Q&A: Romanian Food

Continuing the Q&A series about Romania...

Q: What kind of foods are typical in Romania? 
A: Some typical meals are stuffed cabbage rolls, French fries served with sunny-side up eggs, stuffed pepper soup, schnitzel, crapes, and eggplant spread.


Romanians eat (lots of) bread with every meal. The main meal of the day (often eaten around 2pm) begins with a soup course, followed by the main course.

A Romanian meal may begin with a bowl of soup like this stuffed pepper soup

The next course would be something like this - chicken legs with corn meal with gravy

Dessert would be something like these crapes.

Q: Do you cook for yourself? 

A: Yes, I usually cook for myself. I also occasionally eat lunch at the Veritas Family Center with the Veritas staff, share meals with other missionaries, and with Romanians in their homes. There is one retired Romanian woman from the church who likes to cook meals for me because she wants me to gain weight.

Q: Do you cook Romanian or American food for yourself?
A: I use my own creative mix of American and Romanian recipes. It's all about improvising. Some American foods don’t taste quite the same with Romanian ingredients (like having to make my own tomato sauce from tomato paste and spices when making spaghetti or lasagna).

I’ve previously posted a few of my favorite Romanian Recipes (and supporting photos) online:  here and here.


Q: Can you find most foods there?
A: Most, but not all. It wasn't always this way, though. Just a few years ago, I wouldn't have been able to find things like peanut butter, celery, Heinz ketchup, Saltine-style crackers, iceberg lettuce, Skittles, Oreo cookies, or ground beef. (I know, the list seems a bit random - but these are food "treasures" for Americans in Romania.) Even though most of these items can now be found somewhat regularly, they are often much more expensive than they are in the US.

The jar of peanut butter I can buy in Romania (on the right)
costs $3.00, even though it contains only 75% as much as
the jar of peanut butter sold in America for the same price or less.

You may not realize how much you like celery until you can't find it.
In Romania, it is very common to find the root of celery, but not the stalk
 (unlike in the US, where it is much more common to find the stalk than the root).
When making soups, I often substitute celery root for celery stalk.
It may look different but it tastes about the same.

Q: Do you have McDonald’s?
A: Yes. Most major cities have a McDonald's, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and other  American-based chains. Sighisoara does not have any of these; the closest is about an hour away.

Q: What types of restaurants do you have in Sighisoara?
A: As a tourist destination, Sighisoara has many restaurants. In fact, in the spring, summer, and fall, there are many outdoor sidewalk cafes from which to choose. Some offer traditional Romanian food. Perhaps the most popular, though, in Sighisoara are the pizza restaurants. 

Pizza coming out of the oven in one of Sighisoara's pizza's restaurants

Q: Are there Romanian foods you miss while in the US?

A: Most definitely. At the top of the list would be the bread. I'd also say that I miss natural food. (I can now taste the "artificial-ness" of American foods full of artificial sweeteners, preservatives, fillers, etc.) Related to that, I've learned to enjoy the agricultural seasons by eating fresh fruits and vegetables grown locally.