I arrived in Romania in the midst of autumn, at the height of grape harvesting season. When I was in Cluj, my friend Maria had some grapes that with one glance and one sniff I immediately recognised. These were the same grapes that I'd grown-up eating off the vines of our neighbour, old "Gramma Rosa." Years ago, when Rosa moved away from her house in Courtland (she has long since passed away), her granddaughter purchased the house. Unfortunately one of the changes the new owners made was to completely remove Rosa's extensive gardens, including the vines that bore these grapes. Our family salvaged a few of the vines and replanted them, but until the last year, these vines did not produce much fruit because they were in too shaded an area (I once again transplanted them last Fall, and this year they showed signs of once again producing delicious grapes). So I was very surprised to see and smell (and eventually taste) these same grapes in Maria's dormitory room in Cluj (she'd brought some with her from her parents' garden). A few days later, back in Baia Mare, I could smell the unique fragrance of these grapes as I walked the streets. Clearly they are widespread here, and I was privately amazed that I'd come once again into contact with this fruit. You see, despite growing up eating these grapes, I'd never seen them available anywhere else -- until I came to Romania....
Fast forward a month, to two weeks ago. I received an email message from my parents in Courtland passing along greetings from Gramma Rosa's granddaughter, Suzie, who was curious where exactly I'm located in Romania. She was particularly curious if I was anywhere near "Sutmar," because this, she said, is where Gramma Rosa immigrated to Canada from. I was amazed! I'd grown-up believing that Gramma Rosa was Hungarian because she spoke the Hungarian language. So I was rather surprised to learn that in fact she was actually Hungarian-Romanian.... Small world, I thought! Well, I took a look at my map of Romania, and not finding any "Sutmar" listed, I went to the internet to see if this was a Hungarian translation of a Romanian city/town. Sure enough, I discovered that "Sutmar" is a bastardized spelling of "Szatmar," which is the Hungarian word for the city of Satu Mare. Satu Mare is only about an hour by car from Baia Mare, and is something like a rival city in the Maramures district. Small world indeed!
So this new knowledge relating to the coincidences of my past got me to thinking again about those grapes. Could Rosa have brought seeds or branches to Canada with her and replanted them there? I suspect now that she did, and that gets me to wondering how many of her other fruits and vegetables in her once huge garden were transplants from Maramures. She often brought extra fruits and vegetables to us, so I'd long ago had a taste of northwestern Romania, so it seems. It's a pity Rosa is not still alive today (nor her gardens), as I'd love to speak with her about this.
I've since asked some students to help me with finding out more information about Rosa's grapes... the same variety so common here in Baia Mare and Maramures.... With the help of Catalina, Anamaria, and Cosmin, I have learned the following:
Apparently within 10 years the EU has dictated that all traces of these grapes must be removed. I wonder how much of this is politics, and how much of this is actually health related. The smell and taste of these grapes are very distinctive, and not at all like typical table or wine grapes I've encountered. I for one very much enjoy the flavour of this fruit, and have fond memories particularly of the jelly my Mother used to make from them. I can't imagine how the EU will police the phasing out of Roşcă vines, as if Baia Mare is any indication, this variety of grapes is extremely widespread in northern Romania.
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