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00:00:00essential information and need. advice from the best
00:00:03specialists. Info Diaspora. How many
00:00:07Romanians, so many answers? On TVR International.
00:00:43Welcome back to Exclusively in Romania in 2027,
00:00:47Harghita will be a European gastronomic region. What does that mean?
00:00:50In principle, it means more tourists for perhaps one of the most beautiful counties
00:00:54in Romania. Of course, interested in food, but not only, there are
00:00:58many things to see, to learn, to... discover in Harghita, such as, for
00:01:02example, a superb Roman Catholic church in Ditrău, on
00:01:06our way to Călimănel. Why are we going to Călimănel? We will find out,
00:01:10but in Ditrău there is a cathedral that does not have this
00:01:13official title, but its dimensions would recommend it, which dominates
00:01:16the entire space in terms of size and importance between Miercurea Ciuc, Brașov and
00:01:20why not even Alba Iulia. We will stop there too. These roads
00:01:24take us in other directions, such as, for example,
00:01:28the beautiful commune of Tulgheș, where we meet
00:01:32Lăcrămioara Pop, a UNESCO Living Human Treasure with an
00:01:35impressive activity. She revived an ancestral
00:01:38instrument on the verge of extinction, the peasant drum,
00:01:41developed the Village Museum, which has reached several thousand
00:01:44heritage pieces, and managed to gather the children from
00:01:48the area into a folk ensemble that carries the story
00:01:52of the place further. But, also today we arrive in the
00:01:56Boroș valley to visit a workshop of Gordune.
00:01:59Gordune is very similar to the peasant drum, it is also a
00:02:03cello played with a stick, transformed
00:02:06into a rhythm instrument, only that it is specific to the Székelys and
00:02:09the Csángós. We see how a
00:02:125000 gordună is built and what differentiates it from the peasant drum, and there are many
00:02:16differences. And of course, since it is about a European
00:02:19gastronomic region, we will also be interested in gastronomy, and that's
00:02:23why we go to Călimănel, which is right next to Toplița, to see how, for
00:02:27example, a local gastronomic point run by mother
00:02:31and daughter Erji and Krina, respectively, works. And there we will also talk with Saubo Karoy, who
00:02:34is the executive director of Visit Harghita, the institution
00:02:38that managed to attract this
00:02:41status of European gastronomic region
00:02:44Harghita county, for example, let's say from for Harghita County. There we will taste, of course, a goulash that
00:02:47is not really from the place, more Hungarian than Székely, but the
00:02:51caraway soup is certainly Székely, so come with
00:02:55us.
00:03:01impressive dimensions, Surely it will receive about 40 restaurants from this area this
00:03:03distinction.
00:03:07The big bell can only be
00:03:10in big
00:03:13churches.
00:03:17They tune differently than we do,
00:03:19a bit at a much lower
00:03:22frequency.
00:03:37You know very well that the main pretext of the show is the fact that in
00:03:402027 Harghita county will be a European gastronomic region.
00:03:43This is no small thing, don't imagine that gastronomic tourism has no chances.
00:03:47On the contrary, I have the impression that it is on the rise, it is growing. With
00:03:51each passing day, more and more people want to know where others live,
00:03:54how others live, what others eat, what they value, what they
00:03:58love, what they don't love. eventually, but almost everyone
00:04:01loves food and it was said at one point that after a person eats, they are always
00:04:05better. Well, but they also have to
00:04:09go out into the world, don't eat something good, they also have to eat something specific. If you come to Harghita, respectively in the Toplița area,
00:04:13I recommend you go to Călimănel, to
00:04:16look for the local gastronomic point set up by Mrs. Ergi
00:04:20and run together by her with her
00:04:23daughter, because here things are cooked as you
00:04:26wish. From the traditional goulash that everyone associates
00:04:30with the Hungarian area, to, for example, caraway soup, which is a
00:04:33rarity, that's right, that's how it is.
00:04:37Well, and now, I see that you have prepared some ingredients, Mrs. Ergi,
00:04:40there, these are, yes, the ingredients for
00:04:42goulash. We don't have a specific recipe, our recipe is
00:04:46how we make it, with caraway,
00:04:50with beef and with Hungarian dumplings, and
00:04:53Hungarian dumplings, this will be actually the recipe that
00:04:57everyone is waiting for, and pay attention, not goulash.
00:05:02precious and a bit more Austrian, goulash, yes,
00:05:04goulash. We always start with a
00:05:08generous amount of pork fat from,
00:05:11let's say, the pig.
00:05:16We put the bacon after the lard, we also put
00:05:19bacon to fry
00:05:23and now we wait for it to brown. We add
00:05:26a little caraway to fry and
00:05:30we add the meat. So the caraway is added immediately after.
00:05:34Yes, because it releases its oils,
00:05:37a more pronounced caraway taste. That's
00:05:41how we make it. We don't have a specific
00:05:44recipe.
00:05:51Now we add the beef.
00:05:53Yes.
00:05:59So, this needs to brown a little,
00:06:02just enough to change its color, because
00:06:06we don't let the meat fry
00:06:09too much, and we can add onion.
00:06:13Aha, this means the onion will not boil. We
00:06:16green onion, because if it's the season, we have it in the
00:06:19garden, this we put, not other kind of
00:06:23onion. I also add vegetables, not very
00:06:27many, because no, there is a mix of carrots, carrots and
00:06:31peppers, but we don't put too much because we don't want to
00:06:34change the taste of the goulash, we don't make
00:06:37zacuscă.
00:06:40We'll put a little salt and.
00:06:42paprika, and then we'll add water so that it
00:06:46boils. We don't put beans, only
00:06:50potatoes. Potatoes will come and dumplings,
00:06:53perfect. And as you can see, the inevitable paprika.
00:06:56Yes, and a lot of paprika. There is
00:07:00a mix with smoked paprika, very
00:07:03little, only 20%. And you also need to know
00:07:07that if you want to come here, you need to
00:07:11look for this local gastronomic point of Mrs. Ergi in Călimănel and
00:07:14make a reservation in advance. Yes, a reservation is
00:07:17needed, because Mrs. Erji also
00:07:20works.
00:07:23We have, I also have a job and then Krina makes
00:07:26the reservations and depending on how they are free, I am lucky that
00:07:30I have two days off, coming off a night shift, she
00:07:34gets to gastronomy. We will meet Krina
00:07:37a little later when the meal is
00:07:41ready and not just her.
00:07:51Let's say it's a chance and an honor for Harghita to be a European gastronomic region next year.
00:08:12many years ago, he is the executive
00:08:15manager of Visit Harghita. Why did you want to promote
00:08:19Harghita as a European gastronomic region? It all started with an
00:08:22email I received in 2023.
00:08:26Initially, before, in 2022, we had a
00:08:29thematic year of gastronomy here in Harghita
00:08:32county and then I saw that the puzzle pieces
00:08:35exist in the county, we have very very many. Books
00:08:39have appeared. We have local producers
00:08:43with the brand "Székely product". We have magazines based on
00:08:47gastronomy, so there was a vibe at that time at
00:08:51the county level, and when I received the email, I said, "Look,
00:08:55I think we can do it because we actually have the whole ecosystem
00:08:59that underlies it." And so I said, I sent an
00:09:03email to the Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and
00:09:06Tourism based in Spain and so
00:09:10we started talking.
00:09:12I understood what the project was about and I said that we
00:09:16can do it and that's how we embarked on this path. What
00:09:20do you hope will happen when, starting from January 1st,
00:09:23Harghita is a European gastronomic region? For
00:09:27us, it is rather a branding
00:09:30value, this title on which we are trying to
00:09:33build something, but without laying solid foundations, we
00:09:37cannot. So we did
00:09:40several things. original and unprecedented things that have not been
00:09:44done at a national level. First of all, we identified
00:09:4750 traditional dishes from here in
00:09:50Harghita, we call them signature dishes, and here
00:09:53there are elements of several cultures, Romanian,
00:09:57Hungarian, Székely, Armenian, etc. And we also have
00:10:00soups and main courses, etc. We will
00:10:04make a book about this in three languages, a very
00:10:08good one with descriptions, we have already photographed
00:10:10it, it is in progress. and we
00:10:13created an open farm system
00:10:16where you can visit and
00:10:20taste, try,
00:10:23caress, get to know. so this whole ecosystem
00:10:27we have 33 such certified
00:10:30locations, so we are trying to integrate the farms in the
00:10:34county into the tourist circuit at a strategic
00:10:38level. We have several conditions here, these are for
00:10:41the restaurants and gastronomic points in
00:10:44the county. One, to have on their menu elements
00:10:48of the gastronomy, gastroculture from
00:10:51here in the county. Two, to have real
00:10:55business connections with local producers and to
00:10:59be present on social media, on Instagram, Facebook,
00:11:02TikTok, etc. For now, this is in
00:11:06evaluation, 66 restaurants have applied to
00:11:10receive this distinction. I
00:11:13say that as we are at the end, surely about 40
00:11:16restaurants from this area will receive this
00:11:20distinction. We will put them on a map in digital format and in
00:11:24print format. We hope, and we are working for this, that
00:11:27Harghita county will be a stronger and more recognized
00:11:31tourist brand at a national level. I tell you, I like the project very much,
00:11:35I like the county very much, I like the people, and this is actually the main resource,
00:11:39exactly this extremely rich cultural interference,
00:11:42despite the fact that in general Harghita and Covasna, and part
00:11:46of Mureș, are associated with the Székely region, and people live with the impression that here
00:11:50there is somehow a Székely monopoly. There is indeed
00:11:53a Székely majority. It is the Székely Land, but it is
00:11:57an area of extraordinary confluence, and this is
00:12:00reflected very much in the dishes. How do you feel that
00:12:04Harghita is seen at this moment and how do you think it will
00:12:08implementation of this project? Our main asset is
00:12:11the natural setting, so we have
00:12:14elements, I would say tourist elements that are not
00:12:17recognized nationally or
00:12:20internationally. For example, it gets cool at
00:12:24night.
00:12:26So you can sleep peacefully, without the air conditioning
00:12:30on. This is an incredible tourist value, and
00:12:33this is what we want to become, to become a county, a
00:12:37tourist destination for families with gastronomy and
00:12:41multiculturalism. Good luck, rock and heart, thank you
00:12:44for your kindness.
00:12:46In the meantime, our goulash is quietly simmering
00:12:49on a low flame, and we take advantage of the break to
00:12:52explore the beauties of Harghita. Then we return to
00:12:56the table.
00:13:05I sincerely tell you that when we travel in
00:13:09Miercurea Ciuc through Gheorgheni towards Toplița, we pass through
00:13:13Ditrău, and if we want, for example, to also go towards Tulgheș, from Ditrău you can cross
00:13:16the mountain in a superb landscape towards Tulgheș. However, this Giurgeu depression
00:13:20is somehow dominated by the Ditrău church, a church with
00:13:26of rare beauty and which is practically the soul
00:13:29of the Ditrău community, a strong Catholic community.
00:13:32It is a Catholic church, it is an art monument and
00:13:36of course also a spiritual monument that you
00:13:39should not avoid, whether you are Catholic, or you have another Christian
00:13:43denomination, or perhaps even another religion, it doesn't matter, this is truly
00:13:47a spectacular place, being
00:13:50among the largest communities,
00:13:52Ditrău built
00:13:56this wonderful church in
00:13:581913.
00:14:01At that time, Ditrău, like Transylvania,
00:14:05belonged
00:14:07to Hungary, and from there came the
00:14:11engineers, designers and craftsmen. In
00:14:14the same era, the Hungarian parliament
00:14:17was built by the same architects,
00:14:20masters, craftsmen who worked on this church
00:14:24as well as in the Parliament of Budapest. It was built
00:14:27in a Neo-Gothic style, it has a
00:14:30length of 56 meters, a width
00:14:34of 23 meters and the height
00:14:37of the towers is 75 meters.
00:14:40It is the largest church here in
00:14:43the depression between Brașov and
00:14:46Cluj.
00:14:55Built in just five years from reinforced concrete and brick,
00:14:59the New Church in Ditrău is one of the most
00:15:02impressive Neo-Gothic churches in
00:15:04Transylvania.
00:15:07The 14 stained glass windows were made by the same
00:15:10workshop that created the stained glass windows of the Parliament in
00:15:13Budapest.
00:15:21The altar and wooden furniture were made by the
00:15:24workshop that built the furniture of the same
00:15:27parliament. Also in Budapest was
00:15:30built the impressive pneumatic organ, equipped with
00:15:34two keyboards and 12 registers.
00:15:38The statues in the altar are carved from Carrara marble
00:15:42and the sanctuary was painted in
00:15:441912 by the renowned painter Pauli
00:15:48Eric from Lombardy.
00:15:50All the details transform this church into a true
00:15:54jewel of Transylvanian
00:15:56heritage.
00:16:04In the church.
00:16:07Sacred Heart of Jesus, there are
00:16:11five bells and the largest
00:16:14bell weighs 2500
00:16:17kg and was cast
00:16:20in Budapest, in Walzerferens'
00:16:23workshop, which cast bells in
00:16:27several countries and during the First
00:16:30World War, in 1917,
00:16:33they broke it and threw it out
00:16:37of the tower window. The people cried down
00:16:41in front of the church and for
00:16:4499 years, almost 100
00:16:48years, we missed it, and in
00:16:502019 we managed, from
00:16:54the will of a priest
00:16:56born here in Ditrău, who died
00:17:00in America, to make
00:17:03the bell, the Sacred Heart of Jesus."
00:17:07"in Odorheiu Secuiesc, in Lazar
00:17:11Imre's workshop, and now we
00:17:14are happy to hear the sound
00:17:18of the bell, which when the sky
00:17:21is clear, can be heard in Borsec
00:17:25which is almost 60
00:17:28km from here. The big bell can
00:17:32only be in
00:17:35big churches and. "the church in Ditrău is
00:17:39huge, big, it is, when
00:17:42the church is full, then
00:17:46it can hold almost
00:17:49people, impressive. Are there still 5000 people
00:17:53in Ditrău now? Unfortunately, there are no longer 5000 people. When the
00:17:57church was built, there were
00:18:00about 6000, and
00:18:03now 3500. I invite you to
00:18:06come and visit it." to pray here, whenever you pass, as I said,
00:18:10through the Georgeului depression, between Gheorgheni and Toplița, for
00:18:14example, on this main road artery, you
00:18:17cannot not see it, in fact you see it almost everywhere, it is indeed
00:18:21immense.
00:19:11We arrived in the commune of Tulgheș to meet Lăcrămioara
00:19:15Pop. For the children in the community, she
00:19:18is the mother of the drum. For UNESCO and the Ministry
00:19:21of Culture, she is a living human treasure who transformed
00:19:25her love for the past into a lifelong
00:19:28mission.
00:19:34We forget to live beautifully, we forget to see the bird sing,
00:19:38we forget to see the flower bloom, we become sad
00:19:41people. That's what I learned from my mother,
00:19:45to see, to feel,
00:19:48well and my father, on the other hand, was
00:19:51a man who prepared us for
00:19:55life in three words:
00:19:58rather a man without honor, rather dead. No
00:20:02peonies and proud dahlias, may
00:20:05they soothe me. The flowers in
00:20:08the garden, peony and proud dahlia,
00:20:12when the neighbors desire like
00:20:14the dead,
00:20:17don't stand in front
00:20:19of the gate,
00:20:22be proud. Thursday evening at the gate
00:20:26you will be. When the moon
00:20:29and the stars'
00:20:32light rose, do not turn
00:20:35back,
00:20:38and do not spoil its
00:20:40purpose,
00:20:43green willow, willow, at the gate
00:20:47I will leave you. I will
00:20:50leave you green willow
00:20:53willow, if you see it's a full
00:20:56moon,
00:21:00look for me in
00:21:01the garden.
00:21:05The truth is that my life has always been like this, if I was sad I
00:21:08sang, if I was happy I sang, if I was
00:21:12tired I sang and that's how I
00:21:15lived. I sang doinas in the evening when I came down from the hay or when
00:21:19I missed them. I sing them, because without them
00:21:22it's not possible, it's not possible, tears, if you sing them
00:21:26they don't blind you so
00:21:28much.
00:21:34I
00:21:36go,
00:21:41the world
00:21:48remains,
00:21:50and no one cries.
00:21:53after
00:21:59me. Yes,
00:22:03the leaf in the forest in
00:22:07the field
00:22:08grass,
00:22:15oh world,
00:22:17oh.
00:22:20"Because here everything I
00:22:22will
00:22:25leave
00:22:27behind,
00:22:30oh. I had no choice but to learn to play the stringed drum because I had no
00:22:34choice, I was left without a drummer. So I took
00:22:37the drum and started to beat it and I sang and beat the drum and
00:22:40I sang and beat the drum and I ended up beating it the way I like it. I
00:22:44started to feel it and I started to feel
00:22:48the drum the way I feel doinas.
00:23:13This instrument was an instrument that was very used in Transylvania
00:23:17until the early 1900s, even. And
00:23:20after, announcements from the
00:23:23town hall were made with it, but it is an
00:23:26instrument that provided
00:23:29the rhythm for dances, at the barn, at weddings, at
00:23:32baptisms, so it was later that drums and those
00:23:36came along. It was thus found in our
00:23:40villages. The peasant drum with strings, academics call it
00:23:43a beaten cello. It is tuned to the violin, G,
00:23:46D, A, E, usually when played in the country.
00:23:50And it is beaten and the thin
00:23:54string is plucked and that's how you
00:23:58keep the rhythm. So with this drum, the ensemble was accompanied
00:24:01in all years, every Sunday until
00:24:052024,
00:24:07in 2025, and they all died and we no longer had
00:24:09any.
00:24:19I stop.
00:24:33It's a fir wood, dry fir,
00:24:37well gathered dry, meaning the wood
00:24:40to be good and durable, it must be from
00:24:44rock and it must be
00:24:48cut in
00:24:51February and if possible on a
00:24:54Thursday and if possible even better during the full
00:24:58moon, then the wood is without sap, the
00:25:01rock wood is very hard, it has
00:25:04resonance, and the grain is
00:25:06straight, so when you hit with an axe, it
00:25:10goes down, it doesn't bend.
00:25:13Don't put your hand and work,
00:25:17your services will be paid.
00:25:27I received the title of Living Human Treasure, generally for everything
00:25:31I have done over time, especially
00:25:34for the fact that I know how to play
00:25:37this instrument on the verge of extinction and
00:25:41vocally and what else I do, I write, I
00:25:44also match verses, I also take care of the amateur
00:25:48artistic ensemble, I
00:25:51opened the museum,
00:25:53but tell
00:25:57me,
00:25:59Lord, I have
00:26:03come.
00:26:07Oh, the fate with
00:26:10which
00:26:14I have come,
00:26:16oh.
00:26:22You have the cross in my
00:26:25honor.
00:26:28I have carried it.
00:26:32Oh.
00:26:33Tell
00:26:37me,
00:26:38Lord,
00:26:42either I have ruined
00:26:45my
00:26:48destiny,
00:26:50oh. But
00:26:53after
00:26:56the world, I will
00:26:58not
00:27:00mourn.
00:27:05Nor will I shed
00:27:07tears.
00:27:11Oh.
00:27:17Come when I
00:27:19miss you,
00:27:22if I look,
00:27:24oh,
00:27:28dear world.
00:27:35"Leave a mark
00:27:37on
00:27:40earth,
00:27:41oh.
00:27:44I am a living human treasure of spirituality, for me it is an
00:27:47honor to know that I am protected by UNESCO. I didn't
00:27:51know that
00:27:54my way of being could eventually become a treasure.
00:27:58The fact that I was named a living human
00:28:01treasure put some heavy responsibilities on me, and
00:28:05since I received the title, I've been wondering if I've done my
00:28:08duty. You know there was a parable that deeds, not words.
00:28:12So let my deeds speak for me, I don't like to say if, yes, I did it, I
00:28:16strive, I have an ensemble, I take care of it, even though I'm alone now, I
00:28:19struggle because I no longer have a band, we
00:28:22no longer have people who can play
00:28:24live.
00:28:31Well,
00:29:16I founded the Tulgheș Amateur Artistic Ensemble in
00:29:202008 because it was my project promise when
00:29:24I started working. This year, I completed 18 years of ensemble,
00:29:27I think over 200 children have passed through in a commune of
00:29:313000 inhabitants.
00:29:53Tradition is everything we are,
00:29:57it is our culture, for every people, the culture of a
00:30:01people is what you learned from
00:30:04your own. My mother had a beautiful saying, "My
00:30:08boys, grow up and
00:30:11come back defeated, but don't come home with justice in your pocket either."
00:30:51We, parents today, need to learn that you can
00:30:55kiss children when they're awake, not just when they're sleeping, because our
00:30:58parents used to say that they didn't