22: Party Time Masa

In addition to the necessity to dance the hora or have traditional Moldovan folk music playing another essential part of any event you might plan is the obvious inclusion of a meal, or as it is called in Moldova, a masa.

I'll never be confused for a professional photographer.

But I think you can get the basic idea. Essentially there is an assortment of food, drinks, more food, and more drinks.

But instead of having one dish and having to pass it all over the very long table they have many plates holding the same thing, and the drinks kind of mark the boundary line to a repetition of the same dishes. Take this example (working my way left to right) you have a plate of fried chicken and placinta, a plate of boneless chicken, carrots, minced meat patties, and squash, a plate of bread smeared with mayonnaise and topped with caviare, a bowl of cooked mushrooms and fresh vegetables, a plate of fruit, a plate of cucumbers and cheese, a plate of processed meats, a plate of candy, cookies, and cake, and finally a plate of rolled crepes with fruit in the center and topped with sour cream. And lastly, I want everyone to take note of the amount of bread that was put on everyones plate. Four slices.  A meal in and of itself.

Yes...that's right I said caviare. 

And like I said what would a party be if it didn't have people dancing the hora?

Also I discussed the fine art of trying to leave a masa, or praznic, in this blogpost.