I was planning on going out today to produce some fresh pictures but the weather here is awful, it’s cold and it’s raining. I had to dig through my collection of photos again, and that’s where I found this photograph. What better to keep one warm on a cold day like today than a shot of ţuică, a traditional Romanian (strong) alcoholic beverage. It’s usually made from plums and similar in taste to Hungarian palinka, just that palinka is twice distilled and therefore stronger. Ţuică is usually consumed before the meal, as an aperitif, to stimulate the appetite and you only get a small amount of it, like a shot, because it is quite strong. It might be hard to find it outside Romania because, to quote wikipedia, “most ţuică is moonshine, prepared using traditional methods, both for private consumption and for sale. Although this is illegal, the government tolerates these practices, and does not consider this bootlegging, due to the nature of the drink. Most ţuică is sold in markets, fairs and even on the road edges, bottled in unlabeled PET bottles. Some communities have acquired production licences and legally produce and bottle ţuică”. Ţuică is present everywhere Romanians gather to celebrate something, at parties, family reunions, weddings etc.
Oct 162009
Not far from here an enterprising Romanian has opened a food shop called “Transilvania”, not the most appealing name for the average Italian customer. I wonder if he can find me some ţuică…
All the Romanian restaurants or food shops outside Romania are called Transylvania. I'm not kidding, it's a fact 🙂 The chef and the owner may be from Bucharest or Moldavia but the places are still called "Transylvania". In some countries (in US for example) that makes them popular 🙂 I actually welcome when they are called Transylvania because at least they are not called Dracula's Castle or something similar 🙂 I met one exception, in NY, where the Romanian restaurant in Queens was simply called "Cornel's Place".
There is bottled ţuică, which is made industrially, but usually is not as good as the home made one you buy from the markets.
I guess if I want to try ţuică, I'll have to visit Romania! Made from plums? Hmmm. That's fascinating.
oooh, i would love to try that… does it taste something like vodka or whisky? ^-^
arabesque: It has a very distinct taste, it's more flavorful than vodka in my opinion, and it tastes very different than whiskey.
Noroc!
Yum, I'd like to taste ţuică. I bet it's a Romanian throat-burner. (: