Food and Drink

Incursion in the recent history of Romanian food

The 1930’s, brought Romanian cooking at its peak, some of the restaurants in Bucharest being considered some of Europe’s finest through their variety and deliciousness. With the installation of the Communist Regime, Ceausescu imposed an export policy, which by 1980, caused almost everything to be exported, and the living standards dropped at their lowest level. Visitors were advised to bring enough food to last the trip plus almost any kind of the most basic provisions for their Romanian friends.

Even if Romanians never lost their love for food, finding the basic ingredients for the traditional specialties required increasing ingenuity and in most cases meant either resorting to the black market or cultivating them, themselves. After the 1989 Revolution, that had the food shortage as a main reason among the protesters, one of the first acts taken by the new government, was to reverse the food-export policy.

After almost 20 years since the Revolution, times have changed, and in almost every main city, you will find international supermarket chains, with a great range of products. This also makes Romanians take great pride in their local products. In the country side, it is common for people to have what you would call a mini-farm, with usually a cow, a horse, chickens, pigs and basic vegetables. So if you are visiting a friend in the countryside, it is more likely that the food in your plate is definitely home made. For those living in the cities, there are plenty of farmer’s markets where you can get fresh products from peasants.

Even if the food is so widely available, most Romanians only afford basic diets, due to the small salaries and economic circumstances. Still, the cooking can be enjoyed at its best in the Romanian houses, where as a guest you’re unlikely to see much evidence of shortage.

Influences in the Romanian Cooking

Along time people have debated if the Romanian cuisine actually existed, due to some of the liberal borrowings from the cultures which have traversed and occupied its land. Influences can be traced back to the Turkish cuisine, through the sugar-laced pastries and desserts such as baklava, rahat  and dishes such as frigarui, sarmale, ciulama, pilaf and salata de vinete.

Austria left its traces through the snitel, strudel and covrigi, while Hungary spiced up the cooking with its gulas, , as well many pastries. The Bulgarian zacusca enriched some of the recipes.

Regardless of all the common influences from the neighboring countries, the Romanian cooking has created uncomplicated recipes, the dishes having a homemade character to them. Relying upon pork meat, staples like potatoes and cabbage, the Romanian cooking is not for those seeking to diet.

The Romanian Staples

The Romanian Bread is one of the vital staples, the recipes varying from region to region, the most common being the white bread, large and circular, with a thick crust and soft chewy middle. Special knotted loaves are baked for special occasions. In Transylvania, the local recipe has potatoes as one of the ingredients, this giving it a special flavor and making it appreciated and searched through all Romania.

Mamaliga is a word you should familiarize yourself with rather quickly. It is a yellow cornmeal mush, made through stirring the cornmeal in boiled water with salt, in a special pot called ceaun, resembling a very thick Italian polenta. Traditionally it is served as a meal on its own, with nothing more than a sprinkling of branza. Regardless of its peasant origins, you will find it on the menu of almost all restaurants.

If the mamaliga served in restaurants can be bland and very filling, the home-made version served warm with fresh smantana ranks up as one of the world’s best comfort foods. Another delicious variation is called bulz – mamaliga layered with cheese and baked in the oven with butter.

Romanian First Courses

The cold starters usually consist in a platter of cheese, olives and salami, or fresh vegetables. Another first course is a selection of cold cuts, perhaps including salami, ham, cured ham, pastrama or slanina.

The hot starters include sausages, frankfurters and cabanos, often fried. The most famous are mici or mititei – “little ones” – small spicy skinless rissoles made with a highly seasoned mixture of pork and beef, served with garlic sauce and beer. Carnati de Plescoi are a fiery version of mutton sausage. The less sensitive can try creier pane or drob de miel, Romania’s version of haggis and traditional at Easter.

The Salads are also an important part in Romanian Cuisine, in winter pickles being most used, where in summer, salata de vinete is preferred.

The Romanian Soups come in three versions: supa, ciorba and bors. The second two are sour soups while a supa is a simple broth or cream soup. The ingredient used to give the ciorba and bors its taste, a liquid called also bors, is a mildly vinegary amber liquid obtained by fermenting wheat bran, corn flour, and a sprig of cherry tree, thyme and basil in small water vats. Even if the word derives from Ukrainian, the tradition of preparing bors goes back to ancient Moldavian times.

Ciorba is another mainstay of the Romanian cuisine, and comes often dressed with smantana and served with chilli peppers. Some of the favorites include ciorba de perisoare traditional at Christmas, ciorba taraneasca, ciorba de pui, ciorba de potroace and bors de miel a traditional Easter dish. Though the undisputed king is ciorba de burta, a light garlicky soup made of tripe.

Some of the time, soup leftovers are transformed into ghiveci or tocanafor the following day’s dinner.

Romanian main courses and desserts

Sarmale, a heritage from the days of Ottoman rule, one of the most popular dishes, is a classic companion to mamaliga and smantana.

The Romanian stews include iahnie de fasole and tocana. Tocana de legume is a vegetable stew, while ghiveci is a Romanian ratatouille. Fried cuts of meat are also adored by Romanians, especially from pork and beef. Lamb is traditional at Easter while pork at Christmas. Another traditional gut busters are muschi ciobanesc, and muschi poiana.

The Ottoman rule also left its traces in pilaf de post, frigarui de porc, and chiftele. Parjoale are a larger, flatter, highly spiced type popular in Moldavia, served with garnishes. Chicken is also popular, most times spit-roasted whole over an open fire or roasted with garlic sauce. Two traditional chicken dishes are ciulama de pui and gaina umpluta. Moldavian recipes are mainly chicken-based. Some of the hunting dishes include potarnichi cu smantana and pulpa de caprioara la tava.

In the fish category, particularly carp, pike and perch are mostly used. In the Danube Delta, one should try frigarui de crap and saramura de peste. Seafood in Romania is considered rare, but Romanians do have a tradition of eating fish roe, especially salata de icre. Did you know? Desserts include baklava, clatite, inghetata, papanasi, placinta, prajitura, salata de fructe and strudel de mere.

Romanian Drinks

When it comes to beer, Romanians prefer a Pilsener-style lager. The Saxons brought their love of beer to Romania and the country’s oldest surviving brewery opened in Timisoara in 1718. It still produces Timisoreana, a moderately-regarded Pilsener. Even if in the recent years the Romanian market offers a multitude of international choices, a few small independent breweries still produce interesting beers. One of the most famous Romanian brands is Ursus, brewed in Cluj since 1878. Other beers worth trying are Silva Strong from Reghin, Valea Prahovei from Azuga, Ciuc Premium from Miercurea Ciuc and Bergenbier from Blaj, all crisp Pilsener –style lagers. Unpasteurized beer is still produced in Satu Mare, Azuga, Sibiu, Ramnicu Valcea and Iasi. You’re unlikely to travel far without being offered tuica. Traditionally no meal starts without a glass. Another similar drink is palinca known as Horinca in Maramures and Jinars in Cluj Napoca region. Be wary, this drink will knock your socks off. To get the real feel you should try the home made ones, and not the store versions.

Romanians show their inventiveness when creating drinks such as caisata, visinata, lichior de nuci verzi, lichior de izma by infusing vodka or other spirits. The complexity and quality of Romanian wines offer the biggest surprise to the visitors. Even if the communism damaged its image abroad, the fact is that Romania has produced wine since at least 7th century BC, and its climate is suited to almost any grape. Transylvania and the Banat supplied wine to the Hapsburgs and other royal courts, while until the 1930’s Cotnari was one of Europe’s highest-prized dessert wines. At the moment is the world’s ninth-largest producer. Some of Romania’s best known wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir. However, some of the finest are indigenous tongue twisters including Busuioaca de Bohotin, Tamaioasa Romaneasca and Grasa de Cotnari.

Thanks to Ottoman influences, a traditional home-made drink is serbet, commonly made from flower petals, fruit, nuts or vanilla. Another traditional soft drink is socata. With more than a third of Europe’s mineral and thermal springs, Romania produces hundreds of varieties of mineral water.
Coffee is traditionaly Turkish, served black with sugar in small cups. Herbal teas are also quite easy to come by.