Discover Moldova with #MOLDPRES: Gastronomic tourism with special dishes at Slobozia Mare

Maria Minciuna is a gifted housewife from the Slobozia Mare village, Caul district. Aunt Masha, just as the local residents and her clients call her, has turned her passion for gastronomy into a business. The tinned vegetables, jams, sauces and delicious beverages made by Aunt Masha conquered the taste of visitors.  

The gastronomic workshop At Aunt Masha 

Maria Minciuna from Slobozia Mare endowed her gastronomic workshop with the help of the European Union.

Maria Minciuna is a gifted housewife from the Slobozia Mare village, Caul district. Aunt Masha, just as the local residents and her clients call her, has turned her passion for gastronomy into a business. The tinned vegetables, jams, sauces and delicious beverages made by Aunt Masha conquered the taste of visitors.  

In her pantry, one can find a true explosion of tastes, beginning with fig jams, acacia flowers, common elder, up to cherry tomatoes jam and  delicious beverages made of berries.   

Aunt Masha got a grant worth 4,200 euros within the EU4Moldova: Focal Regions programme, financed by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). With the grant’s sources, Maria Minciuna purchased equipment for the endowment of the gastronomic workshop (kitchen ranges working on wood, chopper, dish washing machine, balance). Also, the trademark, Tanti Masha (Aunt Masha) was registered.      

Tourists stay in queues to taste culinary delights

The tradition and innovation have found their place in the kitchen of the housewife and the guests and tourists stay in queues to taste from culinary delights.     

Moreover, guests can learn to cook couscous from south Moldova, ground-pepper. The housewife is proud to continue the traditions inherited and open the doors of her house for tourists willing to enjoy themselves with traditional dishes and admire unique artifacts from the southern region.   

The Slobozia Mare settlement has become famous due to the households of the Minciuna family. Housewife Maria Minciuna has her gastronomic workshop, At Aunt Masha, placed at an edge of the village, and at the other edge of the village, her son, Nicolae Minciuna, founder his own business – the Wine Cellar, Pana Estate. The Minciuna family makes available accommodation services to tourists. Mother’s passion for cooking and children’s passion for vine-growing provides guests with wonderful vacation.         

Recipes preserved ever since childhood  

Maria Minciuna has no note book for recipes, but has been keeping them in mind since her childhood. During 40 years, she has been cooking for thousands of guests, at various parties. Yet, in the last several years, the housewife was receiving guests just at her home. The unparalleled jams she cooks are the stars of the workshop. Maria Minciuna says that, for her wish to experiment new recipes, she has got to make jams of pepper, figs, common elder flowers, acacia flowers and even out of cherry tomatoes.      

The EU4Moldova: Focal Regions programme (2019-2024) supports the intelligent, inclusive and sustainable development in the Cahul and Ungheni regions, in order to provide citizens with a better quality of life. The programme has an overall budget of 23 million euros, is financed by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UNICEF.    

(According to UNDP)