Romania national cuisine. National cuisine of Romania: dishes with a distinctive character
Romanians tend to prefer pork, poultry and veal, although, for example, lamb is very widely used in Transylvanian cooking. Fish and snails are also quite common on the table. Meat is actively used in Romanian cuisine. It is combined in every possible way, both with hominy and with vegetables.
Lamb stuffed with garlic can drive the most notorious gourmet crazy. Goat meat, smoked in a special smoke, forever leaves its unique taste in the memory of tourists.
Romanians love grilling or grilling. Both meat and fish are often prepared in this way. It turns out incredibly tasty.
Vegetables are represented in the national cuisine by a huge kaleidoscope of dishes. Meet stuffed mushrooms, tomatoes and bulbs. Minced meat consists of a combination of meat, vegetables and cheese.
Onion stew (green), and beans with the addition of smoked bacon are highly valued. They make delicious, melt-in-your-mouth bean puree. It's worth a try! Fresh vegetables are usually served as an elaborate degree of salads. Cheese, eggs and homemade sour cream. Pickled vegetables are found on a par with fresh ones, they are in special demand in Romania.
The dough is the basis for baking such interesting delicacies as kalachi with a great variety of fillings “ynvyrtite”, Easter cakes “kozonaki”, flat-shaped pies stuffed with meat “parjoale”, cheese pies “brui”, “plachinda” with cottage cheese, pumpkin, apples and potatoes, papanashi curds, dumplings, pancakes and Transylvanian dumplings.
Romanians prefer to use white varieties of bread.
And now - in more detail.
First meal. Chorby.
National Romanian cuisine is replete with a variety of vegetable soups and broths. But the most popular first course is sour stews - chorbi.
Broths, as a rule, are prepared on the basis of beef. Then vegetables, rice or noodles, cereals or dumplings are added.
Vegetable first courses can be found both with flour dressing and without it. Sometimes these soups are served with croutons. If there is no flour dressing, then often the soup is seasoned with sour cream and egg or butter. For such soups, a great variety of vegetables are used. For example: cauliflower, zucchini, spinach and pumpkin, as well as legumes: beans, lentils and peas.
Chorbi is the pride of Romanian cuisine. Once you've tried it, it's hard to resist the urge to try again. Their unique feature is as follows: the dressing is prepared from wheat bran with a method of infusion and a special mixture is obtained - borsh. Chorbies come in both meat and vegetable varieties. Meat are based on poultry, veal or beef, but sometimes they use lamb or offal, as well as fish. Chorbi on meat is most often seasoned with egg and sour cream, and rice and cabbage pickle are also added to them. Vegetable chorbies always have a flour dressing, and sometimes egg and sour cream. It is difficult to compare this unique dish with something. Its taste delights and makes you remember gastronomic tourist episodes again and again.
Tourists are strongly recommended to try "chorbia da vakutsa tsaranyaska" - beef broth stew with an incomparable kaleidoscope of vegetables, and exotic lovers should opt for "chorbia de burte", cooked from beef stomach and having a special delicate taste. Cheese "Syrbushka" based on milk whey and with the addition of vegetables is also interesting in taste.
Main dishes
The variety of second courses strikes the taste and eyes of tourists. Often they contain traditional potatoes, beans, various combinations of vegetables, pasta, meat and poultry, eggs and dough. Popular dishes of natural fresh meat grilled on a grill, shish kebabs (or frigerui) and fried chickens, homemade egg omelets served with hominy.
Complex dishes are moussaka (casserole of meat and vegetables), angemacht (boiled poultry or meat with a sour special sauce), chulama (mushrooms and vegetables with meat seasoned with flour sauce), mititei (minced meat cylinders fried on a grill), chulamu (veal goulash with white sauce). Particular attention should be paid to cabbage rolls from grape leaves - sarmaluts.
An incomparable dish called "cholan de porc" - smoked and fried pork leg, which is served with a side dish of beans and pickles. The meat melts in your mouth and impresses with its splendor of taste. It is also worth trying "stuafat" - roast meat seasoned with onion dressing and, of course, "givech" - tender stew with meat and vegetables.
Vegetables
In fact, vegetables are present in many dishes, as you may have noticed. Rarely, without their participation, the first or second course is prepared. If this happens, then all the same, vegetables are served at the table. Such a range of vegetables is actively involved: peppers, eggplants, potatoes, beans and beans, beets, cabbage, tomatoes and cucumbers, carrots. Garnishes are prepared from them (stewed, boiled and fried), cut into salads and often served pickled, pickled or salted.
Dairy
In addition to the aforementioned brynza, frequent guests on Romanian tables are: cottage cheese and various varieties of soft and hard cheeses. First courses are prepared on the basis of whey, and sour cream serves as the basis for dressings and sauces. Separately, it should be mentioned that Romanians also love milk, but traditionally in a warm form.
Beverages
It is customary for Romanians to start a meal with a strong drink "tsuiki" - this is, as a rule, plum, apple or pear vodka, quite strong - about 50-60 degrees. Undoubtedly, the best Romanian vodka is a drink made from black plums, which has been aged in special barrels for more than 3 years.
Lighter drinks complete the meal - grape wines, compotes and black coffee, which is drunk in fairly large quantities.
The following wines possess the best taste qualities: , Stefanesti, Tarkava, Mazharca, Kryata, Tamiyoase, Sangiovesk and others.
Of the strong drinks, the Hungarian palinka is also common, but, of course, they drink it to a lesser extent than cuyca.
The beer industry in Romania is poorly represented. If we still talk about the best beer, then this is Ursus.
Romanian cuisine is often criticized for its calorie content, excessive use of fat and salt. But no one will remain hungry, because the taste of local gastronomy is beyond praise. Serbs, Hungarians, Turks shared their recipes with Romanians for centuries, but many dishes can only be tasted here. What to look for in cafes and restaurants in Romania, what to try first?
Meat dishes are the basis of the Romanian meal
Meat is the basis of everything in Romanian cuisine. Along with vegetables and cheese, it gave rise to many interesting recipes, which took root and began to form the Romanian cuisine. Smoked bacon is popular among the locals. There are so many different regions in Romania, so many ways to spice up bacon. Most often, garlic, paprika, herbs, pepper are used, but the smoking process itself gives the main aroma. Romanians' love for smoked dishes led to the creation of smoked sausages, another delicious delicacy. Traditionally, they are generously seasoned with sweet and hot paprika, salt, cumin and garlic. As an option - mititei. These sausages are prepared without casings, served heavily toasted and hot.
Something for which Romanian cuisine is just scolded is fatty dishes. For welcome guests, it is customary to cook pork according to a special recipe: meat, ribs and liver are fried in their own juice. Meatballs are popular. They are seasoned large quantity garlic and traditional herbs (parsley, dill), fried or baked in tomato sauce. This meat dish is served with rice and mashed potatoes.
Popular Romanian dishes
At first glance, one of the most popular dishes in Romania does not surprise a Russian tourist. it sarmale- an analogue of our pigeons. However, Romanians know much more about cooking methods: they often take fish instead of minced meat, add a lot of herbs, which can vary in each region, and cabbage is often replaced with sorrel and even plantain. Sermale is usually served with sour cream or hominy.
Soups in Romania are also held in high esteem. The main one is bean soup, which is cooked differently in every house. In the south, several types of vegetables are necessarily added to it, in regions close to Moldova they season the soup with dill, in Transylvania it is made thicker with the help of flour. Meat is taken to taste, including chicken giblets, and vegetables should preferably be young, not fried. Prepared this way, bean soup is a healthy alternative to fatty meat dishes.
Another famous combination of meat and vegetables in Romania is potato goulash with smoked meat. This is a Transylvanian dish in which the smoked flavor of the meat gives the whole goulash an unusual flavor. In the original recipe, potato noodles are added to the dish, which is now often served separately as a side dish.
Another Transylvanian dish is pork soup. Tarragon makes it unusual, which, in combination with meat, gives the soup a special taste. A characteristic feature of the dish is a slight sourness, which is achieved with the help of vinegar. Another favorite soup in Romania is tripe soup, to which vegetables and celery roots are added. It is served with sour cream or garlic sauce and vinegar.
Always a great idea on the table - Peasant dish. This is a large plate on which an assortment of meat, vegetable snacks and cheeses are placed: feta cheese, spicy smoked cheese called “burduf”, bacon, cracklings, meat balls, a lot of onions and tomatoes.
Eggplant lovers will surely love the Romanian salad, for which this vegetable is grilled, then chopped and mixed with mayonnaise, onions, herbs and garlic.
Romanian desserts and pastries
Romanian housewives skillfully prepare flour products. The meal here ends with rolls, pies, muffins. One of the favorite pies has long been considered a sweet cheese pie. But local culinary specialists do not stop at such an unusual combination: for greater sweetness, the cake is sprinkled with powdered sugar. Herbs are sometimes added to cheese or replaced with cottage cheese.
From the Austro-Hungarian cuisine of Romania got a dessert papanash. It consists of a base with a round hole into which jam is poured, and a ball - it is placed on the base and poured over with an analogue of ricotta or sour cream. Papanash is so popular with tourists that a rare meal is complete without these donuts. Also sweet tooth must try cottage cheese casserole aliench- she comes from Moldova and is prepared with the addition corn grits. Dessert is served with jams or sour cream.
Romanian traditional drinks
In Romania, wine-making traditions are long-standing - the first varieties were brought by the French and Greeks, and in the Middle Ages, vineyards were replenished with varieties from Germany. The country has long been considered a major wine producer, although its quality drinks are not as well known. In Romania, not only famous varieties (merlot, pinot noir) are popular, but also local Graça and Feteasca (white). They produce Cotnari wines. The fame of Cotnari has led to the fact that tourists in Romania are interested in this wine in the first place. The drink has a delicate aroma and matures in barrels in a short time - Cotnari acquires the main taste already in bottles.
The most characteristic of all Romanian regions is the drink cuica. This is a local vodka made from apples, plums and pears, and the strongest is made in Transylvania. Tsuica is quite easy to drink and has a fruity aroma. Sometimes it is customary to warm up the drink and add spices - cuyka becomes like liquor.
Speaking of Romanian national cuisine, it is worth noting that its formation was greatly influenced by the cuisines of other nations, especially Greek and Turkish. It so happened that the lands of this country for a long time were cross-sea trade routes. So the Romanian cuisine borrowed all the best from the culinary chefs of neighboring states. One can only envy such an abundance of fruits and vegetables. However, a feature of many Romanian dishes is the presence of feta cheese and kashakaval in them. But everything is in order. Let's get acquainted with authentic Romanian cuisine. Now, if you go on a trip around the country, you will definitely want to try something unusual and delicious from the national cuisine of Romania.
Romanian chorba soup
One of the most popular Romanian dishes is soup. It is unusual, thick, on cabbage brine with tomato dressing. It's called chorba soup. It is cooked in beef broth with large pieces of meat. Patrohi is sometimes used, however, then the soup has a specific smell. But this is an amateur. Vegetables and rice are also added there. Lemon is used as a condiment. But besides, in Romania they cook fragrant spicy lentil soup with tomatoes and garlic, sorrel or spinach puree soup with the addition of peas, beans or lentils, as well as borscht with wheat bran.
Mamalyga porridge
Many Romanian dishes consist of an ingredient such as corn. It is ground into flour, and then a delicious porridge is prepared - hominy. This is the main dish of Romania, which is boiled, baked or stewed. There are several varieties of this porridge. For example, balmush-mamaliga is prepared with the addition of milk, there is porridge with dumplings from hominy. And you can imagine such a dish as fried eggs with hominy!
Sarmaleh and stuffed vegetables
In Ukraine, this dish is called "stuffed cabbage", but in Romania it has a different name - "sarmale". True, unlike us, Romanian chefs also wrap minced meat and rice in grape leaves. The process of preparing a real sarmale takes three days. On the first day, small stuffed balls are fried and stewed well. On the second day, they are stewed in white wine, adding tomato paste there. On the third day, finely chopped cabbage and tomatoes are poured into a pot with a dish, sprinkled with bacon on top and put in the oven. As soon as the top is browned, the dish is ready. In addition, the culinary specialists of the country skillfully stuff peppers and zucchini in this way.
"Kebabs" of Romania
Romanians eat meat of all varieties. There is a place for pork, and beef, and lamb, and poultry. They cook barbecue very unusually. beef liver, which is called frigurey. They cook a lot of meat dishes on the grill, with spices and herbs. It is worth noting spicy meatballs mititei, in the form of sausages made from lamb, pork or beef meat, which are fried on a grill. In general, Romanian cuisine has many interesting meat dishes. They are skillfully stewed in an oven or oven. For example, stew with vegetables and mushrooms in flour sauce chulama, roast with onion dressing stufat, tender stew with meat and vegetables givech and, of course, original Romanian pancakes with meat.
Flour products and desserts
A special place in the cuisine of Romania is reserved for flour products . Local confectioners skillfully bake various Easter cakes with meat and fruit fillings, puff pastry pies, cheesecakes and pancakes, various biscuits. Be sure to try the Romanian kalach "ynvirtite", with a variety of fillings, and a pie with "bruy" cheese.
Romanian cuisine boasts its own desserts, such as kataif (kadaif) cakes - something similar to baklava, which is made from unleavened dough, rubbed with thin threads with a special machine, baked and dipped in fruit syrup. Or a French brioche cake. Turkish delight and baklava came to Romanians from Turkish cuisine. Various types of jams and jams are prepared here very tasty.
Wines and other drinks from Romania
Many connoisseurs of good wine appreciate Romanian samples. The country has excellent vineyards that produce large yields of wine grapes such as Chardonnay, Pinot gris and Riesling. Most of it goes to production hard liquor in Romania- cognac. The best varieties Romanian wines are considered dessert wine Murfatlar and table wine Karaburn. The red and white wines of Odobesti and Cotnari are of high quality, which won a gold medal at an exhibition in Paris back in 1900.
From stronger drinks, Zaraza cognacs and Greek cognac Alexandrion are produced in the country. And the Romanian Palinka, a strong drink made from plums (pears, apples), has long been known throughout Europe. This is a strong vodka 35-45%. There is an even stronger fruit drink - this is Tsuika, the strength of which is 60%. In addition, the country produces good vermouth, fruit liqueurs and beer. Among soft drinks Romanians prefer teas, however, they prepare them from herbs, and also drink coffee.
Romania, previously one of the provinces of the Roman Empire, had a difficult history with a lot of trials. However, thanks to this, Romanian cuisine is very diverse and includes the best customs of its European neighbors.
Romanian dishes are famous for being very simple and rich. The main ingredients of their cuisine are corn and a variety of vegetables. The national dish of Romania is hominy - a porridge made from corn flour. It is served in various types and forms with multiple different additives. A huge number of vegetable dishes, especially cabbage rolls - "sarmale", made from cabbage and grape leaves stuffed with cheese, meat, rice. Complicated vegetable salads combined with eggs and cheese are widespread. Traditional food on the tables are sour soups made from kvass or kefir.
Romanian cuisine also has a significant number of original dough dishes. Of course, Romanian wines are of particular interest. You can try the variety of Romanian cuisine according to the recipes on our website.