WARNING: much gushing ahead. proceed with caution.
ROMANIA WAS AMAZEBALLS AND OH MY GOD I MISS IT SO MUCH
everything from the awesome architecture, the friendly people, the fantabulously (that's now a word, is it?) delicious food, the language i couldnt read, speak , or understand....
so, other than the amazeballs sunny weather with lots of breeze and all the beautiful flora and fauna...
actually, let's take a moment to admire the flowers.
Our first meal there was a traditional turkish dinner, which i was (unfortunately) too tired and hungry and had devoured most of the meal before I even gave pictures a thought. whoops
but i did get pictures of the turkish tea and the turkish delight/lokma (also known to us that night as "turkish honey balls" and just looking at those pictures make me miss bucharest ><
we also had flat bread with a variation of dips, including traditional hummus, a smokey eggplant- dip, and a greek yogurt/cucumber/dill dip, and a roasted meat platter that contained lamb shanks, beef, minced beef balls, pork, and spicy chicken.
I had ordered a meal that consisted of a traditional romanian bean soup, a tomato and mozzarella salad, grilled pork and french fries, and an over the top, just-the-right-amount-of-boozy chocolate cake that blew my taste buds away.
the tart tangy-ness of the orange mousse broke up the richness of the chocolate, and the rum ave the cake another burst of fruitiness.
(this is may or may not be my and all my friends' favorite dish from romania)
the next highlight meal was at...some hotel restaurant place i cant find the name of D:
the place was really homey and cozy, and the food they served was through the roof.
they started with a romanian soup, then an entree of chicken wrapped around chicken liver with a side of the best mashed potatoes, and finally, a huge papanasi.
the mashed potatoes were thick and creamy, with just enough lumps of solid potato to keep things interesting.
this may have been my favorite entree from the entire week i was there.
essentially a big, sweet, fried dough ball, served with warm sour cream and a homemade blueberry sauce that was equal parts tart and sweet. this was so amazing like what even.
other highlight dishes that i particularly liked included Ciorbă de burtă and a crepe dish that contained a delicate, lemon and vanilla syrup.
i decided on my trip, on the first day, that i needed to recreate some of their fantastic dishes, and i've got my eyes set on their soups, the chocolate cake, and the crepes....
oh gosh. writing this post has made me miss romania even more D:
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and then some shameless advertising for the two amazing tour guides we traveled with, Diana and Cristian, who have been friends, tour guides, advice-givers, and encouragement for me. go check out their company! they specialize in creating customization tours, not limited to romania :) click here for more details
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HELP! my summer break starts next-next week, and im devoting this summer's free time to developing my skills and recipes! except.... i dont have any idea what to make. well. more like... i cant decide :P
so help me out and comment any ideas or any things you want to see on my blog... and it'll probably end up somewhere here as a post :D
thanks guys! <3