Romanian cuisine. Transylvanian apple pie

Romanian cuisine has evolved under the influence of many countries and their traditions. The Ottoman Empire, as well as Romania's neighbors - Bulgaria, Serbia, Moldova, Germany, Hungary, had a great influence.

It is curious that in Romanian cuisine there are quite a few dishes that are combined under one general term. For example, the ciorbă category includes a wide range of soups with a characteristic sour taste, which are prepared with the addition of a special borsh sourdough. The category Țuică (plum brandy) is the common name for strong alcohol in Romania, while in other countries each flavor has a different name.

In ancient times, the territory of modern Romania was inhabited by the Dacians. Winemaking was very developed in Dacia, wine was produced in large quantities. One day, Burebista, king of Dacia, outraged by the abuse of wine by his soldiers, cut down all the grapes and his people refused wine. Legend has it that the Dacian people created their own beer. The basis of the diet of the Dacians were cheeses, vegetables (lentils, peas, spinach, garlic), fruits (grapes, apples, raspberries) with high nutritional value. From the Romans, the Dacians borrowed porridge from various varieties of millet. As well as an ideal dough with the addition of cheese, which is used to prepare appropriate pastries (brânzoaică, pască and alivenci), reminiscent of cottage cheese casseroles, cheesecakes.

For more than four centuries, Wallachia and Moldavia, two medieval Romanian principalities, were heavily influenced by their eastern neighbor, the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman cuisine fundamentally changed Romanian cuisine, introducing many new dishes: appetizers made from various vegetables such as eggplant and sweet peppers; various meat dishes such as chifte (chiftele - deep-fried meat balls, a variation of kofta) and miti (mici - short grilled sausages without casings). Various types of chorba (ciorbă / borş - sour soups) and meat and vegetable stews such as iahni de fasole (iahnie de fasole - baked beans), ardei umpluți (ardei umpluți - stuffed peppers) and sarmale (sarmale - stuffed cabbage). All these dishes appeared and took root under the influence of Turkish cuisine. Romanian tomato salad is a type of Turkish choban salad (çoban salata). There is also a whole range of sweets and confectionery products that combine honey and nuts, such as baklava (baclava), halva (halva) and rahat (rahat). All these are desserts of Turkish origin.

Featured Products

plant food

After the appearance of corn and potatoes in Europe, they became the main products of Romanian cuisine. Corn, in particular, contributed to the improvement in the quality of nutrition and health of the Romanian population in the 16th and 17th centuries, which led to a boom in the birth rate and an increase in the population.

Meat and fish

Pork is the main meat used in Romanian cuisine. Beef is also consumed, and in Romania they will not refuse a good lamb or fish dish.

Dairy

Cheese has been known in Romanian cuisine since ancient times. Brynza (Brânză) is the common name for cheese in Romanian. The word comes from the Dacian language.

Most cheeses are made from cow's or sheep's milk. Goat milk is rarely used. Sheep cheese is considered "real cheese", although some people have recently refrained from consuming it due to its higher fat content and peculiar smell.

Brynza de burduf (Brânză de burduf) is a salty cheese made from sheep's milk and stuffed into the stomach of sheep. It has a strong flavor and a semi-soft texture.

Brynza topita (Brânză topită) is the common name for all processed cheeses.

Brynza in cosulet (Brānză în coşuleţ) is a salty type of cheese made from sheep's milk, traditional for Transylvania. It has a strong aroma and a semi-soft texture. To obtain it, sweet Kash (Caş) is cut into small pieces, salted, and then kneaded by hand in a large wooden bowl. Then the mixture is spread with the bark of coniferous trees, due to which the cheese receives a specific aroma of pine resin. The name translates as cheese in a basket.

Kaş is a semi-soft fresh white cheese, unsalted or lightly salted, stored in brine. It is eaten fresh due to its very short shelf life. It is a seasonal product of Romanian cuisine.

Caşcaval is a semi-hard cheese made from sheep's or cow's milk, a traditional Romanian product.

Nasal is a type of cheese with a pungent flavor.

Telemea is a white cheese made from cow's or sheep's milk, similar to feta. The traditional "Telemea de Ibăneşti" is flavored with black damask seeds, which gives it a unique flavor.

Vurda (Urdă) - prepared by boiling whey obtained from cow or sheep milk. Its closest relative is ricotta.

Spices

The most commonly used spices are basil, savory, thyme, zira, coriander, cloves, bay leaf, dry dill, parsley, parsnip, rosemary, tarragon, cinnamon, vanilla.

Traditional dishes

Bread

Cornulețe are crescent-shaped pastries filled with Turkish sweets, jam, chocolate, brown sugar, walnuts or raisins, also called Romanian bagels.

Covrigi (Covrigi) - Romanian traditional pastry in the form of pretzels or pretzels, is a salty bread covered with poppy seeds, sesame seeds or large salt grains. Carpets are a popular snack in the urban areas of Romania and also serve as a holiday gift in the countryside. The city of Buzau is famous in Romania for its rugs. Although legend has it that Greek merchants brought kovrigi to Buzău in the 19th century to increase the consumption of their wine, their resemblance to German pretzels, as well as other Romanian pastries, points to a much earlier origin.

Cozonaci is a traditional Romanian pastry made from yeast dough, which is prepared for Easter. An analogue of our cake.

Brânzoaice are traditional Romanian buns stuffed with sweet cheese.

Soups

Chorba (ciorbă) is a group of soups prepared on the basis of sourdough from fermented wheat bran (Borş). The word borsh is also used today as a synonym for chorba, but in the past there was a significant difference between borsh and chorba. The basis for the latter was the juices of unripe fruits such as grapes, yellow plums or wood sorrel leaves.

• Ciorbă is a traditional Romanian sour soup.
• Ciorbă de burtă - tripe chorba seasoned with sour cream.
• Ciorbă de perişoare - soup with meatballs.
• Ciorbă de fasole cu afumătură - chorba made from beans and smoked meats.
• Ciorbă de legume - bean vegetable soup.
• Ciorbă de peşte "ca-n Deltă" - fish chorba.
• Ciorbă de praz - leek soup.
• Ciorbă de pui - chicken chorba.
• Ciorbă de lobodă is a light red vegetable soup. They are eaten both hot and cold.
• Ciorbă de salată cu afumătură - green salad chorba with smoked meats.
• Ciorbă de sfeclă is beetroot soup, also called Russian borscht (Borş rusesc).
• Ciorbă de urechiuşe is a sour wild mushroom soup.
• Ciorbă moldovenească de găină - Moldavian chicken chorba.
• Ciorbă ăărănească - a peasant soup made from various vegetables and any type of meat (beef, pork, lamb, chicken, fish)

Soupa (Supă) is a common name for sweet, clear soups made with vegetables alone or combined with poultry or beef. The difference between soup and chorba is that in the first case, the meat and most of the vegetables are removed, and the broth is seasoned with noodles or meatballs.

• Supă (de pui) cu găluşte is a clear chicken broth with dumplings.
• Supă (de pui) cu tăiţei - clear chicken broth with noodles.

Greek soups (Supe a la grec) are a variant of sour soups that use lemon juice as a dressing.

Main dishes

Hominy (mămăligă) is one of the most common dishes, it is a cornmeal dish, a type of polenta, served on its own or as a side dish.

Drob (Drob de Miel) - a traditional Romanian dish of lamb offal (liver, lungs, spleen, heart, kidneys), with the addition of green onions, herbs (dill, parsley, garlic), eggs (boiled or fresh) and bread soaked in water or milk. Boiled offal is crushed, mixed with the rest of the ingredients and wrapped in an omentum. The shot is similar to the Scottish haggis, with the difference that the haggis is boiled in a sheep's stomach and does not contain as many herbs as in the Romanian version. This dish is usually prepared for the Easter table.

Karnatsi (Cârnaţi) - smoked garlic pork sausages.

Kaltabosh - liver sausage.

Sangrete (Sângerete) - black pudding, sausage, obtained from a mixture of pork blood with fat and meat, with the addition of crackers, grains and spices.

Chiftele are flat round meatballs from Romanian traditional cuisine. Chiftele is usually made from minced pork, mixed with mashed potatoes and spices, then fried. Chiftele is served with plov or mashed potatoes.

Cuilama is a dish that has taken root in Romanian cuisine. However, it originates in Turkish cuisine (çullama). It is prepared from meat (especially poultry) or mushrooms in a white sauce, which is made from flour with onions fried in fat.

Frigarui (Frigărui) is a Romanian dish consisting of small pieces of meat (usually pork, beef, lamb, mutton or chicken) grilled on a skewer, similar to a kebab. Often cuts of meat are alternated with bacon, sausages, or vegetables such as onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, and mushrooms.

Mititei (Mititei) - Romanian sausages without a casing, prepared from minced meat (a mixture of beef, lamb and pork) with spices (garlic, black pepper, thyme, coriander, anise, savory) and with the addition of baking soda and broth. Usually served with french fries, mustard and muraturi (Romanian pickles).

Ostropel (Ostropel) - a typical Romanian stew (mostly chicken, but there are options with rabbit meat, lamb or even vegetarian, without meat), mixed with a thick tomato sauce, with the addition of garlic or onions. A national Romanian dish that has no analogues in other cuisines of the world.

Rasol is a traditional Romanian dish of meat and vegetables boiled together. Pork or chicken is usually used as meat, vegetables (potatoes, carrots, onions) are boiled whole with meat. When serving, meat and vegetables are pulled out of the broth and eaten with garlic sauce or horseradish.

Parzhoale (Pârjoale) - Romanian dry pork meatballs (sometimes with lamb, beef or chicken), mixed with eggs, garlic, herbs (parsley, dill, thyme), spices and salt. The resulting meatballs are rolled in breadcrumbs or flour and fried in hot oil.

Toba (Tobă) is a traditional Romanian meat delicacy, originally from Transylvania. It is also called pig's head cheese. It is a wide sausage, about 10 cm in diameter, the pig's stomach is stuffed with pork jelly, liver, ears and meat from the pig's head.

Tochitură is a stew of pork, smoked and fresh sausage dipped in tomato sauce and served with hominy and wine (“so that the pork can swim”). Many variations of this stew exist in Romania, with some variants combining different types of meat, including chicken, lamb, beef, pork, and sometimes offal.

Piftie / rachitura (Piftie / răcitură) - aspic from pig offal (mainly tail, legs and ears), seasoned with garlic.

Jumari - deep fried pieces of lard (greaves) seasoned with various spices.

Saramura (Saramură) is a traditional Romanian dish made from different types of fish that are grilled (sometimes in a bed of salt) and then soaked, sprinkled or boiled in brine. Served with vegetables, hominy, polenta. The word Saramură means pickle.

Salads and appetizers

Appetizer (Zacuscă) is a popular snack in Romania made from ground vegetables (fried eggplant, fried onion, tomato paste and fried red pepper (Romanian pepper, called gogoshar). Traditionally, the family prepares a large amount of appetizer after harvest and preserves. They eat it, spreading it on bread.

Ardei copţi is a roasted pepper salad seasoned with vinegar, sunflower or olive oil.

Maraturi (Murături) - pickled vegetables.

Castaveti murati (Castraveţi muraţi) - pickled small cucumbers.

Gogonele murate - pickled green tomatoes.

Varza murata (Varză murată) - cabbage marinated in brine, seasoned with dill stalks and beets.

Muraturi asortate - assorted pickled vegetables: onions, garlic, green tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, kohlrabi, beets, carrots, celery, parsley roots, cauliflower, apples, quince, unripe plums, small unripe watermelons, small zucchini and red cabbage. Most often, vegetables are soaked in brine (Turkish version), but there is an option when they are soaked in vinegar (German version).

Beef salad (Salată boeuf) - minced meat salad with boiled vegetables, seasoned with mayonnaise and mustard.

Salata de vinete (Salată de vinete) - an appetizer of fried and peeled eggplants, with onions and salt, seasoned with oil or mayonnaise.

Oriental salad (Salată orientală) - potato salad with eggs, onions and olives.

Salata de sfeclă - beetroot salad.

Salata de roşii (Salată de roşii) is a tomato salad with onion, bell pepper and cucumber, with the addition of dill or parsley.

Mujdei is a crushed garlic sauce. Served with meat and fish dishes.

desserts

Clate (clătite) - thin Romanian pancakes, can be cooked with savory or sweet fillings: minced meat, cheese or jam.

Amandine is a Romanian chocolate cake, one of the most traditional in Romanian cuisine. Like most Romanian cakes, it can be sliced ​​and served as one-serve miniature cakes or as a large cake. The original recipe calls for layers made from egg dough with cocoa, rum and caramel syrup and soaked in caramel and rum syrup. The cream between the layers is a combination of chocolate buttercream mixed with fondant. The cake is assembled in the following order: cake, cream, cake, cream, cake, icing. The icing is a fudge combination with chocolate and rum that is poured on top of the last layer while still liquid. Topped with a small amount of cream and a piece of fine chocolate.

Coliva (Colivă) - boiled wheat mixed with sugar and walnuts (often decorated with sweets and icing), an analogue of our sochi, served at funerals and memorial ceremonies.

Gogosi (Gogoși) are Romanian donut-like sweet pastries. They are small balls of dough with sweet fillings, deep-fried. It is believed that Gogosi came from ancient times, when Romania was a province of the Roman Empire. They are most likely derived from aliter dulcia (sweet dough balls), a dish included in Apicius, a collection of Roman recipes.

Grish cu lapte (Griş cu lapte) is a semolina pudding boiled in milk or a mixture of milk and water with the addition of sugar. You can add jam, candied fruits, cinnamon and raisins. Serve warm or cold.

Bird's milk (Lapte de pasăre) - vanilla custard garnished with "floating islands" of beaten egg whites

Martyrs / little saints (Mucenici / sfinţişori) - sweet pastries in the shape of "8", made from boiled or baked dough, decorated with walnuts, sugar or honey. This pastry is prepared once a year for the traditional Romanian Christian feast of the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste, which is celebrated on March 9 (March 22 according to the Julian calendar). In the areas of Muntenia and Northern Dobruja, the dough is boiled in water with sugar, cinnamon and crushed nuts, which symbolizes the lake into which the martyrs were thrown.

Pandișpan - biscuit cake.

Papanashi (Papanași) are a kind of donuts made from a mixture of sweet cheese, eggs and semolina that are boiled or fried and served with fruit syrup or jam with sour cream. The word papanaşi is believed to be derived from the Latin papa, meaning "food for children."

Placinda (Plăcintă) is a Romanian traditional confection that resembles a thin round cake, usually filled with soft cheese such as Urdă or apples. The word plăcintă comes from the Latin word placenta, meaning cake, and from the Greek plakount, flat cake. As can be seen from the etymology of the word, the placenta is of Roman origin and dates from the time when Romania was part of the Roman Empire. Ancient Greek bakers made their bread with olive oil, herbs and cheese. The secret of making pies became known to the Romans after the conquest of these places. At first there were only two types of pies: libum (libum) and placenta (placenta). Libum is a small cake that was used as an offering to the gods. As for the placenta, the Romans developed a recipe for a flour pie with cheese, honey and bay leaves. Ancient Roman bakers used to prepare a large placenta that was cut into squares for sale. According to these recipes, Romanians continue to cook pies. Traditionally, the filling is now used: cheese with raisins, apples, telemea cheese, potatoes, sweet vurda cheese with dill or raisins, chocolate.

Cookie salami (Salam din biscuiţi) is a sweet sausage made with cookies, chocolate, Turkish sweets and rum.

Savarine is the French equivalent of baba.

Charlotte (Şarlotă) is a sweet cake made with milk, eggs, sugar, whipped cream, gelatin and fruit.

Joffre Torte is a cake invented at the Casa Capşa restaurant in Bucharest.

Turtă dulce - gingerbread.

Prazhituri (Prăjituri) - assorted pastries.

Beverages

Coffee (Cafea) - predominantly Turkish coffee.

Tea (Ceai) - mainly prepared in the form of various herbal infusions (chamomile, mint, bellflower, etc.) Romanians call ordinary black tea Russian tea (ceai rusesc), served during breakfast.

Syrup made from syrup made from spruce, pine, sea buckthorn, blueberries, raspberries or strawberries, with various types of honey or sugar

Socată - soft drink made from fermented sunflower (Sambucus nigra)

Alcohol

Wine (Vin) is one of the favorite drinks in Romania, and Romanian wine has more than three thousand years of history and tradition. Romania is currently the world's ninth largest wine producer and is showing a growing export market. The Romanian wine line includes a large number of local varieties: Fetească, Grasă, Tămâioasă, Busuioacă and Băbească, as well as varieties from all over the world: Italian Riesling, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Muscat Ottonel.

Must is grape juice in the fermentation process that has not yet become wine.

Pelin de mai is a type of wine usually made in the spring with the addition of dried wormwood.

Beer (Bere) is also highly valued. Especially popular is light beer, which is produced according to German brewing technologies. There are also Romanian breweries with a long tradition. The National Beer Association originated during the War of Independence in 1877, after which beer pubs spread throughout the Romanian kingdom. Beer pubs (berării) have become a social and business meeting place for the Romanian urban middle class. Romanians are currently among the world's top beer drinkers, with an annual consumption of over 100 liters per capita in 2007. Romanian law treats beer and wine as food products, so they are not subject to the tariffs and restrictions imposed on alcoholic beverages.

Cuica (Ţuică) - plum brandy. According to 2009 FAOSTAT data, Romania is the second largest producer of plums in the world (after the United States). Up to 75% of the plum crop in Romania goes to the production of the famous plum brandy. In essence, tsuyka is moonshine made by traditional methods for both private consumption and sale. Although it was considered illegal in the past, the government allowed it to be sold due to the traditional nature of the drink. Basically, cuica is sold in markets and fairs, as well as on roadsides, bottled without labeling. Some have obtained licenses to manufacture and produce it legally.

The general term Cuica includes plum cognacs (jinars, horincă, cocârţ, tura) and other fruit cognacs. A special nomenclature has been created for tsuiki, including varieties such as old, selected, excellent, etc.

A simple classification of tsuiki types:

• Cuica (Ţuică) is a general term for an alcoholic beverage distilled from fruit.
• Palinka (Pălincă) is a double distilled plum brandy (produced in Transylvania).
• Horincă is a double distilled plum or apple brandy (produced in the northern part of the country, the Maramures region).
• Fatsata (Făţată) is the strongest type, double distilled (similar to horincă and pălincă).
• Frunte (Frunte) - the very first tsuika that comes out during the distillation process; It has a unique taste and strength different from other types.
• A well-known type is "Čuică cu fruct". This is a glass drink bottle containing a whole fruit (usually an apple or pear) inside the bottle. It is obtained by hanging an empty bottle from a tree in spring or early summer and growing the fruit inside the bottle.
• Slibovica (Şliboviţă) - plum brandy (produced in the Banat region).
• Turţ is a strong plum brandy named after the village of Turţ in northwestern Romania.

Crayfish de tescovină (Rachiu de tescovină) is a cognac made from grapes that was used in the production of wine, very similar to Italian grappa.

Sekarika (Secărică) is a real vodka with a fruity aroma, like the German kümmel.

Afinată is a blueberry liqueur.

Vishinata (Vişinată) is a sour cherry liqueur.

Zmeurata is a raspberry liqueur.

Serving and etiquette

In Romania, there is still a tradition on December 20 (Ignat's Day), on the eve of Christmas, to sacrifice a pig. Immediately after the sacrifice, Pomana porcului (fried pork cut into pieces) is prepared to thank the relatives and friends who participated and helped in the process of sacrifice. A slaughtered pig is used to prepare Christmas dishes such as tochitura, toba, pork sausages, and other dishes. Also, the traditional sweet bread cozonac, made from nuts, poppy seeds or rahat, is always served at the Christmas table.

At Passover, lamb is usually cooked. Main dishes: lamb soup borș de miel, fried lamb and lamb drob drob de miel (traditional Romanian offal dish: heart, liver, lungs), lamb meat and spring Onion with spices wrapped in a cone and fried. The traditional Easter cake is pasca (pască), a yeast dough pie stuffed with sweet cottage cheese.

Recipes

Hominy (Mămăligă) is a national dish of Romanian cuisine. Made from cornmeal. Often used as a substitute for bread. Ingredients - Hominy: corn flour - 200 gr, salt - 1/2 teaspoon, water - 750 ml, sunflower oil - 1 tbsp. a spoon. Recipe - Hominy: In a pan with non-stick coating ...

One of the fundamental products of Romanian cuisine is corn. Hearty, nutritious cornmeal dishes are a hallmark of Romanian national cuisine, and cornmeal porridge, known as hominy, is a hallmark of the country's cuisine. It is usually served with cheese and scrambled eggs. Hominy is often used for cooking other dishes. In Romania, cereals, salads, pancakes, soups, casseroles and many other dishes are prepared from cornmeal. Corn is constantly combined with other vegetables, meat, fish.

Another important product of Romanian cuisine is brynza, a goat's milk cheese that is served in almost every home. Other popular cheeses are kashkaval, sweet cheese made from cow's milk, urda.

Like many other Eastern European peoples, Romanians are very fond of soups. As a rule, these are sour soups, the acidity of which is given by tomato paste or citric acid. Also popular are beef broth with pieces of meat, vegetable broth with rice, various mashed soups (pea, sorrel, tomato). Soups are prepared with meatballs.

Despite their great love for vegetables, Romanians also never forget about meat and eat it almost every day. The most popular Romanian meat dishes are various baked tenderloins, pork stews, shish kebab, baked poultry, roast, kebab, moussaka, charcoal fried cutlets (served with homemade mustard), pork or chicken aspic. Fish is less popular than meat, but Romanians also have traditional fish dishes - for example, gyuvech (fish baked in the oven with stewed vegetables).

Dessert dishes are dominated by flour ones - various puff pastry products, sweet cottage cheese pies, Moldovan cottage cheese baskets, nut cookies, various fruit biscuits and, of course, jams.

It is enough to look at the menu of a Romanian restaurant once to make sure that Romanians borrowed a lot of dishes from their historical neighbors. Of course, Moldavian cuisine is closest to Romanian cuisine - they are united by hominy, and placinda (traditional Moldavian pies), and muzhdei (Moldovan sauce), and many other dishes. The influence of Turkish cuisine is especially felt in the field of desserts, and Russian cuisine taught the Romanians how to bake traditional Easter cakes. However, there are also dishes that Romanians consider exclusively their own - these are aliventzi (patties with cottage cheese), some variants of hominy, chorba (this is rather not a dish, but a way of making sour soups), mitites (very spicy sausages) and sarmale (stuffed cabbage) .

Among the alcoholic drinks in Romania, the most beloved are wine (especially dessert), mulled wine, traditional strong (55-60 degrees) plum moonshine, as well as local beer.

Traditional Romanian cuisine has a rich history and centuries-old traditions. The dishes of Romanian cuisine were formed not only on the basis of natural conditions, but also due to the close proximity to Yugoslavia, Moldova, Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece.

The original dishes of Romanians are quite simple. The basis of the cuisine was dishes from cornmeal, meat and a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Due to the proximity to Greece, seasonings and hot spices began to be used in dishes. Cheese dishes came to Romania from Moldovan cuisine.

In Romanian cuisine, pickled vegetables are readily used, which are served as a side dish for fish and meat. Thanks to developed agriculture, and especially sheep breeding, cheese has become one of the main products for Romanians. Cheese was prepared from sheep's milk, kept in brine for a week and a half. Another type of cheese is also popular among Romanians - kashkaval, which is also made from sheep's milk.

First meal

A prominent place in Romanian cuisine is occupied by various types of soups called chorba. Chorby are prepared with dressing and have a sour taste. Citric acid, kefir, kvass and tomatoes are added to the dressing. No less common is borsh, a kind of sour infusion made from wheat bran.

Ciorba de burte is cooked in beef broth, always with pieces of meat, which are cut into strips. There is a wide variety of chorba recipes, using lemon and cabbage juice, a variety of vegetables, herbs, and sour cream. The basis for the broth can be not only beef, but also pork, as well as skimba, which is made from the tripe of oxen.

First courses in Romania are quite varied, including broths with flour dumplings, vegetables and rice. Green pea and bean puree soups, spinach and sorrel soups, garlic tomato soups.

Corn and meat are staples of Romanian cuisine

In Romania, cornmeal has always been used for cooking. Perhaps the most famous dish is hominy, a steeply boiled porridge made from cornmeal. Hominy has become the visiting card of the Romanians. There are many recipes for hominy - both tare and fried, and in the form of puddings and snacks. Such dishes from hominy as urs and balmush are very common. Urs is a ball of hominy stuffed with grated cheese. Urs is baked in hot ash. Balmush is hominy in milk. Also, dumplings are prepared from hominy and served with fried eggs.

There are a lot of meat dishes in Romania, they amaze with their variety. Consider the most popular meat dishes.

• Stufat is a lamb roast with garlic and green onions. Stufat can be attributed to the truly national dishes of Romanians.
• Chulamu is finely chopped meat stewed with vegetables and mushrooms in flour sauce.
• Mitch i frigerui is a shish kebab from any kind of meat, cooked according to a special recipe on charcoal or on the grill.
• Mititei are oblong-shaped meatballs with garlic and pepper added. The mititei is fried on a griller.
• Tokanu is a stew that is cut into small pieces. Stewed tokanu in a sauce consisting of tomato sauce and onions.
• The most famous dish is paprikash. The dish is very similar to tokana, but red sweet bell pepper is added to the sauce. This dish came to the Romanians from Hungary.
• Givech is a meat stew stewed with eggplants, onions, sweet peppers and carrots.
• Ostropel is a duck meat stew. The duck is stewed in a thick spicy sauce, to which vinegar, garlic, red pepper and flour are added.

On big holidays or for a wedding, in the tradition of Romanians, roast a whole ram on a spit.

Traditional drinks and Romanian wines

As in any southern country, Romanians have a wide variety of wines, liqueurs and fruit vodkas. Perhaps the most famous is tsuika, a kind of palenki. Tsuika differs from Palenki in strength. The palenka is less strong, no more than forty degrees, but the cuyka reaches fifty-five, sixty degrees. The raw materials for fruit vodka are apple, plum and pear fruits. The best tsuika is made from black plums and is called slivovitz. It is stored in large oak barrels and aged for at least three years, resulting in an oily, yellowish color.

By the way, cuica is exactly Romanian vodka. But the palenka came to Romania from Hungary.

A wide variety of delicious meat dishes and excellent local wine, a great reason to visit Romania and taste all the variety of Romanian cuisine.

It is as diverse, ancient and mysterious as the country itself. Perhaps this is due to the fact that it is closely intertwined with its history and culture. Judge for yourself: it still contains the recipes of dishes served to Count Dracula. True, now they are prepared specifically for tourists, using the same technology, by the way, and under the terrible stories from his life. And this is not its only merit. But first things first.

Story

Authentic Romanian cuisine has evolved over the centuries. Romania itself was the last "piece" of the great Ancient Roman Empire. During its existence, it has suffered from both the Turks and the French. But, the most interesting thing is that these peoples brought to the Romanian land not only hardships and hardships, but also parts of their culture, which were later absorbed by the Romanian cuisine.

And heaven has always been kind to her. After all, Romania is a collection of plains and plateaus, hills and mountains, lakes and the Black Sea coast. And what is the unique Danube Delta worth! All these factors, one way or another, influenced the development of Romanian cuisine. Simply because they gave her fertile soil, on which the locals grew and grow many vegetables, fruits and crops, opportunities for raising cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry, as well as opportunities for fishing.

In addition, once the largest trade route was laid through the lands of Romania - “from the Varangians to the Greeks”, thanks to which Greek and Turkish dishes appeared in the local cuisine, as well as a product that became national - corn. This happened, judging by the mention of corn fields, in the 17th century.

In addition, neighboring cuisines - Bulgarian, Yugoslav, Moldavian - also had a great influence. Hence the similar names of similar dishes.

Peculiarities

Distinctive features of Romanian cuisine:

• simplicity and satiety of dishes;
• huge variety of products. There are all kinds of vegetables and fruits, spices, dairy and meat products, cereals;
• regional features. The fact is that on the territory of modern Romania there are at least 6 historical provinces, in each of which the same dish is prepared in its own way;
• original ways of cooking - Romanians cook lamb carcass in the old fashioned way in a freshly dug pit, acidify borscht with vinegar or sauerkraut juice, and make Easter cake with cheese and cream. But the most interesting thing is their traditions. Centuries-old, interesting, original...

Traditions

As in many other countries, religious holidays are celebrated in Romania - Christmas, New Year and, accordingly, Easter. But they are celebrated in a special way. Until now, in the local villages on the 20th of December, before Christmas, rituals of slaughtering a pig are carried out, which often end with a “pig wake”. For them, the hostesses prepare all kinds of meat dishes, which are first of all tasted directly by the participants in the slaughtering process. In the spring, on the eve of Easter, Romanians traditionally cook dishes from lambs.

Basic cooking methods:

You can talk about real Romanian dishes forever. But true gourmets claim that the following stand out among them, which have long become a kind of highlight of this country:

Chorba is a thick soup. There are several recipes for its preparation - from simple to the most complex, using vegetables, lemon juice, herbs, sour cream, pork, spices, etc.

Hominy - in fact, this is porridge made from cornmeal, but there are a lot of recipes for its preparation. Here it is boiled, fried, baked, dumplings are made from it, or simply eaten instead of bread. This tradition still exists in the villages. In this case, the hominy is cut with a thick thread. Recently, the dish has been included in the menu of many restaurants as a high-quality food free from fat and cholesterol. Interestingly, the locals value hominy so highly that they even associate it with omens. I saw a hominy in a dream - expect pleasant hobbies!

Chiftele is a large meatball.

Mititei - sausages or meatballs with pepper and garlic, fried on a grill, for beer.

Kaltabosh - sausage made from pig offal.

Stufat is a dish of ribs and backbone of a sheep.

Placine din peste - vegetable stew with river fish.

Saramura is a fish in brine.

Tochitura is meat stewed in tomato sauce.

Virsli - homemade sausage made from minced pork, goat or lamb.

Drob - fried meatloaf made from lamb offal.

Varza Kalita - a dish of pork ribs, duck or sausage with stewed cabbage.

Parjoale - meatballs.

Frigerui - barbecue.

Tokana - meat stewed in tomato sauce with onions.

Smoked goat meat.

You can be completely sure that you will not stay hungry in Romania, but on the contrary, you will be able to try many delicious and interesting dishes. Problems can arise only for those who are constantly on a diet and watch their figure, they are unlikely to like the local cuisine, since fatty, nutritious and high-calorie foods are mainly used in cooking here. You can compensate for extra calories thanks to active hiking in the mountains. Vegetables are loved and respected here, they are present on almost every table, but at the same time they eat a lot of bread and meat.

If you want to try some kind of first course, then first of all you will be offered the most famous and popular local soup - chorba. This is a sour soup with meat, herbs and vegetables. There are many varieties of this dish, but soups with beans and smoked meats, meatballs or cooked in a rustic way are considered the most delicious. In addition to sour cream and bread, this dish is served with hot peppers. For themselves, Romanians try to cook this soup with beef broth.

Romania will definitely appeal to cheese lovers. For locals, cheese is more than a national product; not a single feast is complete without it. Here you can try cow, goat and sheep cheese, each of which has an excellent taste, as only natural ingredients are used during preparation, without any chemicals and non-natural additives. To try all the types that are produced in the country, even a few trips will not be enough (each region has its own traditions and old recipes that are passed down from generation to generation).

In addition to cheeses, Romanians consume milk (mainly in a warm form), some first courses are prepared on the basis of whey, and sour cream is used as dressings and various sauces are made on its basis.

From meat dishes, you will be offered various sausages, shish kebabs, baked meat cooked with sour cream, cheese, etc. Just like us, Romanians eat almost all types of meat and poultry, so this culinary similarity should be a definite plus for you. I recommend trying such a meat dish as "sarmale". In appearance and taste, it has certain similarities with our cabbage rolls. Usually it includes pork or beef (goat, lamb or poultry meat is used much less often). The meat is wrapped in sorrel leaves, grapes, pickled or fresh cabbage. After that, the dish is boiled in a clay pot or cauldron and served only hot.

Sweet lovers will also find something to eat in this hospitable country. If somewhere on the menu you see such a dish as Cozonac cu nuca, then you can safely order it - you won't regret it. This is a fragrant and juicy cake, which contains a lot of ground walnuts. It is the nut cake that is considered the best, but it also happens with Turkish delight, chocolate and other ingredients.

Papanasi are cottage cheese donuts served with sour cream and cherry jam (one serving consists of two donuts). The dish is quite hearty, and the donuts themselves are large, so tourists are advised to order one dish for two.

Those who are not indifferent to different types of jam should definitely try the local jam or jelly, which is called “loop”. It is prepared not from the fruits themselves, but from their juice. The juice is boiled for a long time on low heat, and then in the process of cooling it becomes thick and transparent.

Romanians treat alcohol very positively and drink it in large quantities. Beer is drunk in small quantities and mostly only light, but they drink a lot of wine (mainly local production and often diluted with water). In the first place in popularity, you can put fruit moonshine, which has two varieties: palinka and tsuyka. Palinka is a very strong moonshine that reaches 40 degrees, while palinka is much weaker (only 20-30 degrees). The local population believes that the best weak moonshine is obtained from black plums, but you don’t need to drink it right away, but you need to keep it in special barrels for at least three years.

You don't have to worry about the prices in public catering establishments, they are more than democratic.