SURPRISE!!! HERE YOU'LL SOON FIND RECEIPES OF HOME MADE ROMANIAN FOOD!!!

                                                     Romanian Eating Style

Due to the fact that the weather in Romania can be cold for 5 to 6 months in a year, people here like to eat lots of soups. And there are quite a few types which have been developed throughout the country. For the hot summer days we also have some soups which can be served cold, straight from the fridge.

If you ever get invited to dinner in a Romanian house, you are “expected” to go there with your nails painted, in your Sunday best and ready to eat a lot. You won’t be “allowed” to give a hand for cooking or for doing the dishes… No way! You will just sit down and eat. And you’ll be served some 4 courses: some appetizers, a big bowl of soup, some second course (steak and side dish) and salad and one or two cakes. In this way, you are treated like a real guest and this is basically what we understand by hospitality…

There are two main types of soups. One which can be called “soup” as it is sweet (not sweetened with sugar, but it does not contain any vinegar or borş or lemon juice) and the other one, you might call “broth” which contains “borş” or lemon juice or vinegar. You can buy dry borsch in supermarkets (the best is from Maggi brand), but you can also make your own “borş”. Take 1.5 kg of corn flour, put it in a usual pot of 10 l. Cover the corn flour with water and leave it in a warm place, at room temperature for 48 hours. After this you’ll add some more lukewarm water, until the pot is nearly full. You can also add 25g of yeast. Leave it for another 3-4 days at room temperature, some 23 to 25 degrees Celsius. Use a mug and take easily from the pot this liquid, without stirring the corn flour, put it in bottles or plastic pets and leave in the fridge. You can use it for soups for at least 3 to 4 weeks.

It is also quite common for Romanians to eat vegan food (no milk, no meat, no fish, no cheese, no eggs) on Wednesdays and Fridays. This vegan food we call here “mâncare de post”. In Christian Orthodox tradition there are long vegan elapses of time: some 7 weeks before Easter, some 5 weeks before Christmas, 2 weeks before The Assumption of the Virgin (15^th of August) and also 2-3 weeks before 29^th of June (the Day of St. Apostles Peter and Paul). Of course, during this time, one gives up the animal products slowly, eating cheese on specified days (in the calendar) or eating fish on specified days. It our tradition, it is a sort of preparation for celebrating Christmas, Easter and so on. You are allowed to cook the food in the same pots but you need to make sure those pots are thoroughly washed and you are not using the spoon you have cooked meat at the same time in the pot where you cook vegan food. This means you need to keep the vegan food clear of any traces of animal products.

When cooking any Romanian food, always use low to medium heat, to keep the taste of the vegetables. You will see how easy the Romanian soup or broth is to cook after you cooked at least 2 of them…

1		Ciorba de perisoare (Meatball broth / soup)