The people of Romania really know how to enjoy food. You will find the Romanians stacking their tables with all sorts of delicious food, especially on certain special occasions which call for a feast. Nowadays talking about good food habits is the "in thing". Nutritionists and doctors are writing articles and columns in almost all the magazines and newspapers about the benefits of eating healthy food, like raw and seasonal fruits and vegetables, fresh from the garden. It means that we should not indulge ourselves in junk food, at least not very often.

The Romanians are well aware of the health food craze, but they have not fully discarded their traditional cooking habits. Each province of Romania has its own unique cooking style.

For example, take the cuisine of Transylvania. They make a particular Sunday meal according to their tradition, which consists of a chicken noodle soup. This soup is not an everyday kind of soup either. It has to be prepared at home and, moreover, the chicken has to be raised in their own home poultry. This soup is so special that you can find it in any Romanian cookbook or list of recipes.

Several items of Romanian cuisine, which are considered as traditional as the famous noodle soup, are actually borrowed from the cuisine of other cultures. For instance, they usually have a special dish of schnitzel, an Austrian item, along with fried potatoes every Sunday after returning from the church. Like many other people in the world, the Romanians have a long established tradition of going to church on Sundays. And having schnitzel with the finest quality wine and palinca (a strong drink made from grapes or prunes) is almost like a ritual which they are practicing till date.

Preparing sweet dishes is also a very complicated and time consuming event in Romania. Many varieties of pies and cookies are made usually by the women. Vanilla, nuts and cream are also used extensively in the process of making pies and cookies. Baking for these sweet dishes are done usually in a wood stove and a traditional clay oven is used for baking bread.

Romanians usually make their bread at home with traditional ingredients like Wheat flour and potatoes. Adding synthetic flavor is a strict no-no. This home made bread is still one of the all time favourites of the Romanian cuisine, which maintains its taste with a crisp outside layer and spongy inside.

From the long list of the mouthwatering Romanian recipes, it is perfectly understandable why they are famous in the world, be it a recipe of their own or one influenced by other cultures.

In this era of beautifully packaged food around the world, people tend to buy food, which has a more appealing package. Mostly these people are from the younger generation, and have never got an opportunity to taste something fresh from their own home garden or a chicken raised in their own home poultry.

Though Romanians try to be traditional in their food habits, nowadays a fair number of people are opting for dining out often or having packaged food at home. This is mostly because they have no time or energy left to cook after having to cope with their hectic timetables.

But the superb conventional culinary delicacies of the Romanian people should be tried by everybody, because they are in a class of their own. Once you have tried them, it is virtually impossible not to fall in love with these delicious goodies, for example the scrumptious "sarmale" or cabbage rolls, or the "ciobra" (broth) or the soups.