Sarmale

If there is one national “comfort food” in Romania, it has to be the dish sarmale, inherited from the long centuries of Turkish rule. Simply put, sarmale (sar-mall-eh) are cabbage leaves which are folded around a special filling into little “packages” and then (further) cooked. Because this is a Balkans-wide dish, there are as many variants of sarmale but the Romanian version generally has two … Continue reading Sarmale

Time To Learn About Time

As I mentioned in this post, the Romanian day is divided somewhat differently that in other places, with morning ending before noon and evening, more or less, beginning at dusk. These are critically important when referring to times. Maine (mwee-nay) – Tomorrow Ieri (yair) – Yesterday Astazi (ah-stoz) – Today Although this doesn’t immediately appear to be devolved from Latin, it is. It stands for … Continue reading Time To Learn About Time

Mici/Mititei

After my long article on fast-food, a number of people mentioned mici (meech), but what are they? Clearly one of Romania’s most popular and enduring dishes, mici (literally: “small ones”) are sometimes known as mititei (meaty-tay), generally referred to in English as “sausages”. Unlike most of the concoctions you will find at a fast-food, mici truly are a Romanian, domestic creation, the story of the … Continue reading Mici/Mititei