| The main ingredients used by Romanian chefs are meats such as pork, beef and lamb, fish, vegetables, dairy products and fruit. In autumn , their cellars are filled with potatoes, cabbage, vegetables, fruits; in winter they make meat preserves for the spring and summer months, while in spring and summer they make fruit jams and juice preserves for the whole year. In autumn the preparation of pickles and zacusca is almost a ritual performed in each Romanian kitchen. Cauliflower, gherkins, bell peppers, young watermelons or cabbage are pickled in brine or diluted vinegar, with carrots, celery, pepper, garlic or dill as spices. A ritual preserved by the Romanians since ancient times is the slaughtering of swine for Christmas . The traditional dish on this occasion is tochitura served with mamaliga and pickles and accompanied by plenty of wine. The string of feasts always include such dishes as sarmale (minced pork rolled in sauerkraut leaves or vine leaves), pork sausages , toba , caltabos , and chisca . A food almost all Romanians enjoy is mamaliga . All it takes is a pot with boiling salted water into which maize flour ( malai ) is poured. When it thickens it is stirred either with a wooden spoon or with a pot stick until it becomes a homogeneous paste. It is served hot with cheese and sour cream, with sarmale , tochitura , with poached eggs or stewed sauerkraut, with sausages or with iahnie , with anything. Appetizer
All kinds of cheeses, cold cuts and vegetable spreads.
Soup
"Ciorba de perisoare" (meatball soup), "ciorba taraneasca" (vegetable soup, with or without meat), "ciorba de burta" (tripe soup).
Fish
"Saramura" (grilled carp in brine), "nisetru la gratar" (grilled Black Sea sturgeon) or "scrumbie la gratar" (grilled herring).
Entree
"Tocanita" or "tochitura" (meat stew seasoned with onions and/ or spices), "ghiveci" (over 20 vegetables cooked in oil), "sarmale" (pickled cabbage leaves stuffed with a mix of minced meats, rice and spices) and "mititei" (The "Wee Ones" - small skinless grilled sausages) are among the favorites.
Dessert
"Papanasi" (cottage cheese donuts, topped with sour cream and fruit preserve), "clatite cu branza" (crepes filled with cottage cheese, raisins and spices) and "cozonac" (traditional holiday sweet bread filled with walnuts, poppy seeds or cream cheese).
A traditional drink enjoyed with appetizers is "tuica" (a potent plum brandy) which varies in strength, dryness and bouquet according to the production area.
Wine
For the traveler interested in adding viniculture to his or her cultural itinerary, a trip to Romania offers many opportunities to visit wine-producing regions and to discover and sample the many different wines of Romania, from little known local and regional wines to Romania's great wine labels, such as Murfatlar, Cotnari, Jidvei, Dealu Mare and Odobesti.
Romania's climate and soil are hospitable to the production of many different types of wines, from dry, sparkling whites to rich, aromatic, purplish reds. And, since traditional Romanian fermentation methods do not employ chemicals, drinking these richly tasting wines seldom results in a hangover.
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