Customer Reviews

Taste of Romania: Its Cookery and Glimpses of Its History, Folklore, Art, Literature, and Poetry (New Hippocrene Original Cookbooks)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is an all-around great cookbook. To be honest, I had never heard of Romanian cuisine before and picked up the book on a whim. I'm glad I did because the book introduced me to a delicious culture that I had never sampled before. The recipes in the book are grouped into the following chapters: appetizers, salads, egg dishes, soups, polenta, fish dishes, meat dishes, poultry dishes, vegetable dishes, dumplings, sauces, desserts, wines, preserves, and Jewish dishes. I found good recipes in each chapter, some fancy, and some that can be whipped up in minutes. Interspersed throughout the book are short history lessons about Romania, fairy tales, and poetry, as well as Klepper's comments explaining the cooking culture. The book also includes a bibliography, a place and personal name index, and English recipe index, a Romanian recipe index, a brief pronunciation guide, an English-Romanian-French food dictionary, and even an American-British food dictionary (surprisingly useful!). If you're looking for a Romanian cookbook, this is a great one. And if you're just looking for some interesting and tasty new recipes, you'll find some here.

I have cooked many of the dishes in this book, and the recipes turn out consistently well, and authentically delicious (according to my Romanian born husband!). I love the short stories, poems and jokes that have been included in the book. The book gives you a peek at the culture beyond the food, but it is foremost a wonderful cookbook. There are tips on what to serve with which dishes, holiday menus, appetizer platters, etc. This book is a must for anyone wishing to try the delights of Romanian cuisine!

This is the cookbook to read from cover to cover for its wonderful content. The stories, poems and bits of culture repolish the tarnished image that Romania has aquired from the media... As a Romanian born American, I've been waiting for a book like this for years to share with my American born children and friends. There is no question regarding the authenticity of the recipies, and delicious results are almost guaranteed due to the "user friendly" format. I cannot praise this book enough, I just wish I can thank the author in person. The expanded edition that I purchased also has a delightful chapter on Romanian Jewish cooking.

Somehow, everyone in Romania seems to believe that their heaviest food is also the tastiest. In Romanian restaurants both in Romania and accross the US, in cookbooks -- all I'm finding are the stuffed grape or cabbage leaves, the pork products, the mamaliga. What happened to all those seasonal (in Romania) meals centered around the great vegetables that abound in Spring, stuff that a family would actually eat everyday at home? The light and flavorful zuchinni with yoghurt, the spinach puree, all the many ways to prepare mushrooms, celery roots, even the lowly potatoe? The great sour soups that wake one up with their taste? What about some of the staples, like bors (not to be confused with Russiona borscht), the sour grain vinegar that is so good in those soups? Or all the pickled vegetables that spice up ones winter meal? Also, there are all the holiday preparations, such as a stuffed goose, duck on sourkraut, and, for the kids, the "sweet bites", sort of like a gingerbread cracker, but thicker and with a soft, molasse-like consistency (turta dulce for those of you out there who know :-)...
I'm not a great Romanian cook myself and I bought this book hoping to fill in some of my childhood favorites. It does do a good job of the recipes it presents. I handed the stuffed grape leaves recipe to the chef in charge at my wedding and it ended up being a favorite with my (mostly non-Romanian) guests!
The other complain I have is that some of the ingredients have been "adapted" to suit most American supermarkets. I won't complain about getting some of the fat out (although most of it stayed...) but what about the tarragon, the lovage, dill --they're all available here, with a bit of effort. Why not do what many asian cookbooks do and require the original ingredient, with an easy-to-find alternative where in doubt? And what about those simple salads that "parsley-up" and liven up any Romanian family's dinner?
Maybe it depends on the region -- Transylvania does have its share of heavier food, and with no outlets to the Black Sea, people there don't really enjoy eating fish. But Romanian cuisine has so many other flavors that I constantly see neglected, yet they are the easiest to include in a balanced diet...
And a final word of praise: the romanian wine list at the end is worth the price of the book -- and brings the stars rating to 4. I've been looking for something similar for a while, and I was really glad to find it in this book.

This book is a must for anyone who is interested in Romanian cookery and culture. It combines recipies and snippets of cultural information in a relaxed and easily absorbed way. It is very practical and suggests alternatives when using Romanian ingredients. There is no excuse for not cooking up a decent Romanian meal even if you live in the last outpost of western Europe!!

A comprehensive cookbook with very accurate and realistic recipies, just like I remember my grandmother's cooking. When I visited Romania, the recipies are exact. Enjoy it!

I just married a Romanian while he was on tour in the U.S. for six months. Having only been here for a year he was terribly homesick. After ordering the book I was able to surprise him with a full Romanian meal, and it was so easy! Highly, highly recommended!

This is a fantastic book. So many of the recipes I remember from my mother's and grandmother's cooking. It's also nice to get a little bit of a history lesson, along with Romanian poems and folktales. I purchased it for my daughter and sons. Since I left Romania at 15 (over 18 years ago), it's nice to remember some of the Romanian cooking I grew up with.
Now, if I could only get my American husband to try some of the recipes, that would be a victory indeed. :o)

I am Romanian and have lived in the US for just a short time. I got this book as a Christmas gift for my mother in law who is American. She loved it and wants to try cooking some of the recipes in there!!! It has great traditional recipes and some history lessons to help a novice understand Romanian culture. I was so happy to find the book on amazon and I recommend it to anyone who wants to explore Romanian culture.

Does not have that many recipes....non that my Romanian husband has tried or liked. There should be a better description about this book. It gives more the history of certain happenings in Romanian culture than anything else. Don't buy if you're looking for a Romanian cookbook!