Romanian Wines

Romanian food is very diverse - rich flavoured, coloured and fragranced, highly influenced by history and foreign traditions, as well as specific plates. Romanian cuisine identifies with the notion of exquisite dishes, with luring smells that their aroma makes its way out of Romanian dishes photographs. What makes Romanian food so individual and special is the fact that the dishes are easy to be prepared, without special endowment and the ingredients are handy. The biggest influence over Romanian cuisine was the Balkan cuisine, but also of other nations, such as the German, Hungarian and Serbian cuisine.

The recipes carry the same influences, as the whole Romanian culture: from Romanians the flat cake or pie, a word that initially preserved the meaning of the Latin term of "placenta"; the Turks brought the quenelles soup and the Turkish cake in the shape of lozenge; the Greeks brought the dish, called "musaca" (a dish of vegetables and mince meat); the Bulgarians have a variety of mixed vegetable food such as "zacusca", and the schnitzel comes from the Austrians. The most common Romanian specific dish is the hominy; a broth of cornflower, which was considered for a long time poor man's food, but now has become more appreciated. The main meat used by Romanians is pork, but they also eat beef, chicken, mutton or lamb, depending on the geographic area. Some of the recipes are strictly related with the season or the holidays. Usually, on Christmas, each family used to sacrifice a pig and they used to fix a variety of dishes made from the meat and organs.  Sausages, blood pudding, black pudding, wrapped in pork intestines. Meat jelly, a jelly made of difficult to use pork parts such as ears, legs, and head, arranged in aspic jelly. Meat balls in cabbage, a delicious mixture of meat wrapped in cabbage leafs, garden sorrel.  Tochitura, some sort of stew served along with hominy and wine; And as something sweet, they have the traditional pound cake, sweet bread with nuts, cocoa or Turkish delight.


On Easter, Romanians eat lamb, and the specific dishes are Grilled lamb ("Roast lamb with savoury" recipe), Shiver, a backed mixture of organs, meat and fresh vegetables, especially green onion; ("Lamb shiver" recipe) And as a dessert matzos, a specific pie, with cheese and sultanas. ("Cheese matzos" recipe) The main drink is wine, remarkable by its force and bouquet with a local tradition of over 2 millenniums. Romania is the ninth major producer of wine in the world and recently the export market has registered a growth. A large scale of local sorts is produced like Feteasca, Grasa and Tamaioasa. The beer is also consumed at a large scale; under German influences.  Romania is the second large producer in the world of plums and almost the entire production of plums is used in order to produce "tuic3", a brandy of plums obtained through distillation. Romanian food and Romanian drinks can be a real challenge for any foreign visitors. With New Year's Eve toasts still lingering in the minds of some people, it's not uncommon to find some individuals raring to try some of the other good wines in the market. There are two ways to satisfy the palate when longing to sample good romanian wines. One is to order them with delicious entrees at fine dining restaurants. The other way is to visit a wine bar. Most entrepreneurs with a passion for fine vintages and good business sense have set up bars in places in the city that are a stone's throw from cultural locations like theatres and cinemas, or in gathering places where an upmarket clientele may gravitate to. Good bars are understandably also to be found in regions noted for producing the best wines.

Most bars offer a customer-friendly and relaxing ambience, making sampling a variety of wines pure pleasure. Some good shops carrying excellent wines even have the Enomatic serving system that lets customers sample a glassful of their desired options (poured at a precise volume) to help customers decide which ones to bottle from their cellars. Bars generally have a listing of wines that may number close to 40, that may be sampled by the glass. Bars may also have at hand knowledgeable servers who may gladly recommend suitable choices Classic red wines generally appeal to many.

Both seasoned and novice drinkers are familiar, for example, with Shiraz, grown in Australia and also in other countries, and can range from inexpensive bottles to first-growths. A great 1990 Australian Penfolds Grange, made from Shiraz and a miniscule amount of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, can satisfy palates longing for flavors of coffee, chocolate and mint. It's one of the vintages with a history spanning over five decades. For the initiated, choices may range from an awesome Romanian Merlot that's great for pairing with light dishes like cheese and omelettes, to Bordeaux wine with intense blackcurrant taste well-balanced with gentle tannins and oak ageing.