I got a glimpse of food from Romania when I cooked Moldovan food, and I was glad to get to revisit these flavors as I love them! There were a few dishes in particular that I had wanted to make for Moldova but saved for Romania, so I’ve been looking forward to them. Unfortunately, my post on the Romanian subreddit was removed due to not having enough community karma, so I did not receive any input from Romanians on this one.
Romania is a European country, with borders on Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, and the Black Sea.
The first evidence of early humans (different from modern-day humans) in the region can be traced back nearly 2 million years. Later, the land became part of the Dacian Kingdom, which lasted from 82 BC until the Roman Conquest in 106 AD. The name ‘Romania’ actually comes from a Latin word and means ‘Roman’ or ‘of Rome’.
In 1859, the modern Romanian state was formed. Some parts of the country were under Ottoman rule for a time, but Romania formally gained independence in 1878. Although it was never part of the Soviet Union, a section of the country was occupied by the USSR from the 1940s to the late 1980s.
Today, Romania is a democratic country with a high-income economy and a growing tourism industry. It exports automotive and vehicle parts all over the world, and has some of the fastest internet speeds.
What Do People Eat in Romania?
Romanian cuisine shares similarities with that of its neighboring countries and is influenced by Ottoman cuisine due to the Ottoman Empire’s former presence in the region.
One of the most eaten staples is mămăligă, which is Romanian polenta. It can be served as a meal on its own, often with toppings such as cheese, sour cream, and/or pork, but it is also enjoyed as a side dish.
Some common flavors include paprika, garlic, dill, and sour ingredients such as sauerkraut and lemon juice. Cheese has always been popular in Romania; it can be eaten on its own or incorporated into other dishes.
Meat is included in many meals and it is common to utilize as much of the animal as possible, so there are a lot of dishes featuring ingredients such as tripe, liver, and calves’ feet. Common meats include beef, lamb, and chicken.
Commonly used vegetables include tomatoes, peppers, onions, and eggplant. Many dishes have vegan versions, as much of the population avoids animal products at certain times of the year, according to the Romanian Orthodox tradition.
Romania is the world’s second-largest producer of plums (after the United States), and up to three-quarters of these plums are made into plum brandy.
What I Made
- Tochitura (Pork Stew)
- Ciorba Radauteana (Chicken and Sour Cream Soup)
- Mititei (Ground Meat Sausages)
- Chiftele Marinate (Meatballs in Sauce)
- Fasole Batuta (White Bean Dip with Caramelized Onions)
Scroll down to read about other popular Romanian dishes I didn’t make!
Tochitura (Pork Stew)
Tochitura is a stew made from multiple cuts of pork, which usually include offal. There are many variations, but it’s usually flavored with paprika and served with mămăligă, which is the Romanian version of polenta.
For my tochitura, I used pork shoulder and bratwurst sausages that I had left over in the freezer from Polish week. The sausages were meant to be smoked so I made up for it by substituting some of the paprika in the recipe with smoked paprika.
I began by browning the pork in oil. Then, I added the sausages. Once they were browned, I poured in some white wine and simmered for a few minutes. I added bay leaves, paprika (a mixture of sweet, smoked, and a dash of cayenne to replace the spicy paprika called for), dried thyme, tomato paste, salt, and pepper.
Once everything was combined, I added a little water even though the recipe didn’t say to, because the pan seemed like it would be way too dry if I didn’t. I cooked the pork with the lid on until it was tender, for about an hour or so. I did add just a little more water at one point, something the recipe does say to do. I’m wondering if there was a step missing about adding some initially.
When the pork was tender, I stirred in crushed garlic and cooked for another 10 minutes or so.
I served this with mămăligă (which I made with just cornmeal, butter, salt, and water), topped with a fried egg and some feta cheese. These are common additions, though the cheese would be something local to Romania; feta just seemed like a good substitution.
This stew was amazing! I really liked the paprika, as well as the garlic flavor, which was pretty strong since there was a lot of garlic and it didn’t cook for very long.
The recipe I used for this is from The Romanian Cookbook.
Ciorba Radauteana (Chicken and Sour Cream Soup)
This is a simple soup made primarily from chicken and vegetables, with a good amount of sour cream added at the end.
I began by cooking chicken thighs in salted water with onion, carrot, celery, and red bell pepper. Then I took out the chicken and shredded it, and cut up the carrots. I put the remaining vegetables in the blender and blended them until smooth.
I mixed sour cream with minced garlic, an egg yolk, and salt. I slowly added some of the hot soup broth, whisking constantly, to gradually bring the mixture up to temperature. This helps keep the sour cream from splitting.
I added my tempered sour cream mixture to the soup, along with the blended vegetables, carrots, chicken, and a little white wine vinegar.
To serve, I garnished my soup with fresh dill and added some bread on the side.
I thought this was quite good but I feel like I needed to let the broth reduce a bit, or just use less water to begin with. I think that concentrating the flavor a bit would help—since the flavor was good, I just wanted more of it!
This recipe is from The Romanian Cookbook.
Mititei (Ground Meat Sausages)
Mititei, also known as mici, are a popular street food in Romania. They are sausages formed from ground meat without a casing. They are typically grilled and served with bread and mustard, though I also saw them served with fries when I was doing my research. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve made something similar before which I did serve with fries, but now I can’t remember which country that was for… I will update this post if I remember!
I had to make the meat mixture in advance for this recipe, so I put it together in the morning before work as it was pretty quick. The recipe said to use a mixture of ground pork, beef, and lamb, but I omitted the lamb simply because I wanted to make less. I also used dried summer savory instead of dried thyme; apparently, summer savory is often used in Romanian mititei and it’s a bit more interesting to me than thyme.
I combined the pork and beef with beef stock, salt, paprika, baking soda, black pepper, coriander, allspice, dried summer savory, and minced garlic. I used a bit less allspice than the recipe called for because it’s a flavor that I don’t like if it’s too strong. I refrigerated the mixture and let it sit in the fridge for around 12 hours, until it was time to make dinner.
I formed the mixture into sausages and cooked them on the stove since I don’t have a grill. I served them with bread, mustard, and salad to get in some vegetables.
I really liked these and even my picky husband ate them! He first said that they were ‘edible’, so I asked if he liked them. He said that he was ‘not annoyed by their existence’, which is pretty high praise coming from him!
This is something I would make again. The baking soda softens the meat, in a good way, and the stock keeps them juicy. I could make countless variations by using different spice combinations! And I would like to try making them with the lamb included, though my husband doesn’t like lamb so then I’d have to eat them all myself. But I think they would freeze well so that seems like a decent option!
The recipe I used for these is from Romanian Cook.
Chiftele Marinate (Meatballs in Sauce)
Meatballs seem very popular in Romania, and they can be served in many different ways. I chose to make meatballs in a sauce made from tomatoes, onions, and red bell peppers.
For the meatball mixture, I combined ground pork, ground beef, finely chopped red onion, eggs, paprika, dried thyme, fresh dill, salt, and pepper. I used 1 teaspoon of dried thyme here rather than the 1 tablespoon called for, since I think that would have been way too much.
I formed the mixture into meatballs and pan-fried them in oil until browned. When done, I transferred them to a plate and set them aside.
I cooked some red onion in the same pan, then added red bell pepper. A few minutes later, I added a can of chopped tomatoes, as well as garlic, oregano, sweet paprika, salt, and pepper. I let the sauce simmer for about 15 minutes, then added the meatballs and continued to cook for a few minutes more until the meatballs were fully cooked.
I served these meatballs with mashed potatoes as the recipe suggested. The flavor was very good but I think I was missing the breadcrumbs that are usually in meatball recipes. After looking at a few other recipes, it doesn’t look like lacking breadcrumbs is a chiftele thing but something specific to this recipe. Some other recipes also include grated potato which is something I might try one day.
This recipe is from The Romanian Cookbook.
Fasole Batuta (White Bean Dip with Caramelized Onions)
Fasole batuta is a smooth, garlicky white bean dip topped with paprika-flavored caramelized onions. I love anything with caramelized onions so I wanted to try this!
I began with the onions, since anyone who has made caramelized onions knows that it can be a long process. I added the sliced onions to a skillet with a good amount of olive oil, as well as tomato paste, salt, and a little paprika. I cooked until the onions began to soften, then added more paprika and kept cooking until the onions were sweet and caramelized.
When the onions were nearly done, I added a can of cannellini beans to my food processor along with garlic and salt, and some of the liquid from the bean can. I processed until I had a smooth paste. I do think I added a little too much liquid, since my dip was a little on the runny side, so I would start with less if I were to make this again.
The bean portion itself wasn’t too exciting to me. It was a bit too salty, even though I added less salt than the recipe called for. Maybe my canned beans were particularly salty. But also, I think if I had taken the extra step of cooking the beans myself—as I usually do—this would have just tasted a lot better.
However, when topped with the caramelized onions, this became delicious! I served this with bread, and I really enjoyed it that way.
The recipe I used for this is from Cristina’s Kitchen.
Other Popular Romanian Dishes
- Sarmale – cabbage rolls stuffed with a seasoned pork and rice mixture. The cabbage used is typically sauerkraut. This is considered Romania’s national dish, but I didn’t feel I had time to make it this week, and I have made a version of sarmale before, for Croatia.
- Ardei umpluți – sweet peppers stuffed with a spiced meat and rice mixture, cooked in a tomato sauce. Stuffed pepper variations are popular in many countries!
- Bulz – one of many polenta dishes found in Romania! Bulz is made from cheesy polenta that is baked or grilled and served topped with fried eggs, sometimes sausage and/or bacon too.
- Papanași – like donuts, made from a sweet cheese dough that can be either boiled or fried. It’s usually served with sour cream and blueberry preserves.
Final Thoughts
This was another great week! My favorite food from Romania was the tochitura, with the mititei a close second.
There won’t be a post next week as I am going on a trip out of state and I just don’t think I will have time. But when I return, I will be posting about food from Russia.