Trifter

Sarmale

Sarmale are cabbage rolls stuffed with rice and seasoned meat served all year round, but especially at Christmas.  The filling is made from rice, minced pork, carrots and onions mixed together with a little oil and tomato paste.  Dill, salt and parsley are added for extra flavour.  The filling is partially cooked and then rolled tightly in cabbage leaves which have been boiled until tender.  It is served with a drizzle of sour cream.

Mămăligă

A filling cornmeal mush, Mămăligă is often served with brânza (strong cheese) and sour cream.  It can be kept overnight, and cut into pieces the next day to be eaten almost like bread with a stew or a soup.  Its basic ingredients are cornmeal, water and salt to taste, which are heated until thick on a stove, stirring continuously.  Tradition has it that mămăligă should be stirred 365 times while on the stove – once for every day of the year.

Sarmale and Mămăligă

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Ardei Umpluţi (Stuffed Peppers)

Another staple Romanian dish, Ardei Umpluţi are large green bell peppers stuffed with minced beef and/or pork in tomato sauce, often with rice to make a more filling dish.   First cook the meat, rice and tomato sauce filling mixture, adding onions, seasoning and whatever other vegetables are at hand, chopped finely.  Then fill the peppers with the mixture, and cook them slowly together in a large dish in the oven for about 40 minutes.  Serve with sour cream, and if you like you can put a little cheese in the tops of the peppers to melt shortly before they finish cooking.

Ciorba de Burta

Not for the faint-hearted, ciorba de burta is Romania’s famous tripe soup!  Romanians are well-known for their hearty, warming winter soups, but ciorba de burta is perhaps the one that is hardest to stomach (no pun intended!) for visitors to the country.  This is a creamy tripe soup with vegetables, sour cream and lots and lots of garlic.  If you can get over the fact that it’s tripe, it’s well worth a try as it is rich, creamy and full of flavour.

Papănaşi

Possibly the best dessert in the world!  Papănaşi is not a dish for those who are watching their weight, or keeping track of their cholesterol, but as a real Romanian sweet treat, it can’t be beaten.  It consists of large, fried doughnuts made, improbably, of cheese, although it certainly doesn’t taste cheesy.  The doughnuts (if you are lucky, you will get two!) are served with a sweet fruit sauce and sour cream.  Delicious!  Make sure you don’t eat too much sarmale or mămăligă if you are thinking of having papănaşi for dessert, and be aware that it takes a long time to make, so it’s worth ordering it at the same time as you order your main course so that it will be ready in good time.

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Complete recipes for all of these dishes are available on the internet if you are feeling adventurous in the kitchen, so enjoy eating Romanian!

More great Romanian dishes can be found in the second article in this series:  Eat Romanian Again.

For more about Romania, try this article about Romanian traditions, or this one with some great tips about travelling in the country.