Comparison between the respective cuisines of romania and poland

ď‚– Comparison Between the Respective Cuisines of Romania and Poland

Polish Cuisine   Polish cuisine is a style of cooking and food preparation originating in or widely popular in Poland. Polish cuisine has been greatly influenced by other cultures. It shares similarities with other Central European cuisines, especially German, Austrian and Hungarian cuisines, as well as Ukrainian, Russian, French and Italian culinary traditions.  It is rich in meat, especially pork, chicken and beef (depending on the region) and winter vegetables (cabbage in the dish bigos), and spices. It is also characteristic in its use of various kinds of noodles the most notable of which are kluski as well as cereals such as kasha (from the Polish word kasza).[5] Generally speaking, Polish cuisine is hearty and uses a lot of cream and eggs.

The traditional dishes are often demanding in preparation.

Traditional Polish farmers food in Sanok, Poland ď‚–

Romanian Cuisine 

 Romanian cuisine is a diverse blend of different dishes from several traditions with which it has come into contact, but it also maintains its own character. It has been greatly influenced by Ottoman cuisine, while it also includes influences from the cuisines of other neighbors, such as Germans, Ukrainians Serbs, Bulgarians and Hungarians.  Quite different types of dishes are sometimes included under a generic term; for example, the category ciorbă includes a wide range of soups with a characteristic sour taste. These may be meat and vegetable soups, tripe (ciorbă de burtă) and calf foot soups, or fish soups, all of which are soured by lemon juice, sauerkraut juice, vinegar, or traditionally borş. The category ţuică (plum brandy) is a generic name for a strong alcoholic spirit in Romania, while in other countries, every flavour has a different name.

A plate of sărmăluţe cu mămăligă 

Similarities   One of the main similarities between the two cuisines is that both have been greatly influenced by other cultures.  Another great influence is religion. Both Poland and Romania are, for the most part, Christian countries, even if one is Catholic and the other Orthodox.  Both have been influenced, trough more or less direct means, by the Ukrainian cuisine.

Borscht/Borş  It is a soup of Ukrainian origin that is popular in many Eastern and Central European countries.

In most of these countries, it is made with beetroot as the one of many main ingredients, depending on region.

It is common in both Poland and Romania.

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Kołacz weselny/Pască  It is a yeast-raised coffee cake similar in texture to the Romanian “pasca”. It is served during Easter. The term "pasca“ also means Easter.

Wigilijne sniadanie –  Polish Christmas Eve Breakfast

Romanian Cuisine History   Romanian recipes bear the same influences as the rest of Romanian culture. The Turks have brought meatballs (perişoare in a meatball soup), from the Greeks there is musaca, from the Austrians there is the şniţel, and the list could continue. The Romanians share many foods with the Balkan area (in which Turkey was the cultural vehicle), with Central Europe (mostly in the form of German-Austrian dishes introduced through Hungary or by the Saxons in Transylvania) and Eastern Europe. Some others are original or can be traced to the Roman or other ancient civilizations. The lack of written sources in Eastern Europe makes impossible to determine today the punctual origin for most of them.

 One of the most common meals is the mămăliga, a type of polenta, served on its own or as an accompaniment. Pork is the main meat used in Romanian cuisine, but also beef is consumed and a good lamb or fish dish is never to be refused.  Before Christmas, on December 20 (Ignat's Day or Ignatul in Romanian),[5] a pig is traditionally sacrificed by every rural family.

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Polish Cuisine History 

 Polish cuisine in the Middle Ages was based on dishes made of agricultural produce and cereal crops (millet, rye, wheat), meats of wild and farm animals, fruits, forest berries and game, honey, herbs and local spices. It was known above all for abundant use of salt from Wieliczka and permanent presence of groats (Kasha). A high calorific value of dishes and drinking beer as a basic drink or mead was typical of Middle Ages Polish cuisine. Beer and mead were the most popular drinks.  Along with the Italian queen Bona Sforza (second wife of Sigismund I of Poland) many Italian cooks came to Poland after 1518. Although native vegetable foods were an ancient and intrinsic part of the cuisine, this began a period in which vegetables like lettuce, leeks, celeriac and cabbage were more widely used.  After the end of World War II, Poland fell under Soviet / Communist occupation. Some restaurants were nationalized. The communists envisioned a net of lunch rooms called "bufet" for the workers at various companies, and milk bars for the public. The majority of restaurants that survived the 1940s and 1950s were state-owned. Workplace lunch rooms promoted mostly inexpensive meals, including soups of all kinds, meatballs and pork chops, and staples such as placki ziemniaczane (potato pancakes), placki z jablkami (apple pancakes), kopytka (potato gnocchi), leniwe (farmer's cheese gnocchi served sweet) and pierogi.  With the end of communism in Poland in 1989, an avalanche of new restaurants started to open and the basic foodstuffs were once again easily obtainable.

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Differences   Despite their many similarities, the two cuisines also differ in more than a few ways.  One notable difference is in the use of bread. While the Polish cuisine has developed a wide variety of breads, traditionally, Romanians don’t eat much bread, instead relying on mămăligă, a porridge made out of yellow maize flour.  Another difference is inherent in the regions in which both countries are situated and the different cultures that have migrated trough, occupied or have been occupied by the two countries.

 Poland is situated in Central Europe and its main influences are the German, Austrian and Hungarian cuisines.  On the other hand, Romania is situated in Southeastern Europe and its main influences are the Ottoman and Hungarian cuisines.

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Polish Bread and Romanian Porridge ď‚–

Alcoholic Beverages   Poland lays claim to having distilled vodka since the 8th century. In the 11th century when they were called gorzalka, originally used as medicines. Poland is known for its production of vodka.  Țuică is a traditional Romanian spirit that contains 28%-60% alcohol by volume (usually 40-45%), prepared only from plums. Other spirits that are produced from some other fruit or from a cereal grain are called "rachiu" or "rachie."

 “If you really want to make a friend, go to someone's house and eat with him... the people who give you their food give you their heart.”

- Cesar Chavez “So long as you have food in your mouth, you have solved all questions for the time being.”

- Franz Kafka “Statistics show that of those who contract the habit of eating, very few survive.”

- George Bernard Shaw

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The End