Where were Romanian mitites invented? Beyond the origins that some look for in the area of Turkey and Serbia, the little neaos have become a distinct dish, but also a true national symbol. Their story began a little over 150 years ago, in a restaurant on Covaci Street in Bucharest’s Old Center.
Where were Romanian mitites invented? Who baptized them so? Small recipe since 1872
Although their “roots” are, according to some historians, philologists, but also culinary experts, in the Ottoman Empire, with ramifications towards the area of Serbia, the Romanian minis – or mitites – have been, for a long time, a totally distinct product from its “cousins” balkans.
The meat, the spices and the method of preparation make the small Romanian a practically original product. Kind of like Radăuța soup compared to belly soup.
You will not find the simultaneous use of pork, garlic, and bicarbonate anywhere, no matter what anyone says.
And their story begins about 150 years ago, in a restaurant at number 3 of Covaci Street – formerly Oituz, between 1938-1940, during the reign of King Carol II.
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Here, around 1859, Costantin I. Ionescu, a boy who fled to Bucharest at only 14 years of age, opened a tavern from the Bărăganului fire in Ciochina Ialomiței.
For ten years he had collected money working as an apprentice at a large spirits merchant, after which he started his own business, with the restaurant “La trei frunze de vită”.
Towards the year 1875, it seems that “nea Costică” left the business, which had begun to “boom”, in the hands of the younger nephew, Iordache.
Covaci Street, no. 3, the place where the little Romanians were “born” – Photo: Newsweek
After that, the place was called “Restaurantul Iordache N. Ionescu”, according to the advertisements of the time, but people simplified it, calling it directly “La Iordache”.
Gone was the “boom” of the delicious food that was devoured with gusto here, and Iordache did not disappoint them, especially since the program was non-stop.
The clients were various, among them Eminescu and Caragiale were often found, but also the journalist NT Orășanu, also called Nichipercea, after the name of the newspaper in which he fought.
The man also had humor and irony and imagination, but also the position of police commissioner of the Red District.
At that time, city sectors did not have numbers, but colors. And “Red” was even the most important sector, including the central area of the city, including the street with Iordache’s tavern.
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But something else interests us at Orășanu. He was the “godfather” of the Mititei, as Constantin Bacalbașa says, in “București de alţodătă”, the work that includes the small and large events that happened in the Capital during over four decades, until 1914.
One day, the story goes, the idea came to Orăşanu to compile an original vocabulary with the products and dishes that were served at “La Iordache”. Said and done.
And, at some point, among the ingenious nicknames found for the dishes, there is also that of “mititei”, given to the “small sausages” on the menu.
“The list of dishes started with brandy, followed by the other preparations and ended with the wines. Here are some of these nicknames: Tuica: An idea. Water: A natural. Bread: Abundance. Toothpick: A bayonet. Red pepper: A torpedo. Sauerkraut: Origin from Belgrade. Ice: Siberian cream.
They were following; Small sausages: Mititei. Large sausage with skin: Patrician. Fleica: An innocent. Turkish coffee: A taifas. A liter of wine with a bottle of borviz: A battery. The glasses that accompanied the battery: Half platoons. Cutlery: Regulation. Payment: Protocol. Etc”, writes jurnalul.ro.
Of all these names, all have gradually died out, only two have survived.
NT Orășanu, the “godfather” of the Mitites – Photo: Archive
Moreover, they were adopted in all restaurants, gardens, pubs, bodegas; these are the battery and the mitites.
And if the “battery” of wine kind of disappeared from the language of Romanians, after 1990, that of mititei/mici remained to face the centuries.
Now, the legend says that the moment of the appearance of the little ones, still unbaptized by Orășanu, was on an evening when Iordache ran out of food for the tasty sausages that he always made on the grill.
It is not known who had the idea, Iorache or his chef, but as the customers kept ordering food, the grill of the tavern was touched, for the first time, by the sausage paste without the “clothing” of the matz.
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The solution found in the desperation of the cause turned out to be to everyone’s taste, so those “small sausages” made their way into the restaurant’s menu. Only then, NT Orășanu would nickname him “mitita”.
Very likely, the first generations of small/little ones didn’t have the look they have now, certainly not the taste either.
First of all, because, in the beginning, bicarbonate was not used – which was introduced in the recipe around 1902 – so they looked closer to the Serbian loc variant, “mici-mici”.
In addition, it seems that, initially, the meat used was only beef – which cannot compete with pork, as it is used now – as NT Orășanu’s small recipe also shows, also recorded by Constantin Bacalbașa in the mentioned work.
Constantin Bacalbaşa – Photo: Archive
NT Orășanu’s small recipe from 1872, recorded by Constantin Bacalbașa:
“Soft beef is taken, especially from the back of the neck, as well as from the leg, in equal quantities. Cut into pieces, add thin cow tallow (i.e. butter), cut in the same way and mix.
200 g of lard is added to 2 kg of meat, salted, mixed well and chopped with a machine, first passed through a thicker sieve, then through a finer sieve.
You close the mince in a waterproof cloth and place it in crushed ice, where it stays for at least 5-6 hours.
After taking it out of the ice, put it in a saucepan and add cumin and crushed allspice in the amount of 30 gr.
Then have a bowl with strained meat juice and garlic, from which you can add the mince while you knead it and the meat binds well.
Then you attach a pump to the mincing machine with which you form the sausages (mitites), turning the machine’s crank; with one hand you spin and with the other you grab the sausage as long as you want it.
Then you grill them over high heat, the grill being hot. While roasting, brush them with a pan dipped in gravy. When it swells, the sausage (small or mititelu – nn) is ready.”
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