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- Romanian Breakfast, Anyone?
Summary
- Romanian breakfasts often include eggs as a staple in their cuisine, with recipes passed down through generations.
- Traditional Romanian breakfasts include dishes such as Plăcintă Aromână, a hearty spinach or leek pie, and cornmeal porridge.
- Gogoși, Romanian-style donuts, are a popular sweet treat for breakfast or dessert, often filled with jams or chocolate.
Romania often brings to mind thoughts of grand, gothic castles and stark yet stunning mountains cutting across a stormy sky. Most people imagine Romania as a place frozen in time, steeped in history, and overflowing with tradition, and they'd be pretty close. While Romania, as a country, has evolved and progressed like many European nations, there are still some customs that Romanians hold near and dear, and one of those is food. Breakfast across the world looks quite different, especially in Romania.
In Romania, chances are, a breakfast plate will never be served without eggs. It's just as much part of the start of the day as anything else and is a staple in traditional Romanian cuisine. According to the blog Roads & Kingdoms, Romanian blogger Monica Suma says that "love comes from the heart, but passes through the stomach." This saying defines Romanian cuisine as food made from scratch in the comfort of one's home, which is a steadfast part of life in this country. Breakfast comes in many different variations, but the recipes used are handed down through generations and made in very much the same way, with little change, added, or taken away.
According to Suma, Romanian food reflects the surrounding countries with Slavic, Greek, Hungarian, and Turkish influences. Traditionally, a plate served at breakfast includes polenta, a side of bread served with jam, butter, or both, a healthy serving of eggs, fresh veggies, and cold cuts, much of which comes straight from a farm or garden in rural areas. Along with food, there's one more staple in a true Romanian breakfast: Turkish coffee. Hailed as one of the best cups of coffee in the world, this is the final step to rounding out an already delicious start to the day. Here are some other favorites that might be found at the table.
UPDATE: 2023/11/03 10:44 EST BY NOAH STAATS
Romanian Breakfast, Anyone?
Romania is known to be rather charming, with food being an added bonus. This article has been refreshed to reflect the everyday meals served at the table, as well as the similarities Romanians have to those in the US/West.
Plăcintă Aromână, A Traditional Pie
Similar to a Greek spinach pie, this Romanian pie has a bit more involved. The base of this pie is a pastry sheet that has first been brushed with lard before having a filling of spinach or leeks, cheese, eggs, and sour cream. It's far more hearty than a spinach pie and more filling, with additional protein from the eggs, making it a good breakfast dish. Once this filling has been spread out evenly, another layer of pastry is added before it's finally baked off. This pie is often accompanied by a secondary dairy side, such as fresh yogurt.
- What it is: Plăcintă Aromână is typically a spinach, leek, egg, and sour cream pie that is on the heartier side.
Mămăligă cu Lapte, Cornmeal Porridge
While porridge isn't popular in North America with the birth of things such as modern oatmeal and cream of wheat, it's a staple in Romania. Cornmeal porridge is often served for breakfast with milk, and the cornmeal is cooked simply in saltwater until thickened. However, this porridge isn't served piping hot in a bowl - it's allowed to cool and then cut into pie-shaped slices.
The warmth comes from the hot milk that's poured over the porridge, and different variations of the dish exist, including that which uses sugar water instead of salt to boil. Things such as fruits and nuts can be added to the dish for extra fortification, but it's common to have it plain, especially when serving kids and teens.
- What it is: Porridge served with milk, and the cornmeal is cooked in salt water until thickened.
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Gogoși, A Romanian-Style Donut
No one would say no to a donut, especially not when it's a donut that looks as great as this. Similar to what some would consider close to the Italian zeppole, these balls of fried dough are dusted in powdered sugar before being eaten as a sweet treat. However, they do differ in several ways. Where a zeppole isn't usually flavored with anything and the dough is left plain, a Romanian gogoși is flavored with vanilla extra and either lemon or orange peel prior to frying. An authentic gogoși is prepared without any yeast or butter, and balls of the dough are dropped into hot oil with a spoon, creating abstract shapes - another differentiating quality.
The texture of this small donut is quite spongy, and it can also be filled with things such as jams or chocolate, similar to donuts in the US. They're such a common pastry in Romania that visitors often find them in bakeries and supermarkets, sometimes advertised as gogoși infuriate. Although they're sweet, they're often eaten as snacks in addition to breakfast or dessert.
- What it is: This is a donut, essentially fried dough balls with vanilla or lemon/orange peel.
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Who Wants A Romanian Omelet?
One of the similarities between Romanian and Western breakfasts is the omelet. In Romania, people often serve omelets for breakfast, made with nearly any veggie you can think of. On top of this, Romanian people also enjoy fried eggs and boiled eggs mixed with all sorts of vegetables and meat produce. Although there will be some unique meals in Europe versus the US, Canada, etc, there are more similarities in breakfast cuisine than lunch or dinner.
Romanian culture is family-oriented, so it's not uncommon for the whole home to spend mornings together eating a meal. It's the food that brings us all together! Traditional cold cuts and cheese might also be found on a Romanian breakfast table, as well as sausages (Crenvurști, Polonez, or Cabanos). Although not every breakfast has to be a full-scale production, once or twice a week in Romanian households, it is.
Fast food, like McDonald's, may also be a go-to for people working in the country, much like the United States. It's quick, warm, and reliable. Sometimes, that is the best (or only) option for people commuting to their jobs.
- Romania is similar to the West: It's not uncommon for everyday breakfasts in Romania to look like those in the United States, Canada, and Western nations.