Banat is a region that lies in the western part of Romania and as you might guess, it suffered most of the Transylvanian culinary influences, Serbian influences but some Italian and French credits are to be felt too.

Banat people like pork meat as much as their neighbours from the north like it: sausages, smoked bacon, the famous “sarmale” and many, many others. Pork dishes are seasoned especially with fried vegetables and dressing based on flour and spices like black pepper, paprika, savory, horse radish or fennel. Fennel is very much used in this area not only for main dishes but also for various snacks such as salty biscuits, crisps, shortbreads and other hors d’oevre which are served all day long – these salty cookies are to be eaten before meals, after meals (as a kind of “dessert”) or between meals and they make a traditional snap in Banat. One can choose between “pogacele” (almost a symbol of Banat) and a huge variety of “saratele” ( an umbrella term for salty pastry). You would also find a lot of chicken dishes apart from pork ones while beef and fish are not that common.

There is also a long list of sweet or sour soups – to obtain the sour taste the most frequently used substance is lemon juice. People often get their soups tastier by adding some sour cream, tarragon and “rantas”. “Rantas” is obtained from stewed onion (ceapa calita) which is afterwards fried with some flour in a sauce pan. For someone travelling to Banat and getting into local restaurants or people’s households it is easy to notice some features of local gastronomy: sweet dishes, lots of noodles and “rantas” almost for everything (Banatians would even use “rantas” for their sarmale).

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