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
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
A few years ago, my verrah own mother came to visit me here in Romania. And despite trying and eating homemade foods here as well as at “proper” sit-down restaurants, she kept returning over and over again to the fast food. It’s easy to understand why, even if the food isn’t of the highest quality nor is really cheaper than other places to eat. It … Continue reading Fast Food: Fattening Feasting Fun
A few days ago, something tripped the electricity in my house and reset my radio, erasing all the pre-set stations. I decided to take this as a serendipitous moment and let my radio scan around for a while. I found a really nifty radio station which I think many of you may like, called Radio Romania Actualitati, which means something like “Current Affairs”. It has … Continue reading Sunday Morning Coming Down
After writing a big long post on food, now time for one about consuming liquids in Romania, especially the traditional cultural practices you will find here. Cold Drinks As I mentioned a couple of days ago, in general, Romanians believe that drinking a liquid that is quite cold is bad for your health. I did an informal survey with some people I know, including one … Continue reading Romanian Cultural Practices: Beverages
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