Study in Romania

Romanian food is a simple food still delicious. It is based in general on pork but we use chicken, fish, beef and mutton, too. But we love pork! And we use ingredients that can be found everywhere in the world.

Cabbage rolls, sausages, and stews (like tocanita) are the most popular dishes.

Another tasty dish is Muschi poiana that is made of mushroom- and bacon-stuffed beef in a puree of vegetables and tomato sauce. You can also sample traditional Romanian fish dishes, like the salty, grilled carp called saramura.

Some of the recipes are strictly related with the season or the holidays. Usually, on Christmas, each family used to sacrifice a pig and they used to fix a variety of dishes made from the meat and organs: (this might sound strange, or even barbarianm but it’s really delicious :))

– Sausages, blood pudding, black pudding, wrapped in pork intestines.
– Meat jelly, a jelly made of difficult to use pork parts such as ears, legs, and head, arranged in aspic jelly.
– Meat balls in cabbage, a delicious mixture of meat wrapped in cabbage leafs, garden sorrel.
– Tochitura, some sort of stew served along with hominy and wine;
– And as something sweet, they have the traditional pound cake, sweet bread with nuts, cocoa or Turkish delight.

On Easter, Romanians eat lamb, and the specific dishes are:

– Grilled lamb
– Shiver, a backed mixture of organs, meat and fresh vegetables, especially green onion;
– And as a dessert matzos, a specific pie, with cheese and sultanas

The most famous traditional food in Romania is Stuffed cabbage Rolls, or Sarmale as Romanians call it. You can find it in almost any restaurant, it’s not expensive and you can choose between a large variety of types of cabbage by different geographical areas:
Here is the most common culinary recipe of stuffed cabbage rolls :

large head cabbage
1 pound ground chuck
1/3 cup rice, raw, can use instant or regular
1 small onion, grated
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 large onion, sliced
1 large can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
3 cans (14.5 ounces each) diced tomatoes
3 to 4 teaspoons lemon juice (1 large lemon)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

If you intend to feel a little bit more of the Romanian life style you can prepare it yourself and this is how real Romanians do it: 🙂
Remove about 50 large leaves from the cabbage; cut off very thick part of each leaf. Pour boiling water over the cabbage to wilt the leaves.
Combine ground chuck with the rice, grated onion, eggs, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place a mound of meat mixture in cupped part of each softened cabbage leaf. Fold over sides of cabbage leaf; roll up. In bottom of Dutch oven, place a few of the remaining leaves. Arrange layers of cabbage rolls, seam side down, and sliced onions in a Dutch oven or large casserole. Pour on tomato sauce, tomatoes, and 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil on stove top. Bake, covered, for 1 hour. Uncover and bake 2 hours longer.

For more details visit
www.reteteculinare.ro/sarmale
www.gustos.ro/sarmale
www.sarmalederomania.wordpress.com