CHAPTER XII

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.