Tripe soup is also very much enjoyed by the locals. The main ingredient is beef tripe, cleaned out the previous day and left to rest over the night in sodium bicarbonate. The second day it is boiled in salted water for about 2 hours. When the meat becomes tender, carrots and onions, as well as pepper and garlic are added to the boiling soup. The soup is further simmered for another 2 hours and then left to cool down. In the end the tripe is cut into narrow strips, the soup is strained and the liquid left is brought to boil again with the strips of tripe. It is served seasoned with vinegar or sour cream.

Other traditional dishes include: fish soups, “sarmale” made of fish, peste la protap (broiled fish), smoked fish, crap umplut (stuffed carp), saramura de crap (a kind of salted and pickled carp), stiuca umpluta cu orez (pike stuffed with rice), pilaf dobrogean (Dobrudjan rice dish), carnati de oaie (mutton sausages), miel la protap (broiled mutton), pastrama de oaie (mutton jerky), musaca, baklava, sarailii pies (similar to baklava) and a lot of sweets made with sultanas and Turkish delight.

Danube Delta gastronomy is very original and based almost only on fish and shell fish. One would not imagine what a long list of recipes local people could make with vegetables and… fish! If you go to the Danube Delta you should book a room in a small private household or small hostel to be able to better taste local fresh cuisine: fish borsch (a kind of soup), meat balls made of fish and rice, sarmale with fish stuffing, fish “zacusca” (a sort of hotchpotch with lots of vegetables), fish & pickles salads, fried fish, roast fish, stewed fish, fish soaked in brine (“saramura” – a type of salty liquid) and of course various dishes cooked with caviar.

Author: Irina Petre

Pages: Page 1 Page 2

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