phillygold

For me the list is simple.
1) Real Jamaican food. Bring on the oxtails, peas and rice and curry goat!!!
2) Mexican food. Both authentic and Americanized
3) Any seafood, preferably fresh caught by me.... but otherwise wild, not farmed.

BuildingMyBento

The places in Queens are certainly more Romanian, both in cuisine and demographics, but since you mentioned it, they do have a few things that are common in Romanian households. My girlfriend often made karnatzlach (garlicky pork meatballs, though she called them chiftele {aka köfte}), and stuffed cabbage.

Indeed, it's not a well-known cuisine outside of Romania/Moldova and expat communities. But, based on a handful of visits to her country, I would say pork, garlic, polenta, and lovage featured prominently on the household menu. Perhaps @Romanianflyer could chime in for more background? (Although I don't think he's from there, he is based there.)

Considering Romania's geographic location, they have some Ottoman and Hungarian dishes, too. I must say, there was some brilliant potato bread and smoked cheese found in Bran, and as is the case in much of Europe, the fresh herbs and produce were excellent. Outside of her parents house, there were plum trees, grape vines, and mint, thyme, and rosemary throughout the countryside.

Sadly, I haven't been to Jamaica. My limited knowledge of it stems from infrequent meals of jerk chicken and peas and rice in the US (I think the last time was in Inglewood in 2009). What are common Jamaican desserts?

phillygold

Ahhhh.....a dessert lover! This time of year, you can start with black cake. It is served during the holidays, and at all celebrations. In fact, my mother kept a piece from her wedding to my Dad in the 1940's, and pulled it out in 1995. The thing still looked fresh (although I didn't have the guts to try a piece!). The key is the white rum inside. Must be Wray and Nephew brand. Awesome dish!
I also enjoy gizzada. (Think of a tart, filled with shaved coconut, brown sugar, ginger, nutmeg and allspice. Delicious!
Also sweet potato pudding. Smooth and delicious.
I grew up eating this stuff (in Queens). If you don't want to make it yourself, any self respecting Jamaican restaurant will serve it. Enjoy!!! And make that trip down to Jamaica. You will not be disappointed by the cuisine. Get off of the resort, hit up a jerk stand for some jerk chicken, curried chicken or brown stew chicken or oxtails...or fried fish. Simple. Cheap. Filling....and delicious! Enjoy!

By the way....either I'm getting old, or have spent too much time away from Jamaica. Or both!!! I referred to a dish as peas and rice. In Jamaica, it is always rice and peas. The rest of the Caribbean calls it peas and rice. I would have received some strange looks in my house growing up if I called it that!!!!

Romanianflyer

I'm not Romanian, but indeed living long enough in the country to be able to comment on it

Garlic is omnipresent, I cannot think of many dishes without it. Polenta (called mamaliga locally) is a staple akin to potatoes in many other country. Often served with a fried egg and grated cheese on top with sour cream on the side. It already makes for a good workman's dish like this, although my preferred way is to eat it in combination with a meat stew (tochitură).

Chiftele is the literal translation of meatballs, and indeed similar to köfte in Turkey (although the Turks use way more spice). Stuffed cabbage leaves (sarmale) is another big Romanian national dish, but again not limited to just Romania alone as you can also find it in Serbia, Bulgaria etc. Sometimes it's also made with vine leaves, but that's more rare I'd say. If looking at stuffed vine leaves, Romania is again not the only country making the dish as you can find it in Greece, Turkey, the Middle East and the Caucasus as well. In Romania, it's however almost with minced meat (often a mixture between pork/veal, or sometimes lamb) and almost never rice.

Smoked cheese is a typical mountain dish and you'd indeed find it not only in Bran but in any mountainous region of the country. It's often sold at roadside stalls - coincidentally the last time I bought it from some peasants was at the highest point of the Bran mountain pass where often locals set up their market stalls with cheese, honey etc.

Although there are definitely some typical Romanian dishes, I wouldn't say there is such a thing as a "Romanian cuisine" given that so many foods are shared with neighbouring countries, whether it's Hungary and Central Europe in Transylvania, or Bulgaria and Turkey in the south. There are also distinct regional varieties, with the cuisine in the Banat sharing similarities with Serbia/Southern Hungary, that of Transylvania with Hungary/Austria, while there is a lot of fish in the coast and Danube Delta (although we have our own ways to prepare it, most often with a garlic sauce called 'mujdei' - which perhaps could have been used on that steak you have been talking about!).

The cakes we eat for the holidays such as Easter, Christmas (or any other big celebration) are called Cozonac, which is shared with Bulgarians, Greeks etc (it's called Kozonaki there).

Perhaps the biggest overlap is with Hungarian food. Kürtőskalács, the famous chimney breads/cakes for example, is Hungarian - but it hails from the Hungarian population of Transylvania so in that way you can say it's partly Romanian ubiquitous in Transylvania! Same for Lángos (deep fried flatbread with sour cream, cheese, garlic) - that's fully Hungarian but you can find it everywhere in Transylvania. It's also easy to get some good gulash in Romania, especially in Hungarian-majority areas like parts of Tirgu Mures, Harghita or Satu Mare - or in cities like Cluj where there is a sizeable minority. And I didn't even start about tuica/palinka - plum brandy! (Ukranians from the Bukovina or Zakarpatia would call it Horilka).

Although all the countries in Central/Eastern Europe are nowadays more homogenous (with sizeable minorities at most) they used to be much more multicultural in the past - especially when compared to the comparatively peaceful years of the interbelic period between World War I and II. Unfortunately, especially the German/Jewish communities have all but disappeared, although they have left their traces as well.

I hope that's enough background - if not don't hesitate to tag me/ask! (I'm not a regular on these FlyerTalk boards). Interesting to see that restaurant in Queens - I should definitely check it out the next time I cross the pond!

exerda

Don't know if I can put them in a particular order, but my favorites are Maylaysian, Japanese (I love izakaya dishes), and Greek. If I expanded a bit, I'd add Croatian (particularly Istrian), Catalan, and Vietnamese.

BuildingMyBento

Totul sună gustos...beton post, mate!


To refer back to my original post in this thread, Romanian is not in my top three. However, I must acquiesce to the hackneyed concept that eating a home-cooked meal can really make a cuisine stand out.

For instance, this photo is from the meal welcoming me to my girlfriend's parents house. Washed down with an Ursus (they're owned by Asahi now) - and a hint of moonshine plum brandy, as you alluded to - I was quickly chuffed.

edited to add: the meal includes salad, mashed potatoes, chiftele, sarmale, Ursus beer, potato bread, and cutlets.

BuildingMyBento

Having never been to Croatia - nor eaten Croatian food - what are the highlights? Olive oil, seafood, wine? Do they have ajvar and cevapi, too, given the whole Yugoslavia history?

Duke787

\Had a week long work trip to Bucharest a couple years back (obviously not long enough to sample everything). Our local colleagues took us out one night and I recall lots of sausages, potatoes and beer (my one picture from that meal is below). Google Photos is telling me the restaurant we went to was Caru' cu bere. If the below is representative of Romanian cuisine (wasn't there long enough to explore everything), I would have Viennese or German for better sausages, potatoes, and beer in one of those cities.




I don't think this qualifies as Romanian but it was pretty tasty (and technically ate it in Bucharest though really I think this points to another win for Italian as one of my top 3):

FlyerEC

We had some huge meals including delicious enormous ribs , steaks in Brasov , Bucharest . Large plates of anchovies & pizzas , in Constanta , etc ..
The chimney bread / dough was an experience the first time - took forever to eat it especially since the others hardly pinched any off ..

Found a few photos , hope posts show up ok .. if anyone can tell us what some are , most appreciated


Trying to recall what this special bread / cake is !

Plates of anchovies , pizzas , .. Constanta

Hearty soup

Fresh fish from the Black Sea

Close up of the chimney bread

Here ‘ s another photo

Generous serving of ribs , Brasov

chgoeditor

Re. Jamaican food -- my husband has spent a lot of time in Jamaica and is a huge fan of the food. One thing we discovered when we moved to our new Chicago neighborhood is that there are several great Jamaican spots. I was familiar with the basics such as jerk chicken, rice and beans, and plantains, but other items, like festival and patties are new to me, and beef patties and chicken curry patties are definitely a new fav.

Ha! As soon as I posted about patties, my husband wandered into the room and told me he was going to buy patties for lunch. Clearly we have ESP.

gaobest

So cute!!!

there is a nice casual Jamaican jerk / curry spot near Facebook. It’s across from a carniceria off Willow on 101, going East.

chgoeditor

Sadly I'd already eaten lunch, so no patty for me today, but he got a bunch so I can have one for lunch tomorrow.

gaobest

what was your luncheon today, because it seems like your spouse told you he would be fetching patties today.

chgoeditor

No luncheon yesterday, not when you throw something in the microwave and then eat it on the couch while still dressed in pajamas. I had already eaten a Whole Foods tamale when he decided to go get patties. I'll have one for lunch today.

JBord

I've only been along the coast, which of course if focused on seafood. I probably had octopus in some form every other day there, the best was thinly sliced into a salad. Overall, seemed similar to Mediterranean cuisine. Definitely olive oil and wine. The Croatian wines are excellent. We're considering opening one we've found here in Chicago tonight for our new year's dinner. While you can get cevapi, I don't think that's as popular as pljeskavica, which is similar to a large seasoned hamburger (served without a bun). I think cevapi availability there is more like poutine here in the US...a Canadian dish but we like it too so it shows up on menus sometimes. There was also a pasta (don't know the name) with thick tube shaped noodles and beef. We saw grilled meats often too, but mostly stuck with seafood.

I would guess that away from the coast, maybe Zagreb, it's less seafood focused.