Global Journal of Human Social Science, C: Sociology and Culture, Volume 21 Issue 5

turns into caramel and gives the cake a rich brown color and delicious taste. Unlike other desserts, the black baba goes through strange metamorphoses. It is about the fact that there are no dark products between its ingredients. On the contrary – all the ingredients- are all white as snow. And in order to obtain the necessary consistency and, even more importantly, the coveted small bubbles in the dough, the sequence of operations with the ingredients must be strictly observed. a) Ingredients As mentioned, the black grandmother is an old dessert, and the housewives of that time did not have to go to the store or the market for products to prepare it. Everything they needed for black baba could be found in the household: milk (500 ml), sour milk (300 ml), eggs (10 pcs), oil (200 ml), wheat flour (300 g), sugar (300 g), brandy (50 ml), and baking soda (8 g). b) Preparation First, the dried products are mixed - sifted flour and a similar amount of sugar or powdered sugar, to which baking soda is added. To this mixture, vegetable oil is added and mixed until a homogeneous mass is formed. Then the warm sour milk is gradually added - it serves as a catalyst for baking soda and easily starts the quenching reaction, which during baking will materialize in small bubbles frozen on cooling (Fordtran et al., 1984; Lansky, 2004). After sour milk, it's milk's turn, up to half a liter can be added. The last liquid ingredient is brandy or vodka, which is considered to compensate for the specific pronounced taste of baking soda in the final product. In the last stage, ten eggs must be beaten until a fluffy and frothy mixture is obtained. Then the beaten eggs are carefully placed in the dough. Baba is baked in a bowl with a thick bottom, covered with a lid, for example a cast iron cauldron, which is richly greased with butter over which breadcrumbs are sprinkled, after which the mixture is poured into the bowl and covered with a lid or staniol foil (Figure 2). The bubbles that form during baking (Figure 3) are the result of adding the right amount of baking soda and vodka, or any other tasteless and odorless alcohol. During baking, carbon dioxide gas made from baking soda (or if you use vodka - alcohol vapor), helps to grow/lift the dessert up (Sumnu, 2008). For this reason the lid is not removed during baking, it helps to block the gases inside and to form bubbles, or craters specific to this dessert. Once upon a time, in the Moldovan villages, the black baba was baked in the brick oven - the cauldron was put in the oven in the evening on hot coals and was taken out only in the morning. In the contemporary oven in the first hour and a half the baba bakes at a temperature of 200 0 C, and in the next 90 minutes at 100 0 C. The caramelized brown color is not from cocoa, but is due to the interaction between baking soda, sour milk and oil during the long cooking time. Also on one hand, due to the high baking temperature from the first baking stage, the caramelization of carbohydrates present in milk and sugar takes place. On the other hand, presence of baking soda speeds up the Maillard reaction that takes place due to egg proteins and sugars (Lersch, 2012). The prepared dessert is as fine and soft as a classic soufflé. At the same time it is elastic and restores its shape when it is finger pressed. III. C ultural A spects Several large portions of baba neagra are baked at once, because Moldovan feasts are a general gathering of numerous relatives, godfathers, friends. Baba neagra is served both at weddings, christenings and funerals. In this sense it can be called ritual food. It is served on the table with baba alba (white grandma) from homemade noodles on a wide platter, cut into cubes. White and black grandmothers complement each other, symbolizing the unity of opposites, the beginning of the feminine and masculine. Specifically, it was served because it is currently being prepared less and less. And the food outlets that have it on the menu can be counted on fingers. It is difficult to find a justification and an explanation for this trend, because for many of the inhabitants of the country, the black grandmother is associated with the nostalgic taste of childhood. A cknowledgment The study was done within the State Project 20.80009.0807.17. “Education for the revitalization of the national cultural heritage through traditional processing technologies used in the Republic of Moldova in the context of multiculturalism, diversity and European integration”, running at Technical University of Moldova. R eferences R éférences R eferencias 1. Alozie, E. C., 2016, Advertising in developing and emerging countries: the economic, political and social context. 2. Baltsiotis, L., 2014, The discovery of new Greeks. The cases of Gagauz in Moldova and Pontians in Turkey: International journal of Science Culture and Sport, v. 2, no. 8, p. 6–6, doi: 10.14486/IJSCS211. 3. De Jong, A. et al., 2018, Gastronomy Tourism: An Interdisciplinary Literature Review of Research Areas, Disciplines, and Dynamics: Journal of Gastronomy and Tourism, v. 3, no. 2, p. 131–146, doi: 10.3727/216929718X15281329212243. 4. Fordtran, J. S., S. G. Morawski, C. A. Santa Ana, and F. C. Rector, 1984, Gas Production After Reaction of Sodium Bicarbonate and Hydrochloric Volume XXI Issue V Version I 60 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2021 C © 2021 Global Journals Traditional Preparation of Baba Neagra, a Moldovan Culinary Treasure