Although many claim that there is no such thing as Romanian Cuisine, during the last centuries the Romanians found and refined their own style in the kitchen. The Romanian cuisine contains sometimes, ancient dishes, of which some belong to the Dacian-Roman era. One vivid example is the placinta (pie) that comes from the old Roman cookie placenta (means exactly placenta). During times, the Romanian counties were inhabited, sometimes conquered, by Turks, Greeks, Russians.
The Turks brought from the Arabs meatballs, stuffed vine leaves rolls, halva, baklava. The Greeks came from their homeland with the famous musaka and tzatziki.
Sometimes the simplicity of a dish makes it harder to decide where it originated from. When one mixes two simple ingredients such as meat and onions, is difficult to claim patent.
 
The truth is, that Romanians like to eat. And they eat a lot and well. They do not think of cholesterol or low fat diets unless they are dying. If you check their recipes, you will notice that more than a half of them are cooked with pork meat, the other half uses lard when pork does not fit.
 
Even when the Romanians borrowed a foreign recipe, they adapted it to a more "Orthodox" style: they added pork and they washed it down with Romanian Plum Brandy. The way the ex-Turkish mici or mititei (meat rolls) ended up is a completely new and original recipe.
 
For those readers who are looking for healthy, low calories diets, we advise to look further, because the recipes found on this site, and in Romania in general, are for those who acknowledge the uniqueness of life and the importance of living it to the full. The titles of some of the recipes might not sound appetizing, most of you might skip an "yuck" or an "ewww" but I can assure you, the Romanian cuisine is one of the tastiest and most appetizing.
 
Bon appetite and enjoy!
Window To Romania Food Testers