Day/Country #15 -- Romania

As I've been working myself senseless Mum is cooking again! What a trooper.

Romanian Flag

Fast Facts:

Land Area: 238,391 km²

Population: ~20,121,641

Capital: Bucharest

GDP (PPP) per capita: $16,518

Official Languages: Romanian

Known For: Transylvania (and yes, Dracula),

rolling countryside, sturgeon from the Danube delta

So today we're heading to Romania, known by most of us as the land of the fabled vampire Count Dracula, dwelling in a creepy castle in the mountainous region of Transylvania.  A few things you may not know are that it is home to the oldest human remains ever discovered in Europe (42,000 years old), and that it consisted of various principalities that fought for internal autonomy under the dominion of Austro-Hungarian rule, finally declaring independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877

At the outbreak of Word War II Romania declared neutrality under King Carol II, but territorial disputes saw Romania lose the bulk of the land it had gained following World War I and resulted the rise of military dictatorship under Marshal Ion Antonescu, who sided with the Axis powers in 1941.  Marshall Antonescu was removed from power in 1944 and

Romania switched allegiance to the Allied forces.

Following WWII Nicolae Ceausescu's leadership saw Romania become a highly Stalinist police state, but this regime was toppled by the Romanian Revolution in 1989.  With the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1991 Romania began a transition to democracy and in recent times extensive reforms have fostered economic recovery from its post-revolution decline.  Romania is now the eighth largest country in the European Union.

So, with its long history but comparative youth as an independent state, what traditional recipes would Mum find to cook? 

The unofficial national and definitely staple dish of Romania is a cornmeal dish called mamaliga; Mum improvised by bulking the dish up with cous cous, and while filling, it was still bland and served more as a stomach filler than a taste bud tingler.  This lack of flavour in the mamaliga was more than compensated for in the mititei, spicy homemade skinless sausages composed of mixed beef, pork and lamb mince seasoned with garlic, black pepper and thyme.  The black pepper was a little overpowering at first, but the flavours infused with time, and when I took the leftovers to work for lunch the next day the sausages were delicious!

What else to have a Romanian-themed cocktail than a blood-red concoction Mum dubbed Dracula's Nappe.  A mixture of vodka, chambord and grenadine it didn't taste like blood but unfortunately still wasn't all that pleasant and won't be making it onto the 'yum! lets have that again' list.

Rating (out of 5):

Mamaliga 2.5/5 

Mititei_4/5 
Dracula's Nappe 2/5