Gastronomy historian Mircea Groza reported how the peasants tried to trick him with Olten tomatoes, which are actually from Italy. He knows the market very well and says that the warehouses in Cluj are full of tomatoes from “outside” at the price of 9 lei, which reach 35 lei on the shelves in the market.
“OLTENEST REDS”
We called them that at the time when we found them in the markets of Transylvania, brought even by the people of Olteni, they being the producers. That was after 2000…
You couldn’t find them before July. They were very tasty and those who brought them were happy to finish the sale quickly because the tomatoes were quite perishable. They were not very large quantities. One of the people from Olten who came every year to the market in Zalău told me that his family hires a car, “a van”, with which he brings the crates of tomatoes, carefully arranged, puts newspapers between the layers. Some of the crates stayed in Cluj and the others came to us in the city. After 3-4 years we already knew each other well. Towards autumn they also brought peppers, cucumbers, green beans and melons.
Some tomatoes are improperly called “Oltenesti”. We call them that only because they were brought to the Transylvanian markets by producers from Olten, Teleorman, etc.
They are actually tomatoes of the ‘PREKOS’ variety. Those red “cheeky” ones.
Yesterday I saw in a shop on my street the same tomatoes as those in the market. The label clearly says that they are from Italy and the price is 17.99 lei. In another store nearby, the same, “Italy tomatoes, 16.80 lei. In the market, the label says “Oltenesti tomatoes” and the price is 35 lei.
The same tomato!
I strongly support the local producers, the honest ones! I always buy from farmers I know and know to be fair. Unfortunately, they are fewer and fewer.
But I can’t accept being lied to! To be told that there are “Oltenia” tomatoes on the stall when I know precisely that there, in Oltenia, there are no tomatoes for sale yet. And they do this to justify the high prices.
I have information from those who are in the field that these Bulgarian-Dutch Prekos tomatoes are in wholesale warehouses in Romania and the price is around 9 lei! Of course, there is a surcharge like at any retailer, but from 9 lei to 35 seems excessive to me. It seems that the prices are even higher in the markets of Bucharest. Especially since these tomatoes are not of the best quality due to the growth supplements they are treated with.
But most buyers think they are “Olten reds”.
Don’t you find it curious that these days in the markets of Zalău and Cluj we still don’t meet the real sellers of “Olten tomatoes”? You mean the Oltenians? They will only come when they have their tomatoes, their production, many times of quality!
And I have another puzzlement. Who checks the quality of the products on the stalls in the Romanian markets. “Bio”, “organic”, “traditional” labels are popping up everywhere. Who certifies these qualifications? Who checks the producers and guarantees that their products are really “organic”. I asked at Zalău and ANPC and DSV how a product on the market can be checked if it is infested with pesticides, for example. I was clearly told that this cannot be done in our city, “maybe in Cluj”…
I once tried to find out who can determine and guarantee that the famous magiun, our traditional “silvoita”, does not contain added sugar in the preparation. “It’s not possible here in Zalău…maybe in Cluj, try USAMV…”.
But in all the markets they tell you it’s sugar-free!
Really, who takes care of us? Who protects us? Are they specialists in this field? It should be in every market, including the necessary amenities.
That’s my opinion“.
From the images below you can see that the specula in the markets is much higher than the one in the supermarket. Most likely, those who sell there have nothing to do with agricultural production and are small samsari, buying and selling on specula.
Tags: Oltenesti tomatoes sold Cluj Italy gastronomic historian criticizes dishonest peasants accept lied PHOTO
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