Romanian Food Recipes

Romanian food recipes is, like in so many other places, a fruit of its history. The past saw strong connections with Austria, Hungary, Bulgary, Turkey and Moldova; this is reflected in the Romanian cuisine. Lets start with some history.

History
Humans have been in the region for at least 40000 years. There was contact with ancient Greece, later the Romans invaded the area and made it a province. The latter fact had a great effect on culture, still today Romanian is classified as a latin language. After the withdrawal of the Romans the area was invaded by Goths, Huns, Bulgars and Avars to name a few aggres. During the Middle Ages there were three principalities with Romanian speakers: Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania. In the 14th century started a long struggle against the Turkish Ottoman empire. The Turks invaded and controlled the southern part of modern Romania well into the 19th century, Transylvania was eventually controlled by Austria-Hungary. It was during the 1800's Romania gradually established themselves as an entity, partly after successfully having fought against Russia in a communal effort. By 1878 they had complete independence from the Turks, following the defeat of Austria-Hungary in WWI they also incorporated Transylvania in 1918. The 'Greater Romanian Kingdom' remained like this until 1940 when they joined the war on the Axis side, king Carol II then abdicated. Even though they switched sides to the Allies in 1944 Romania was penalized, during the war the holocaust took a terrible toll on Romanis, Jews and other races deemed 'unclean'. In 1947 USSR forced the new king Michael to abdicate and declared Romania a communist people's republic. The years as a communist state were undoubtfully tough and dominated by strict control and quite unsuccessful industrial and agricultural reforms. In 1965 Nicolae Ceausescu came to power, gradually he became more and more despotic. After several years of bad economy he was killed in a bloody revolution in 1989. Today Romania is a modern European state, member of NATO and the EU.

Romanian Cuisine
Romanian food recipes have, as I mentioned earlier, been influenced by several cuisines. In traditional cooking meat is quite dominant, in particular pork. Beef, chicken, lamb and fish are also quite common. Dairy products are mainly eaten in the form of cheese and sour cream. Of the cereals wheat is the clear number one. Maize is produced in large quantities thus providing cornflour, it is frequently used in Romanian food recipes. Seasonal fruits and vegetables are common, the many recipes with cabbage can be traced back to the Turks.

Some Ingredients And Dishes Of Romania

Vanilias kifli Small crescent shaped vanilla biscuits.
Musaca Oven baked eggplant, potato and minced meat. Turkish origin.
Zacusca A type of a vegetable spread based on roasted red pepper and onions.
Pilaf A rice dish of Middle Eastern origin. A bit like risotto but without the cheese and the meat.
Snitel It's the old schnitzel so common in East Europe. Of Austrian or German origin.
Bors Fermented wheat bran.
Ciorba A sour tasting soup that come in many forms. Made sour with bors.
Halva A kind of a hard sweet paste made from seeds and nuts. Asian origin.
Mititei Minced meat rolls, ideally from lamb, pork and beef.
Mamaliga A maize porridge similar to the Italian polenta.
Sarmale Cabbage rolls filled with minced meat and rice. The cabbage can be substituted with grape or chard leaves.
Clatite A dessert pancake.
Papanasi Doughnuts made from cottage cheese (branza di vaci) topped with sour cream and pickled fruit.
Cas Semi soft cheese.
Branza de burduf Cheese made by kneading sheep's milk.
Ardei umpluti Stuffed bell peppers.
Cozonac Sweet raisin wheat bread, usually eaten at Easter.
Frigarui Grilled skewered meat, similar to the Turkish shish kebab but with pork meat.
Chiftele Fried breaded minced meat, like the Asian kofta.
Papricas Goulash. Paprika spiced meat and vegetable soup from Hungary.
Saramura de crap Famous rich tasting carp dish.
Mujdei Garlic sauce.

Romanian Beverages
A quite large plum production is mostly dedicated to distill a brandy known as tuica, the type is also common in other countries of Eastern Europe and Balkan. Romania has a large wine production, what is not enjoyed in the country is exported. Romanians produce and drink quite a lot of beer as well, the preferred type is light pilsener.

Submitted Romanian Food Recipes
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