Mica Ilinca

WHO IS MICA ILINCA?

'Mica Ilinca' started as child's play in 1983 when Ilinca's father Gheorghe, who was a forester in the Nemira Mountains took Ilinca with him to the forest to pick fruits from 'the heart of nature'. Ilinca carried this love of nature, inspired by the infancy in her soul and later managed to transform a childhood dream and the places where she wandered into delicacies from the heart of the Nemira Mountains.

WHERE ARE THEY?

Although they don't quite make the catchment of the Transylvanian region, they are so close that we just couldn't miss them out! The Nemira Mountains, where the produce is collected, are a mountain group of the Moldo-Transylvanian Carpathians - where part of the mountain range lies in Moldova and the other part lies in Transylvania, crossing over the counties of Covasna, Harghita and Bacău. The Nemira Mountains themselves are located in County Bacău, very much neighbours of Transylvania.

WHAT DO THEY DO?

Mica Ilinca are small batch producers of traditional, Romanian foods including jam, vegetable preserves and fruit syrups. Their production is based on preserving raw materials from natural crops of fruits and vegetables or spontaneous mountain flora. All of their delicacies are made in the traditional way in a cauldron style pan, known as a 'ceaun' over a wood fire. The only other equipment used is the hands of the employees.

THE PRODUCE...

All of their products are 100% natural with absolutely no use of preservatives or additives. The jams are boiled at a low temperature with a minimal amount of sugar to ensure the vitamins, aroma and colour of the fruits are preserved. They limit their production capacity to 300 jars a day to ensure only quality products are made, that meet the requirements of their customers.

The range includes the move loved and cherished green walnut jam along with strawberry, elderberry, raspberry, blackberry and chilli jam, truffle and porcini 'zacusca' and honey mushroom 'zacusca' along with the traditional Romanian beetroot & horseradish salad.