Piftie

A more traditional southern "piftie"

One of my Romanian friends on social media commented on a photo I posted recently that I had fixed “racituri.” It was a photo of a pork roast with vegetables which is normally served hot. I had no idea what “racituri” was, so I had to look it up. The dictionary told me that it is “crayfish.” I know that “raci” means “crayfish,” but these online dictionaries are not particularly good.

“Racituri” must have the root of “rece,” “cold,” meaning portions of something cold with small cuts of meat mixed inside gelatin derived from slow-boiling specific cuts of meat and bones, and served with any meal, including breakfast.

The best “racitura” or “piftie” as it was known in southern Romania where I am from, is made from the feet, tongue, and the head of a pig, raw meat deboned and the bone itself. Some cooks recommend that ingredients can be substituted with bones from turkey, rooster, or beef. The bone marrow extracted from boiling larger bones was also highly prized for its nutritional value and taste.

My parents were poor like most Romanians and could not afford many specialties that adorned the tables of the well-to-do communists, but mom made “piftie” at Christmas time and for the New Year’s Eve meal. It was cheap and easy to make.

“Piftie” had to be salted properly and contained lots of freshly chopped garlic, enough to send Count Dracula and other vampires into a tizzy. The resulting dish was served as an appetizer or a meal, with “sarmale” (ground pork wrapped in pickled cabbage or grape leaves) and “mamaliga” (a mushy grits-like polenta made from specially ground corn meal, salt, water, and butter).

“Piftie” was made by slow-boiling meat, bones, and cartilage for hours. When it cooled, it turned into a gelatinous mass containing pieces of meat. While hot, it could be poured into a beautifully shaped dish, giving it a certain aesthetic flare when it cooled.

It certainly worked wonders for one’s nails, which hardened nicely. I am not sure about the nutritional content, but it was a way to pacify the masses when large pieces of meat were not available to provide the family with necessary protein.

There was one advantage to having such a dearth of food and necessities – nothing needed preservatives because it never stayed any length of time on grocery shelves. Not having to ingest chemical preservatives in food was beneficial.

I am not sure how the phrase “sa faci pe cineva piftie” emerged. It means to beat someone hard, into a gelatinous pulp, resulting in shaking like quivering, colorless Jell-O.

The “pfitie” dish supported skin, hair, and nail growth during shortage times when vitamins and mineral supplements were not available for purchase because the communists were not good at planning or running an economy at all and everything was in truly short supply all the time. It was a constant daily struggle to find food and necessities that we take for granted under capitalism.

Mom also made soup from chicken feet which had no edible meat, it was just skin and tendons. But declawed feet could be boiled into a broth, could be ingredient in a stew, and, if cooked properly, could be chewed.

Chicken feet are natural sources of glucosamine and chondroitin that support joint health and mobility. We did not know this at the time or that 100 g of boiled chicken feet contained 19 g of protein and the broth contained traces of hyaluronic acid which promotes eye health.

As an American, I have never fixed “piftie” or boiled chicken feet because the memory of having to eat such dishes brings back feelings I would rather leave alone. It was not a treat to me and would never be a Christmas tradition. “Piftie” was a dish served cold by the necessity of avoiding starvation under the communist rule and their inability or desire to supply people with proper food. And the smell of boiled chicken feet turned my stomach.

 

A more aesthetic "piftie"