Five for Friday – Taste Romania
Do you get bored of fixing the same dishes and feel like mixing it up a bit this weekend? We’re sharing some of Romania’s top recipes for you to taste and let your taste buds travel around the globe!
Romanian cuisine is made up of a wide range of delicious dishes that have been influenced by several different areas, but also maintains its own character. Some of those influences are from Turkey, Hungary, and Eastern and Central Europe. We’ve picked out some yummy traditional Romanian dishes for you to taste and transport yourselves to beautiful Romania. Invite the kids/grandkids to participate and help out with the recipes for fun.
1. Appetizer – Salată de Roșii (Tomato Salad)
Lots of our teams and visitors always go on about Romania’s fresh veggies and produce. Garden fresh goodness with some simple prep and it makes a great appetizer to your meal. Alongside of the tomatoes, they also throw in freshly sliced cucumbers as well usually and those are my favorite. You can also use this as a topping on some fresh Romanian bread for a bruchetta-style appetizer.
2. Soup – Supă cu Tăieței (Chicken Noodle Soup)
Especially with the fall weather coming in (at least in Romania), this traditional dish is one to cuddle up with and stay warm. Typically, this soup is served at Sunday lunch amongst Romanian families, and is often made with homemade noodles as well.
Depending on how much time you have or how tenacious you are feeling, for your main dish, you can choose between sarmale, which will require some patience, or tocanită, which might be a bit easier to handle. If you have ever been on a team with Forget Me Not, you probably remember one of our team members, Rodica, making you some yummy tocanița. It seems to be a crowd favorite. Sarmale is often served during the holidays as well or at weddings. It is a Turkish based dish, but has been adapted all over Eastern Europe and you can make vegan friendly versions as well with mushrooms or even tofu stuffed in the cabbage rolls instead of pork meat.
4. Side – Mamaliga (Polenta)
A Romanian side dish that can accompany either the sarmale or the tocanita is mamaliga. Mamaliga is one of the main national dishes and was cooked mostly by peasants in the past and used as a bread replacement. Today, you can find mamaliga even in higher-end restaurants, and in this area of Romania (Transilvania) they serve it with sour cream and a shredded fresh soft cheese on top. It can be a stand-alone breakfast or a side dish later in the day with any meat or fish.
5. Something sweet – Gogoși (Donuts)
We’ve gotta end with something sweet for you! Teams, especially ones with college guys on them, love having contests on how many of these hot, fresh, powdered little Romanian donuts they can eat at one sitting. In a cloud of powdered sugar and a lot of laughter, I think the current champion managed 20! Gogosi are often dusted with powdered sugar or filled with homemade jam or a chocolate spread like Nutella. They can be served for a dessert, a snack, or even breakfast.
BONUS:
When I’m cooking, I always need some music going strong. We’ve made a Romanian (and Roma gypsy) worship playlist for you to help transport you to Eastern Europe while you’re trying these new dishes! Even though you might not understand the words, I bet you’ll recognize a lot of the melodies. Have fun taking a guess. There’s just something so beautiful in being reminded of how big our God is and how we are united as family in Christ all around the world! Praising Him, worshipping Him, and hearing this worship in another language is just a powerful experience. May you be reminded that you are not alone as you listen!
We’d love to hear back from you after you try one of the dishes to see what you think! 🙂
Hope you have a wonderful weekend! Poftă bună (Enjoy your meal)!
Rachel
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