EAT IN ASIA / Destinations / Other destinations / Europe / Romania
Top Hungarian and Romanian local food
Do you have any plans to spend a couple of days in Hungary or Romania? For strolling? Hiking? Sightseeing? Or just for relaxing in pristine areas? If so, do not forget to enjoy their local cuisine too! Try Hungarian and Romanian meals served in small, family-owned restaurants and bars. Try different dishes, different flavors and different types of food. Start your journey with a good breakfast, then go through unique appetizers, followed by main courses and finish with a great dessert and a drink at the end. If you cannot do all at once, no worries, make a plan for an every single day.
Appetizers and starters
Sausages, cheese, pickles, freshly baked bread, hot pepper salsa and a lot of cold cuts. Don’t concentrate only on ready breakfasts, but also try something local. Go to a local market, grocery or just to a small stall at the cornet and pick all you need for preparing your delicious breakfast. Choose between a huge number of sausages and cold cuts or wonderful cheeses. (Here you can read more about local, Romanian cheese and about cold cuts and sausages in Romania and Hungary). Pork, beef, deer or mix meat sausages, with aromatic spices, herbs and paprika will hit you with their great smell. Delicious, naturally made cheese with nuts, seeds, herbs, and spices will be unforgettable. Mature, fresh, semi-mature and semi-fresh cheese pair wonderfully with a slice of an aromatic bread with butter. Made from cow’s, sheep’s or goat’s milk, Romanian and Hungarian cheeses offer a wide choice for everybody. Add to that smoked and salted variation, prepared, and stored in a wooden barrel, in a brine or left for a long maturation, and you would be able to try a new kind of a cheese every day. Do not limit yourself. Use them for grilling, frying or just enjoy them alone with a glass of a dry wine.
Smoked cheese
Not so popular in many Western countries, but relatively common in the area of the Central and Eastern Europe. With a very specific and strong aroma, this type of a cheese is something you cannot miss. Even if it had to be done only once, it is still worthy! Remember also, that with every next time, you will get more and accustomed to its special taste. And finally, it might surprise you, that you can hardly live without it. This type of a cheese is deal for baking, frying and solo as an appetizer. Combine it with toasts, pickles, or fresh vegetables. Start with the one that has a slighter smoked aroma, and gradually increase the intensity. Don’t give up! Read more about types of cheese in Romania to know what to choose.
Lespedes
Sweet or savory, with cheese, ham, or chocolate. Up to you. Start your day with a ready to go breakfast! Lespedes are something that you might compare with calzone or a pancake. The dough is similar to the one that is made for a traditional dumpling, but the size is the one of calzones. This big dumpling is stuffed with a sweet or a savory filling and is usually it served warm. Thanks to that, cheese, or chocolate melts inside and gives a wonderful, delicate feeling on the tongue. Be careful! Sometimes it might be extremely hot inside! Remember, that both these ingredients keep the heat for a long time.
Hotel breakfast vs local markets
Although many hotels and hostels offer a good breakfast or it is even included in the price, try also local food markets. Make some shopping, choose homemade products, and prepare it at yours. But, if you are a little bit lazy, or just would like to have it done for you, go to a local market where you can eat in the same place. Many bigger cities offer it at least once a week.
Thanks to that, you will be able to taste something new, spend time with local people and enjoy the atmosphere. Indulge yourself in the local community, chat with people and enjoy an unforgettable food. Homemade sausages, cheese, pickles, and fresh vegetables. Add to that a wonderful smell of a freshly baked bread! Shall I say more?
However, if you would like something extra, something more luxurious or just be ready for you, pick places that offer organic food and support local activities. Try for example Szimpla Sunday Market in Budapest, Hungary.
Main dishes
Stew dobrogeana - Tochitura dobrogeana
This special meal is typical for Romania. It is prepared with a pork or with a chicken meat and it is served mainly with polenta - mămăligă, and pickles. Apart from that, it is very often topped with an egg and sprinkled with a grated, semi-fresh, local cheese - telemea.
Meat board
Meat boards are loved in Romania and Hungary. It seems they cannot live without it. Meat board is a dish that is a one-person meal, or it is designed to be shared with friends you come with. Meats on the board are either grilled or fried. Some of them might be served fried in breadcrumbs, or just alone. Here you might expect to get some sausages, ribs, pork knuckle, pork neck, chicken breast or a wing or a thigh. Meats are tender, delicate, and usually only slightly spiced, so that their natural flavor and aroma can be well distinguished. Meat boards are usually served with baked potatoes, fries and a set of pickles. Read more about TOP Romanian meat dishes too!
Ćevapčići
Ćevapčići is a finger size, Hungarian style sausage made of a minced meat. Ćevapčići is usually served with pickles, or a small portion of a fresh salad. Apart from that, comes Hungarian ajvar, baked potatoes or fries. Ćevapčići is a very popular dish in bars, pubs, and open-air fast-food stalls. Food-trucks serve them in a more sophisticated form, with an extra garnish and nicely packed. It would be ideal to pair it with beer.
Pide
The influence of a Turkish cuisine is visible in many Hungarian meals and drinks. One of such an example is pide. Pide is kind of a pizza but served in another shape and with slightly different ingredients. Apart from that, the dough, although similar to the one that is made for pizza, is also a little bit different. Pide has mainly an oval shape. It is about 35 cm and 20 cm wide in diameters. It is topped with minced meat, cheese, sausages, sour cream, eggplant or with a mix of them. There is no unique receipt regarding ingredients, so it my vary from place to place. Pide comes in one slice or is cut into eight to ten narrower stripes. It is a relatively light meal and can be eaten alone, or as snack for a glass of beer. Here you can read more about traditional Turkish meals to find all similarities and differences between these cultures and cuisines.
Creamy Tuscan
A wonderful combination of a Mediterranean cuisine with a Romanian one. A fried chicken breast is served with mashed potatoes and garnished with dried tomatoes and some spinach. That is the simplest description of Creamy Tuscan. However, do not be misled by it. A creamy Tuscan is definitively something more. It is great! Apart from a great taste, it gives you an ideal possibility of trying a dish that is a great example of Mediterranean influences in the Romanian cuisine. Take everything what is the best and the most popular in each cuisine, pair it, and you will get this receipt. Chicken breast is slightly fried with no breadcrumbs. Since the frying process is relatively short, the meat keeps all juices and aromas, while it is still not raw. Take, so typical for Romania, potatoes, mash them, and add to them local sour cream. Tune it up with some spices, salt, pepper, and garlic. Finally, but very important, prepare a delicate mushroom sauce. And here is the clue! That are not regular mushrooms. That are truffles. Yes, truffles. You might think, it had to be very expensive to prepare this dish, but do not worry. It is not so bad. As truffles are very aromatic, it is enough to use only a little bit of them, and you will still have an aromatic sauce. At the far end, top everything with sun-dried tomatoes stored in olive oil and garnish with some baby spinach leaves.
Pljeskavica
Pljeskavica is something you might already know from some other countries like Croatia. It is a minced meat flat burger steak. Usually, it is either pork or beef, or a mixed meat. Sometimes, chicken meat or mutton is added. Everything depends on the region and the availability of the local meat. Although it is similar to a burger steak, it is definitively thinner and usually, the meat is minced more finely. It is hardly ever very well fried, but it is also not raw. Pljeskavica is served as a part of a main course and then served with fries or potatoes. Other options include placing it in a burger bun or ciabatta and sell in fast food stalls or from a food-truck. The taste is plain, without any dominating flavor. It is juicy, delicate and has a soft texture. The meal is relatively simple, with nothing extra in it, however, as it is so typical for both Romania and Hungary, it is good to try it too.
Chicken with mămăligă (Romanian polenta)
Another chicken meal that is worth trying. Chicken with mămăligă is one of the best Romanian dishes. Chicken meat is soft, delicate, and juicy. Mămăligă is one of the most typical foods in Romania, and the mushroom sauce with sour cream makes the whole meal wonderful. Mămăligă is type of a porridge made from corn. It is soft and has a semi-plain texture with perceptible little corn grains. Mămăligă is served as a side dish, mainly as a substitute of potatoes, fries, or dumplings (gnocchi). The creamy sauce is delicate and does not kill the overall aroma. Thanks to that, mushroom notes can freely mix with the rest of the meal.
Goulash
Goulash is something you really have to try! Even at least once. Either do it in Hungary or in Romania. The best option would be to do it in both places and in different areas. As local traditions, cultures and customs significantly influence cuisine, it is also reflected in the goulash stew. Depending on all those factors, local geographical environment and availability of different products, goulash varies diametrically from place to place. Almost every house has its own receipt that was passed from one generation to another. Goulash is a meat stew in a red sauce with vegetables. Chopped pork is mixed with potatoes, onion, bell pepper, hot pepper, and tomatoes. To that, garlic, and spices are added. Everything is boiled and stewed so that all aromas can mix well. Goulash is a great meal during winter days. Cold from the outside would be alleviated by this rewarming stew. It is served with some bread slices, that is also ideal to dip them in the stew like in a sauce. Goulash is quite dense and depending on the meat it is either more or less fatty. It has a delicate texture, and in some places, it is topped with a hearty spoon of a homemade sour cream.
Read also about TOP Hungarian and Romanian local drinks and sweets to find out what to choose after you finish your whole main meal.
