| I generally agree with the sentiments in the article. However, when it comes to the following, I beg to differ: > I always find it funny when people go to a place like Romania and then go out of their way to eat what is labeled as traditional Romanian food. So they go to some fancy place in the tourist district that serves expensive dishes nobody eats anymore. I find it funny when peple go to a foreign country and avoid the traditional food. It is one of the big mistakes. Yes, the locals will often - especially in Romania - point you to a pseudo Italian restaurant when you ask them for a recommendation. In the likely case that you like Italian food, do not go there. My first visit to a Romanian restaurant was a cheap place at the northern trainstation in Bucharest on my way to Transylvania. The other guests were working class people, half of them missing teeth. The toilet was a hole in the ground. The place served Romanian food only. It was the day when my love story with ciorba de burtă started. This love story is not entirely mutual because my attempts to create something that tastes like the Romanian original are not satisfactory. I have travelled all over Romania in the following years. Restaurants in the center of known tourist locations are to be avoided. The rest is excellent. One of the secrets of Romanian food in the countryside is that there are still semi-nomadic shepherds taking care of herds of cows and sheep. Meat of similar quality is hard to find in Western Europe. These herds travel through regions where there are still bears and wolf packs, by the way. As for vegetables, the people in the countryside have not yet understood what glory Monsanto holds for them. This will change, I am afraid. |
I am taking my supplies from such a shepherd from the Jina village. The cheese and smoked meats are truly amazing.