This includes cold cuts, such as slices of cheese and salami, and a mix of local vegetables. My favorites are cucumbers, bell peppers and tomatoes. There may be pârjoale (a flat type of meatball) or pan-fried chicken.
The next dish would be soup. One example is zeamă, which is similar to chicken noodle soup. It is prepared with homemade noodles and whole pieces of chicken. You could also be served borchst, a beet-based soup that comes from Ukraine. Both soups are commonly eaten with sour cream.
Salad are the next dish. You may be served something similar to egg salad, made up of hard boiled eggs, boiled potatoes and carrots, and ham. Another popular one, from Russia, is called shuba, meaning, “herring wearing a fur coat.” As the name implies, this is a layered salad containing potatoes, herring and beets.
Now, we get the main dishes. The host may offer something simple, such as fried fish. Mămăligă, a cornmeal mush, is a popular main dish. It is served with sour cream and cheese, and it is paired with fish or fried pork. Sarmale is an elaborate dish, with a mix of rice, vegetables and meat stuffed in grape leaves. The least popular dish with Americans, in my experience, is răcitură, or meat jelly. For those of you who did not know, like myself, you can create a natural gelatin by boiling chicken skin. This natural gelatin is flavored with garlic and vegetables, then poured over different kinds of meat, such as chicken feet or fish heads. It is served cold.
For dessert, there are many options.
