ROUMANIA
The dishes of the country--The restaurants of Bucarest.
In Roumania you must never be astonished at the items set down in the
bill of fare, and if "bear" happens to be one try it, for bruin does not
make at all bad eating. The list of game is generally surprisingly
large, and one learns in Roumania the difference there is in the venison
which comes from the different breeds of deer. Caviar, being the produce
of the country, is a splendid dish, and you are always asked which of
the three varieties, easily distinguishable by their variety of colour,
you will take. A caviar _salade_ is a dish very frequently served. The
following are some of the dishes of the country:--_Ciulama_, chicken
with a sauce in which flour and butter are used; _Scordolea_, in which
crawfish, garlic, minced nuts, and oil all play a part; _Baclava_, a
cake of almonds served with _sirop_ of roses. These three dishes, though
now Roumanian, were originally introduced from Turkey. _Ardei Ungelute_
is a dish of green pepper, meat, and rice; _Sarmalute_ are vine leaves
filled with meat and served with a preparation of milk; _Militei_ is
minced beef fried on a grill in the shape of a sausage. _Cheslas_ and
_Mamaliguzza_, the food of the peasant, much resemble the Italian
_Polenta_ and are eaten with cold milk. _Ghiveci_, a ragout with all
kinds of vegetables mixed in it, is a great dish of the country.
Bucarest
When in Bucarest, as it should be spelt, go straight to Capsa's in the
Calea Victorici, a first-rate restaurant. It is perhaps not quite equal
to the best of the London and Paris establishments, but the cooking is
really good, and certainly superior to anything you can find in Vienna.
The French _chef_ will provide you with a _récherché_ dinner ordered _à
la carte_. Fresh caviar is in perfection there, as also the sterlet or
young sturgeon; the latter is caught in the Danube, and is a most dainty
and much prized fish. The prices are fairly high,--about 2 francs 50
centimes for an ordinary _plat_. The wines are all rather expensive,
that of the country being perhaps best left alone, although the
Dragasani is a wine which tastes strangely at first, but to which one
becomes used. A liqueur tasting of carraway seeds is pleasant, but that
made from the wild plum is not to be rashly ventured upon.
This is the menu of a little dinner for two eaten at Capsa's:--
Caviar.
Ciorba de Poulet.
Turbot à la Grec.
Mousaka aux Courzes.
Gâteaux.
And this a breakfast at the same establishment:--
Glachi de Carpe (froid).
Oeufs Polenta.
Pilau.
Aubergines aux Tomates.
There is also a confectioner's shop kept by Capsa, who was for some
considerable time at Boissier's in Paris, afterwards returning to
Bucarest and opening this establishment. It is as good as that of any
Parisian _confiseur_, with the result that all Bucarest are his
customers, and his business is an extremely lucrative one.
A cheap dinner can be obtained, _à la carte_, at the Hôtel Continental
in the Calea Victorici, opposite the Théâtre Nationale.
Jordachi's in the Strada Coatch, and Enesco's in the Strada Sfantu
Tonica, also deserve mention; they are cheap, second-rate restaurants,
but you get there the dishes of the country. In both these places a
capital band of Tziganes play the music of the country. Enesco's is,
perhaps, the better of the two. If you require any _spécialités_ the
waiter will be sure to know what to advise; one dish, called _Brochettes
de Filet_, may be recommended. The waiters at Enesco's and Jordachi's
are intelligible in German and Roumanian; at the Continental, and
especially at Capsa's, they are mostly French.
If you pay a call in Bucarest you will be offered _Dolceazza_, a kind of
sweetmeat, and a glass of water.