Non-fasting menu for memorial meals
For days without fasting. The Moldavian cooking expected at a memorial meal — soup, sarmale, roast, colivă and colaci.
The non-fasting menu is the one people expect at a memorial meal: sour soup, sarmale with polenta and sour cream, a roast and a dessert. We don't try to make it different from what's proper. We make it well.
Cold starters
- Platter of cheeses and house-cured meats
- Aubergine salad
- Stuffed eggs
- Tomatoes, cucumbers and pickles
Soup
- Ciorbă rădăuțeană
- Meatball soup
- Moldavian borscht with smoked pork knuckle
Main course
- Sarmale in vine leaves, with polenta and sour cream
- Roast pork with country potatoes
- Oven-baked chicken with vegetables
- Braised cabbage with smoked meat
Colivă, colaci and dessert
- Colivă
- Colaci
- Homemade cozonac
- Sweet cheese pie
The dishes below are a starting proposal. The menu is put together with you, over the phone — things get swapped, removed and added as you need.
When the meal is non-fasting
When the memorial falls on a day without fasting — not a Wednesday, not a Friday, and not inside one of the long fasts. That's when the meal people expect at a memorial is served.
Because the memorial date is fixed and the fasts move, the same memorial falls outside a fast one year and inside it the next. Tell us the date and we'll check together.
The order of the courses
It starts with the cold starters — the platter of cheeses and cured meats, aubergine salad, stuffed eggs, pickles. Then the soup, a sour one: ciorbă rădăuțeană, meatball soup, or Moldavian borscht with smoked pork knuckle.
The main course is usually sarmale with polenta and sour cream, or a roast with potatoes. At the end, colivă, colaci and a dessert — homemade cozonac or sweet cheese pie.
We don't try to make the menu different from what's proper at a memorial. Everyone knows the pattern, and a meal that departs from it draws attention exactly when it shouldn't.
How much per person
People eat less at a memorial meal than at a party — they sit for an hour or two, not until evening. The quantity is often overestimated, and half the food leaves in packages.
That isn't a waste: the packages go to those who can't stay anyway. But if you'd rather nothing is left over, tell us and we'll calculate more tightly.
Frequently asked
What families ask us
Are the sarmale made in vine or cabbage leaves?
Whichever you ask for. In Moldova they're usually made in vine leaves, smaller, and that's what's expected at a memorial — but if the family wants cabbage, we make cabbage.
Can the main course be changed?
Yes. The list above is a starting proposal, not a fixed package. Tell us what you'd like instead and we'll recompose it.
What if some guests are fasting?
We prepare lenten portions separately, for however many there are. Tell us the number when you order.
Is colivă served at a non-fasting meal too?
Yes. Colivă and colaci are made at any memorial, whether the day is a fasting one or not.
Real examples
This is what the non-fasting menu looks like
Soup, portioned 
Chicken with pilaf