egg yolk or garlic. Add the acid a little at a time and taste after each addition.
