RECIPES AROUND EUROPE: ROMANIA

 RECIPES AROUND EUROPE: ROMANIA

Romanian cuisine is a diverse blend of different dishes from several traditions with which it has come into contact, but it also maintains its own character. It has been mainly influenced by Turkish and a series of European cuisines in particular from the Balkans, or Hungarian cuisine as well as culinary elements stemming from the cuisines of Central Europe.

Romanian cuisine includes numerous holiday dishes arranged according to the mentioned season and holiday since the country has its roots in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Romanian dishes consist of vegetables, cereals, fruits, honey, milk, dairy products, meat and game.

Multiple different types of dishes are available, which are sometimes included under a generic term; for example, the category ciorbă includes a wide range of soups with a characteristic sour taste. Variations include meat and vegetable soup, tripe (ciorbă de burtă) and calf foot soup, or fish soup, all of which are soured by lemon juice, sauerkraut juice (zeamă de varză), vinegar, or borș (traditionally made from bran). The category țuică (plum brandy) is a name for a strong alcoholic spirit in Romania.

Romanian recipes bear the same influences as the rest of Romanian culture. The Turks brought meatballs (perișoare in a meatball soup), from the Greeks there is musaca, from the Austrians there is the șnițel, and the list continues. The Romanians share many foods with the Balkan area and former Austria-Hungary. Some others are original or can be traced to the Romans, as well as other ancient civilizations. The lack of written sources in Eastern Europe makes it impossible to determine today the exact origin for most of them.

One of the most common meals is the mămăligă, the precursor of polenta, served on its own or as an accompaniment. Pork is the main meat used in Romanian cuisine, but also beef is consumed and a good lamb or fish dish is never to be refused.

Before Christmas, on December 20 (Ignat's Day or Ignatul in Romanian), a pig is traditionally sacrificed by every rural family. 

A variety of foods for Christmas are prepared from the slaughtered pig, such as:

• Cârnați – garlicky pork sausages, which may be smoked or dry-cured;
• Lebăr – an emulsified sausage based on liver with the consistency of the filling ranging from fine (pâté) to coarse;
• Sângerete (black pudding) – an emulsified sausage obtained from a mixture of pig's blood with fat and meat, breadcrumbs or other grains, and spices;
• Tobă (head cheese) – based on pig's feet, ears, and meat from the head suspended in aspic and stuffed in the pig's stomach;

• Tochitură is a stew made with pork, smoked and fresh sausage simmered in a tomato sauce and served with mămăligă and wine. There are many variations of this stew throughout Romania, with some versions combining different meats, including chicken, lamb, beef, pork and sometimes even offal;
• Pomana porcului is made of pan-fried cubed pork served right after the pig's sacrifice to thank the relatives and friends who helped with the process;
• Piftie or răcitură in Romanian is the inferior parts of the pig, mainly the tail, feet, and ears, spiced with garlic and served in aspic;
• Jumări is dried pork remaining from rendering of the fat and tumbled through various spices
• Sarmale (or Romanian cabbage rolls) is a favourite dish for many people and it is always on our Christmas table. It is made of minced meat mixed with other ingredients (such as rice, onion, pepper, salt, green herbs). The meat is put in sour cabbage rolls and then boiled in water and tomato sauce.

The Christmas meal is sweetened with the traditional cozonac, a sweet bread made with nuts, poppy seeds, or rahat (Turkish delight).

by David , Antonia , Gabriel