Romania is known as a country with ancient vineyards, a rich range of cultural traditions, and a large farming community. While here, you’ll have a great time wandering through the picturesque cobbled streets on your holiday, while exploring the various cultural and outdoor attractions.

Food in Romania is an absolute delight, as they’re one of the more chemically-conscious nations, and almost all their food is 100% organic, lending real flavour to their healthy dishes. However, apart from the numerous Eastern European dishes available, you’ll also find your fair share of unusual cultural foods, which you definitely should try!

1. Ciorbe de Burtă – Tripe Soup

Tripe, for many nationalities, is an item to be either avoided or savoured, and its appearance bears an uncannily similarity to a sea sponge, despite being made from the stomach tissues of a cow or sheep. Someone in Romania decided serving tripe purely as a meat dish was far too tame and came up with the idea of turning tripe into soup – which is comparable to ishkembe soup (Turkish tripe soup). It’s a rich vegetable-filled soup with generous portions of cooked tripe included. It is often served with garlic and chilies in it, and it’s also a popular local hangover cure.

2. Ciorba de Varza – Sour Cabbage Soup

If you shuddered at the thought of eating the above, then sour cabbage soup should be on your list of items to try. Cabbage is common across Europe, and is used in many nationality-specific cuisines, however, sour cabbage soup is unique to Romania, and is a refreshing, if slightly unexpected, meal. Ingredients for it include sauerkraut juice, lemon, sour cream, vinegar, grape leaves, and a meat stock.

3. Sarma – cabbage wrapped meats

Tasty and filling, sarma is a treat not to missed, and you’ll likely return for seconds, or third helpings of it. It’s created by stuffing cabbages with a variety of spices, rice, onion, and meats such as chicken, pork, beef, and lamb. The cabbage is then folded around the meats and the whole thing is boiled in a pot until tender. You’ll often find this dish varies from region to region, and can include pork fats, and other wrapping leaves, such as vine, cherry, and grape.

4. Creier Pane – fried pig brains

For those who have an adventurous palate, don’t miss out on a serving of creier pane, known to us foreigners as pig brains. Romanians do seem to enjoy helpings of organ meats, and this recipe often interchanges pig brains with cow or sheep ones. It’s made by pre-cooking the organ, and then coating it with a layer of egg, flour, and breadcrumbs, and then deep-frying it.

5. Papanași – dumpling filled with cheese

Picture a dough ball, with an interior filling of a soft cheese that becomes runny when heated, and just a dash of jam, and you’ll have papanasi, a traditional Romanian dessert. The dough is usually boiled or fried, and cheese fillings include cottage cheese, sour cream, or urdă, a traditional Romanian cheese.

Other great items to try include:

• Socata – an elderberry tea
• Zacuscă – a vegetable spread with eggplant, peppers, onion, and beans
• Rakia – a 40% alcoholic drink made from fermented fruit

Author Bio: Roseanna McBain is a writer for TravelGround, who was fortunate enough to have made two good Romanian friends during her time overseas. She enjoys days at the beach, braais with friends, and spending time curled up with good novels.