Romanian cuisine

Romanian cuisine is the way people in Romania cook and eat. It is a mix of many different foods from places Romania has met and traded with over time. The main influences come from the Ottoman and Turkish cuisine, but foods from the Balkan Peninsula, Greek cuisine, Hungarian cuisine, and Central Europe also play a part.

Romanian meals often change with the seasons and holidays, especially because many people in Romania follow Eastern Orthodoxy. Their dishes use many things like vegetables, grains, fruits, honey, milk, dairy, meat, and animals from the forest.

One big group of foods in Romania is called ciorbă. These are soups that taste a little sour. There are many kinds, like soup with meat or vegetables, soup made from a cow’s stomach (ciorbă de burtă), soup with calf feet, or soup with fish. They make these soups sour with lemon juice, juice from sour sauerkraut, vinegar, or borș which is made from grains.

Another special drink in Romania is called țuică. It is a strong alcoholic spirit made from plums. Romania shares its cuisine with Moldova, another country where people speak the same language, so their foods are often very similar.

History

See also: History of Romania

In the past, important books helped shape Romanian cooking. Two writers, Costache Negruzzi and Mihail Kogălniceanu, created a cookbook in 1841 with many recipes. They wrote about how meals were simple in places like Moldavia.

Cheese has always been part of Romanian food. The word for cheese in Romanian is Brânză.

New foods like maize and potatoes became common in Romanian meals after they arrived in Europe. Maize helped people stay healthier and led to more families.

For a long time, areas like Wallachia and Moldavia were affected by nearby lands, such as the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman cooking brought new dishes to Romania, like appetizers from vegetables such as eggplant and bell peppers, and tasty meat dishes like chiftele (fried meatballs). Popular soups called ciorbă and tasty stews with meat and vegetables, such as iahnie de fasole (beans), ardei umpluți (stuffed peppers), and sarmale (stuffed cabbage), also came from nearby Turkish cuisine.

Description

Romanian recipes have been shaped by many different cultures, just like the rest of Romanian culture. The Turks brought meatballs, the Greeks gave us musaca, and the Austrians introduced the șnițel. Romanians share many dishes with foods from the Balkan area and former Austria-Hungary. Some dishes are unique to Romania or come from ancient times, but it's hard to know their exact origins because Eastern Europe doesn't have many old written records.

One popular meal is mămăligă (polenta), which is eaten on its own or with other foods. Pork is the most common meat in Romanian cooking, but beef, mutton, and fish are also eaten.

Before Christmas, many families traditionally prepare special foods from a pig they might have raised, such as garlicky pork sausages, liver-based sausage, and stews served with mămăligă. The Christmas meal often includes a sweet bread called cozonac. At Easter, lamb is common, with dishes like lamb soup and a special pie called pască.

Romanian pancakes, called clătite, can be filled with savory or sweet ingredients like ground meat, cheese, or jam. Wine is a favorite drink, and Romania makes many types of wine. Beer, especially a type called blonde pilsener, is also popular.

During certain times of the year, followers of the Romanian Orthodox Church follow special diets without animal products. Because of this, many vegan foods are available in stores and restaurants.

List of dishes

Soups

• Borș is fermented wheat bran, a souring agent for ciorbă. Borș is also used today as a synonym for ciorbă, but in the past, a distinction was made between borș and ciorbă (acritură), the souring agent for the latter being the juice of unripe fruits, such as grapes, mirabelle, or wood sorrel leaves.
  • Borș de burechiușe
• Ciorbă is the traditional Romanian sour soup
  • Ciorbă de burtă (tripe soup), with sour cream, egg yolks, garlic and soured with vinegar
  • Ciorbă de perișoare (meatball soup)
  • Ciorbă de fasole cu afumătură (bean and smoked meat soup)
  • Ciorbă de legume (vegetable soup)
  • Ciorbă de pește "ca-n Deltă" (fish soup prepared in the style of the Danube Delta; traditionally water directly from the Danube River is used)
  • Ciorbă de praz is a leek soup
  • Ciorbă de pui is a chicken soup
  • Ciorbă de lobodă is a red orach soup
  • Ciorbă de salată cu afumătură (green lettuce and smoked meat soup) with sour milk
  • Ciorbă de sfeclă, also called borș de sfeclă or borș rusesc (similar to borscht)
  • Ciorbă de urechiușe, wild mushroom sour soup
  • Ciorbă moldovenească de găină is a hen sour soup
  • Ciorbă țărănească (peasant soup), made from a variety of vegetables and any kind of meat (beef, pork, mutton, chicken, fish)
  • Storceag, fish soup with sour cream and egg, soured with vinegar or lemon juice.
• Supă (generic name for sweet (usually clear) soups, made from vegetables alone or combined with poultry and beef). The difference between supă and ciorbă is that the meat and most of the vegetables are removed, the resulting liquid being served with dumplings or noodles. There are also a number of sour soups which use lemon juice as a souring agent, called supe a la grec (Greek soups).
  • Supă (de pui) cu găluște (clear dumpling soup with chicken broth)
  • Supă (de pui) cu tăiței (clear noodle soup with chicken broth)

Meat

• Caltaboș / chișcă - a cooked sausage made from minced pork organs mainly liver, rice, onions, herbs (parsley, dill) and spices, stuffed in a pig's bowel casing
• Cârnați - a garlicky sausage, mostly smoked, stuffed in clean, blanched small bowel as in Fasole cu cârnați
• Cevapcici - grilled dish of minced meat eaten in areas populated by Serbian minority, mostly in the Romanian part of Banat
• Chiftele - a type of small meatball made of ground pork, beef, lamb mixed with breadcrumbs and egg, onions, garlic and parsley.
  • Ciulama de vițel - veal ciulama white thick flour and sour cream sauce
  • Ciulama de pui - chicken ciulama
• Drob de miel - a lamb haggis made from minced organs wrapped in a caul and roasted like a meatloaf; a traditional Easter dish, usually with encased boiled eggs
• Frigărui - Romanian-style shish-kebab, made with pork or a mixture of ground pork and chicken , similar to the Iranian kubideh, but with different herbs and spices.
• Limbă cu măsline [ro] - cow tongue with olives
• Mititei (mici) - grilled minced meat rolls, traditionally made from lamb meat, or from mixed meats (pork, veal, lamb) with lots of spices (garlic, thyme, pepper, paprika, and others)
• Grătar (usually made together with "mici") - grilled pork/beef, thinly sliced with condiments
• Musaca - an eggplant, potato, and meat pie
• Ostropel - method of cooking chicken or duck or any meat. It is a slow-cooked fried meat in tomato sauce.
• Papricaș - Chicken paprikash made with bell pepper and paprika, originating from Hungary
• Gulaș - Goulash, a stew made with potato and beef, originating from Hungary
• Jumări - kind of pork cracklings, with fat thermally extracted from the lard
• Pastrami - a food originating from Romania usually made from beef brisket, or from lamb, pork, chicken or turkey. The raw meat is brined, partially dried, seasoned with herbs and spices, then smoked and steamed. Like corned beef, pastrami was originally created as a way to preserve meat before the invention of refrigeration.
• Pârjoale - a type of meatball bigger than chiftele, originating in Moldova, with breadcrumbs and parsley
• Piftie - the preparation of this dish is similar to the French demi-glace. Pork stock is reduced by simmering, which is placed in containers, and spiced with garlic and sweet paprika powder. The boiled pork meat is then added, and left to cool. The cooled liquid has a gelatinous consistency, salty, garlicky and peppery. It is eaten cold.
• Plescavița - hamburger type meat consisted of spiced minced pork, beef and lamb meat, originating from Serbia
• Pleșcoi sausages - registered as a Romanian protected geographical indication (PGI) product in the European Union
• Rasol - slowly stewed beef at low fire, usually served with a garlic paste (mujdei)
• Salam de Sibiu - a variety of salami registered as a Romanian protected geographical indication (PGI) product in the European Union
• Sarmale - stuffed sour cabbage or grape leaves with ground meat with rice, onions, herbs. It is boiled for a few hours traditionally in ceramic pots. In Transylvania smoked pig feet or pork skins are placed in the pot between the stuffed cabbages. There are also many vegan varieties stuffed with rice and herbs.
• Slănină - pork fat, often smoked with paprika, herbs and pepper
• Shawarma - locally known as șaormă, it is one of the most popular street foods in the country.
• Șnițel - a chicken, pork, veal, or beef breaded cutlet (a variety of Viennese schnitzel)
  • Cordon bleu șnițel - breaded pork tenderloin stuffed with ham and cheese
  • Mozaic șnițel - a specialty of Western Romania, which is two thin layers of different meats with a mushroom filling. Other vegetable fillings may be used instead of mushrooms.
  • Șnițel de pui - breaded chicken breast cutlet
• Stufat - lamb, onion, and garlic stew
• Tobă - pork sausage (usually pig's stomach, stuffed with pork jelly, snout, ears and skin)
• Tocană/tocaniță - meat stew
• Tocăniță vânătorească - venison stew
• Tochitură - pan-fried cubed pork, fresh salty cheese (brânză de burduf or telemea), fried eggs, sausages served with mămăligă and wine
• Varză călită - fried or sauteed cabbage with pork ribs, duck, or sausages
• Virșli - a type of sausage made from a mixture of goat or lamb with pork

Fish

• Chiftele de pește - fish meatballs
• Crap pane - breaded carp fillet
• Ghiveci cu pește - fish stew with vegetables
• Macrou afumat - smoked mackerel fillet
• Novac afumat din Țara Bârsei - smoked carp fillet, registered as a Romanian protected geographical indication (PGI) product in the European Union
• Pană de somn rasol - catfish in brine with garlic
• Plachie din pește - ragout of river fish with vegetables
• Papricaș de pește - fish papricaș
• Salată de icre - roe salad, traditionally made from carp, pike, or various marine fish species, called tarama, with onion
  • Salată cu icre de știucă de Tulcea - a variety of salată de icre registered as a Romanian protected geographical indication (PGI) product in the European Union
  • Salata tradițională cu icre de crap - another variety of salată de icre registered as a Romanian protected geographical indication (PGI) product in the European Union
• Saramură de crap - carp in brine
• Scrumbie de Dunăre afumată - smoked pontic shad, registered as a Romanian protected geographical indication (PGI) product in the European Union

Vegetables

• Ardei umpluți - stuffed bell peppers with meat, rice, onions
• Dovlecei umpluți - stuffed zucchini
• Gulii umplute - stuffed kohlrabi
• Găluște - boiled dumplings; similar to knedle or knödel in Central European cuisines
• Vinete umplute - stuffed eggplant
• Sarmale - stuffed cabbage rolls, also made from grape or dock leaves similar to Dolma
• Ghiveci - a vegetable stew similar to the Bulgarian gjuvec and the Hungarian lecsó
• Ghiveci călugăresc - vegetable stew prepared by the nuns in the monasteries
• Fasole batută - bean paste made from Romanian refried beans, uses white or cannellini beans, with the addition of olive or sunflower oil and minced garlic. The dish is traditionally served with fried onions as a garnish.
• Mămăligă - cornmeal mush, also known as Romanian-style polenta. Mămăligă can be served as a side dish or form the basis of further dishes, such as mămăligă cu lapte (polenta with hot milk), bulz (baked polenta with Romanian sheep cheese and sour cream), mămăliguță cu brânză și smântănă (polenta with telemea (Romanian cheese similar to feta) and sour cream), and others.
• Mâncare de mazăre - pea stew
• Mâncare de praz - leek stew
• Pilaf - a dish of rice, vegetables, and pieces of meat (optional). The meat is usually the offal, wings, and organs of chicken, pork, or lamb. The cooking method is very similar to risotto.
• Chifteluțe de ciuperci - chiftele made from mushrooms instead of meat
• Șnițel de ciuperci - mushroom fritter (șnițel is the Romanian spelling of the German word schnitzel (breaded boneless cutlet), but it may be used to mean any sort of fritter)
• Tocană de ciuperci - mushroom stew made with fried mushrooms, garlic and dill (sometimes sour cream is added)
• Tocăniță de gălbiori - chanterelle stew
• Zacuscă - vegetable spread consisting of roasted eggplant, sauteed onions, tomato paste, and roasted red peppers cooked for a long time at a low temperature

List of salads

• Ardei copți - roasted pepper salad, with vinegar and sunflower
• Murături - method of pickling different fruits and vegetables
  • Castraveți murați - pickled small cucumbers with dill, garlic and parsley root
  • Gogonele murate - pickled green tomatoes, which is the simple version of murături asortate
  • Varză murată - cabbage pickled in brine, flavored with dill stalks and beetroots for red colour.
  • Murături asortate - pickled mixed vegetables; a combination of any of the following: 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. It is most often cured in brine (Turkish version), though it can also be cured in vinegar (German version).
• Mujdei - crushed garlic sauce, made from garlic, salt, oil and water (for a mild taste, lemon or tomatoes may be added)
• Salată de boeuf - minced boiled meat with boiled vegetables, mayonnaise, and pickles
• Salată de vinete - roasted and peeled eggplant, chopped onions, and salt mixed with oil or mayonnaise
• Salată grecească - pieces of tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, feta cheese, olives, salt and olive oil
• Salată orientală - potato salad with eggs, onions, and olives
• Salată de sfeclă - beet salad
• Salată de roșii - tomato salad, with sliced onions, bell peppers, and cucumber. Flavored with dill or parsley.
• Shopska salad - known locally as Bulgarian salad, it is made from tomatoes, cucumbers, onion/scallions, raw or roasted peppers, telemea, and parsley. The vegetables are usually diced and salted, followed by a light dressing of sunflower/olive oil complemented with vinegar

List of cheeses

In Romania, cheese is called brânză and has roots from ancient times. Most cheeses there are made from cow’s or sheep’s milk, while goat’s milk is used less often. Sheep cheese is often called the most traditional kind, though some people today avoid it because it has more fat and a strong smell.

Some famous Romanian cheeses include:

• Brânză de burduf, a strong-tasting cheese made from sheep’s milk and stuffed in a sheep’s stomach.
• Brânză topită, a melted cheese that is made in factories.
• Brânză în coșuleț, a lightly smoked cheese from sheep’s milk, stuffed in fir tree bark.
• Caș, a fresh, soft white cheese that is usually eaten right away.
• Cașcaval, a semi-hard cheese from sheep’s or cow’s milk. One special type is Cașcaval de Săveni, which has protected status in Europe.
• Năsal cheese, known for its strong smell.
• Șvaițer, a type of factory-made cheese.
• Telemea, a white cheese similar to feta. Some versions, like “Telemea de Ibănești” and “Telemea de Sibiu”, have special protected status in Europe. “Telemea de Covurlui” is spiced with special seeds for a unique taste.
• Urdă, made from the liquid left after making milk cheese.
• Zămătișe, a kind of cottage cheese.

List of desserts

• Alivenci, a sweet and salty corn and cheese pie, is a traditional dessert from Eastern Romania and Moldova.
• Amandine is a chocolate sponge cake filled with almonds and chocolate, topped with a chocolate glaze.
• Brânzoaice are soft cakes from Moldova filled with sweet cheese.
• Carpați is a cake with layers of sponge cake and chocolate and caramel cream, shaped like the Carpathian mountains.
• Cataife
• Chec is a type of pound cake.
• Clătite are thin pancakes filled with sweet ingredients.
• Colivă is made from boiled wheat mixed with sugar and walnuts, often decorated with candy and icing sugar. It is shared at special ceremonies.
• Colțunași
• Cozonac secuiesc is a spit cake rolled in sugar and melted butter.
• Cremă de zahăr ars is a dessert similar to crème brûlée.
• Cremșnit is a cream cake, also called vanilla slice or custard slice, linked to the former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.
• Doboș is a sponge cake with layers of chocolate buttercream and a caramel topping.
• Gogoși are doughnuts made from fried dough. In Banat, they are called crofne.
• Gomboți are dumplings filled with plums, made from mashed potatoes and flour dough.
• Griș cu lapte
• Halva
• Joffre cake was created at the Casa Capșa restaurant in Bucharest.
• Lapte de pasăre is vanilla custard with whipped egg whites on top.
• Magiun of Topoloveni is a special plum jam protected by the European Union.
• Mucenici/sfințișori are sweet pastries shaped like the number "8", filled with walnuts, sugar, or honey, eaten on March 9th.
• Orez cu lapte is Rice pudding.
• Pandișpan is a type of Sponge cake.
• Papanași are doughnuts made from sweet cheese, eggs, and semolina, boiled or fried and served with fruit syrup or jam and sour cream.
• Pelincile Domnului is a Moldavian pie made from honey-flavoured wheat cakes and hemp seed cream.
• Pișcoturi are thin, light, sweet, and crispy cookies.
• Prăjituri are different kinds of pastries.
• Rahat is Turkish delight.
• Chocolate salami is made from biscuits, chocolate, and rum essence, shaped like a sausage.
• Savarine is a type of cake.
• Scovergi is flat fried dough eaten with honey, jam, or cheese.
• Șarlotă is a custard made from milk, eggs, sugar, whipped cream, gelatin, fruits, and ladyfingers.
• Ștrudel is a layered pastry that can be sweet or savoury.
• Tort is a cake.
• Tulumba
• Turtă dulce is gingerbread.

List of pastries

Here are some tasty Romanian pastries you might enjoy:

• Cornuri - a bread roll shaped like a crescent.
• Cornulețe - pastries filled with jam, chocolate, cinnamon sugar, walnuts, or raisins, also shaped like a crescent.
• Covrig - circular bread sprinkled with sesame seeds.
• Covrigi - a type of pretzel.
• Cozonac - a sweet bread similar to Stollen, made with milk, eggs, sugar, butter, and other yummy ingredients.
• Pogace - a corn cake or wheat flour dough cake, often made with pork gizzards or cheese.
• Plăcintă - a traditional Romanian pastry.
  • Plăcintă dobrogeană - a special type of plăcintă recognized in the European Union.
  • Burec - a three-cornered pie made with thin filo sheets, filled with walnuts, crushed almonds, cheese, or minced meat.
• Prăjituri - a variety of assorted pastries.

List of drinks

See also: Romanian wine and Beer in Romania

Here are some popular drinks enjoyed in Romania:

• Afinată - a sweet drink made from afine, which are like blueberries.
• Ayran - a cool, savory drink made from yogurt, mostly enjoyed in Dobrogea.
• Bere - local beers from different breweries.
• Cafea - Turkish-style coffee made in a special pot with very fine coffee grounds.
• Ceai - tea, either made from plants like chamomile or mint, or as black tea called ceai rusesc, usually enjoyed during breakfast.
• Chefir - a thin, creamy drink made from fermented milk.
• Horincă is a strong drink made from plums or apples, especially in Maramureș.
• Must - fresh grape juice that is still becoming wine.
• Pălincă is a powerful fruit brandy, often made from plums, and comes from Transylvania.
• Pelin de mai is a special spring wine flavored with dried plants.
• Rachiu/Rachie is a fruit brandy; țuică is especially made from plums.
• Rachiu de tescovină is a strong drink made from grape leftovers, similar to grappa.
• Rachia de Banat is a fruity brandy, often from plums, made in Banat.
• Sana is a drinkable yogurt.
• Secărică is a caraway-flavored vodka, like the German kümmel.
• Sirop - a sweet drink made from syrup using different fruits and honey or sugar.
• Socată is a non-alcoholic drink made from fermented elderflowers (Sambucus nigra).
• Șliboviță is a plum brandy from the Banat area.
• Turț is a strong plum brandy from the village of Turț.
• Țuică is a type of plum brandy.
• Vin
• Vișinată is a sour cherry drink.
• Vodcă
• Zmeurată is a raspberry drink.