1.5 kg. urdă (ricotta) cheese, 1 cup rice, 2 bunches scallions, 3 bunches fresh dill, 2 kg. sorrel leaves, 1 fist-sized ball butter, 3-4 tbs. flour, 1 pitcher sour cream, 2 cups borş**, 1 bowl tomato juice, salt, pepper.

Pass the cheese through a grinder. Add 1 bunch chopped scallions and the dill, also chopped. Mix in the boiled rice and add salt and pepper to taste. Separately, sauté the other bunch of chopped scallions in butter and add to the cheese mixture. Wash the sorrel leaves, then scald them quickly in boiling water. Put a small amount of the cheese mixture on each leaf, and roll each one into the shape of a small sausage, tucking in the ends to seal in the contents. Butter a baking dish, place some sorrel leaves on the bottom, and arrange a layer of stuffed leaves in a circle to cover the bottom of the dish. If there are remaining stuffed sorrel leaves, cover the bottom layer with another layer of plain leaves, and make another layer of stuffed leaves on top. Pour a mixture of borş and tomato juice over them and let simmer over a low flame. Prepare a white sauce with melted butter, flour and milk, and add to the stuffed leaves after the initial sauce has cooked down. Serve piping hot with sour cream and hot mămăligă. They are tastier yet if accompanied by a glass of red wine.

Informant: Maria Mercioiu, Arcani village, Gorj county, 1984

English version by Felicia MARPOZAN

Footnotes by Scott TINNEY