Sour Soups and Sarmale Beyond the Grid

Romania has yet to host a Grand Prix or field a driver, but its Carpathian cooking, shaped by many neighbors, rewards a slow weekend at the stove.

Romania has not yet hosted a World Championship race, and no Romanian driver has started one in our records. The only name linked to the country is Colin Kolles, who is described there as a managing director rather than a driver and has no race entries of his own. No Romanian team appears either, so for now the country's Formula 1 file is a slim one.

The Romanian table more than makes up for it. The cuisine grew from varied landscapes, shepherding traditions and farms, with roots reaching back to the Roman period and later influences from the Balkans, Central Europe, the Ottoman Empire and France. Vegetables, cereals, fruit, honey, milk, cheese, meat and game are its raw materials; pork is the main meat, with beef, mutton and fish also eaten. Maize became a staple after it arrived in Europe and remains central today as mămăligă.

Soups hold a special place. The family of sour soups called ciorbă takes its tang from lemon, sauerkraut juice, vinegar or borș, and covers everything from vegetables to tripe and meatballs. The Ottoman influence shows in stuffed peppers, stuffed cabbage and fried meatballs, while the Austrians left the schnitzel and the Greeks the musaca, so a Romanian menu doubles as a short history lesson. Religious holidays set the cooking calendar, from the pork dishes of Christmas to the lamb of Easter, and the sweet bread cozonac crowns the Christmas meal.

For a race weekend, a pot of sarmale or a plate of mici with mustard would suit a Romanian afternoon very well.

A taste of Romania

• Sarmale, Pork and rice rolls in sour cabbage
• Ciorbă de perișoare, Sour vegetable soup with pork meatballs
• Langoși, Fried flatbreads with sour cream and cheese
• Mici, Garlicky grilled skinless sausages
• Tochitură moldovenească, Moldavian pork and sausage pan stew
• Varză a la Cluj, Layered sauerkraut, pork and rice bake
• Socată, Lightly fizzy fermented elderflower soda
• Vișinată, Homemade sour cherry liqueur
• Papanași, Cheese doughnuts with sour cream and jam

Circuits

Drivers

• colin kolles