A good number of people have asked me about Romanian food. In many ways, the typical diet here is more plain and simple, along the lines of British food or pork-heavy German dishes, rather than more flavorful cuisines of, say, Bulgaria, Mexico, or India. Having said that, there are many dishes were are absolutely outstanding! One of those delicious culinary delights is Tocaniţa, a distinctly Romanian potato dish that resembles some type of stew or goulash.

Tocaniţa is pronounced “toe-cah-KNEE-tsuh” (where the ţ with a tail is always spoken like the “ts” in pots or shallots). Sometimes, you can find anglicized spellings as tocanitza which tries to approximate the sound. However, it is not quite accurate to make a “z” sound. Say the word “eats” out loud. That’s really the correct way.

A more clever phoenetic would be token-EATS-uh. Or am I the only one who spent too much of my parents’ money on Pac-Man?

Instead of trying to convince everyone that I am a master in the art of Romanian cooking, I thought I would defer to someone with infinitely more expertise. Fortunately, Laura was kind enough to document the ingredients and detail the preparation. Lucky you; she also nicely included some interesting tips to guide you through the process of choosing alternative options to customize the taste to your particular liking.

Tocaniţa ingredients

• 5 medium-sized potatoes
• 6 oz. can of tomato puree
• 1 big or 2 medium onions
• 1 big carrot
• 1 parsnip (optional)
• 2 bell peppers
• 1 hot pepper or 1 teaspoon paprika
• quarter bulb of garlic, pressed
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper (black or white)
• pinch of salt
• 4-5 tablespoons of herbs (see the tips below!)
• 1-2 cups of filtered water

Tocaniţa preparation

1. First, peel the potatoes, onions, carrots, and the parsnip. Cut the potatoes in little cubes about the size of an ice cube. Dice the onions, carrots, bell peppers, parsnip into very small cubes (approximately the size of a pea …or as large as a sugar cube).
2. In a medium sauce pan or frying pan, pour 3 tablespoons of oil and add the diced onions, diced carrot, diced hot pepper (or paprika), and half of your diced bell peppers. Add your pepper and pinch of salt, before turning the heat on medium-high. Cook until tender and then add the tomato puree. Let it simmer and stir frequently, until the consistency is softly thickened like a regular sauce.
3. Place your potato cubes in a medium-sized cooking pot and pour the sauce over the top. Using filtered water, pour as much as necessary so the liquid level is approximately 1.5 inches above the potatoes (see the water tip below). Turn the heat up to medium high and bring to a boil. Once it begins to boil, quickly turn the heat down to medium or medium-low to let the Tocaniţa simmer. Stir frequently.
4. When the potatoes are very tender and the water has cooked off, remove from heat. Add your remaining diced bell pepper, pressed garlic, herb mix, and, if needed, another pinch of salt. Mix thoroughly and serve hot. Makes 4 bowls. Pofta buna!

Keep in mind that you are not really cooking a soup. Rather, it is more like a potato dish smothered in rich, scrumptious sauce.

Laura’s Bonus Tips for cooking Tocaniţa to your tastes

So, what you just read is the simple way of doing Tocaniţa. There are, of course, a few other ways to go about it. Understanding the basics of Tocaniţa is simple, so let me give you some alternative options.

You can substitute another vegetable oil, if you do not have olive oil. Also, depending on how much you like in your food, you may choose to add another tablespoon. I usually use just enough necessary to “oil” the vegetables until the tomato puree gets added.

Garlic is always added “to taste.” If you enjoy the flavor as much as I do, try using a half a bulb instead.

About the tomatoes now, usually the puree is the best because what you need is to get a nice tomato-color and tomato-taste for your food, so you need somethimg less like a juice and more like a paste or puree. It is possible to try whole crushed tomatoes.

If you are unsure about the quantity of water, err on the side of adding too little. The principle involved here is that the water will essentially cook off as steam, so the real purpose of the water is to soften and cook the potatoes thoroughly. It is better for the potatoes to be cooked well instead of undercooked. If you find the potatoes are not very soft, you can always add more water and cook a little longer.

As for the herbs, you want to use a base mixture of parsley, celery, basil, and parsnip leaves. Plus, be sure to add one of the following: tarragon, bay leaves or savory. (Use only one of these, don’t put them all together!)

If you want to add meat, you can use strips of chicken breast, cubes of beef, or chunks of pork (even chopped bacon bits, if you wish). You will need to pre-cook the meat a little, until it is no longer pink. Use a different frying pan on high heat or zap it in the microwave while your sauce begins cooking. Do not over cook the meat at this stage. Before it browns, you will add the meat to the sauce along with a little extra filtered water.

Finally, I like to put some grated parmesan on top before eating. While not exactly Romanian, it tastes great!

And, boy howdy, I tell you what. Mmm mmm mmmm.

Good news, campers! The Hungarians are flying across Romania’s borders to help us out with some air travel expenses. And, now, with more frequency to more destinations…

Sounds like an advertisement? Well, it’s almost an endorsement, so to speak.

“Everyone” knows Tarom, the national airline of Romania, has long been terribly overpriced. I’ve checked their prices since 2003 and always found it laughable. At the same time, “everyone” knows that an influx of other European airlines should eventually force Tarom to be more competitive in the market. Outside of Romania, no one flies Tarom. And, frankly, I don’t even understand why Romanians do it… especially after I flew Tarom once (on a complicated multi-destination package deal) and only once.

The bright management of Malév, national airline of Hungary, are capitalizing on the Tarom-factor with increased flight offerings to the Transylvania cities, primarily because of the relatively large ethnic-Hungarian populations who live here.

Whereas most international airlines focus their Romania service exclusively on Bucureşti, the capitol of Romania, where the population is largely ethnic-Romanian (read: weak interest in traveling to Hungary), the clever folks at Malév are instead diversifying their flights to include some of the secondary airports like Timişoara, Cluj-Napoca and, most recently, Tirgu Mureş.

In the press photo above, you see Malév execs inaugurating the new service to Tirgu Mureş

Of course, they do offer Bucureşti service for business travellers as well as Constanţa flights for vacationers. My speculation is that mostly likely they add Sibiu in the near future, as the Transylvania trend of expansion continues.

Prices are pretty good, too. To celebrate, flights from Tirgu Mureş to Budapest are only 20€ for a round-trip flight! That’s an incredible offer. (Sadly, it doesn’t last forever. You have to hurry and buy during the next month or so… and complete your flight by March.) Even their normal prices are definitely worth noting. Compare this: round trip for 2 persons on a weekend in March, from Timişoara to Budapest, Malev asks 209€ each (while Tarom demands 298€ each).

It’s very smart for Malév to work with Romania. Other companies should follow suit as should politicians. Despite the strain of past history between the two groups, we are living in a new era of relative peace where these cultures can build on the better memories of the long co-existence. It’s not always been bloody. There are good relationships in Transylvania that can create a bridge between Hungary and Romania, bringing economic prosperity to both.

Tarom, are you listening?

By the way, if you’ve never been to Budapest, then you have no idea what you are missing!

I wanted to ask Slashdotters what they thought about the recent clashes between the US, China, and Google. We know the Bush Administration is seeking the search records of users from Google, under the guise of unconstitutional pornography legislation, but it could involve much deeper questions given that the scope of their request is so wide (and not just from Google, who is resisting at this time, but also from Yahoo, Microsoft and AOL, all of whom already surrendered your data without a fight). Now, it seems, the American government is sabre-rattling about potential bribery in relation to Google’s recent compliance with Chinese censors.

Why did Google seek to fight the US? Why did Google choose not to fight China?

Is the US exacting revenge by pursuing litigation, implying possible bribery charges and deflating stock valuation (admittedly, by key stock holders and not by the government, per se)? And does Google deserve it? Probably and maybe, in that order.

As the discussion ensues, the most insightful posts so far are:

Retribution against Google by Anonymous Coward

When Bush administration demanded that Google turn over a list of search requests, it more or less expected them to behave the same way that Yahoo, AOL, etc. did. Namely, it thought that they would quickly and fearfully turn over the information and slink away like a swatted puppy. Instead, Google rolled their eyes, yawned, and told the DOJ to go fark itself. By all accounts, this response threw our good friend Abu Gonzo into a fit of rage.

So now, Bush sees an opportunity to get revenge on Google. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not any more happy about Google’s deal with China than anybody else is. But let’s not pretend that this administration has suddenly seen the light and cares about human rights. Let’s call this what it is: an opportunity being taken by the Bush administration to go after a company they consider to be an enemy.

and

Good by metlin (258108)

This is supposed to be the land of the free, home of the brave. The US is supposed to pride itself as being the beacon of light of democracy and the free world.

Instead, everything here has become so much driven by money that ethics and values become irrelevant when it comes to business. Oh, please don’t give me that relativistic bullshit.

The Chinese government has killed thousands of its own citizens in massacres and throws its people into jail without a trial for speaking out against the establishment. They’ve a record of human rights violations, which is definitely evil by any stretch. I mean, shooting dead protesters and imprisoning and torturing people for speaking out – this is what Google is abetting a government to hide and keep away from its own citizens.

Like the article said, the Internet was something new, something that was a new medium that might help bring about a change and bring to light these things. Companies like Google and Yahoo! had the power to do something about it, the power to stand up to it and say NO. To say that despite everything, we’ve values and we have a backbone.

Instead, they gave in. More than anything, I’m disappointed in Google. I’m saddened that a company that preached so much about “doing no evil” turned out to be a bloody hypocrite. You know, deep down you knew that it was a corporation and like most corporations, its driven by greedy ass executives who don’t care two hoots about anything – but you always had a hope that it would stand upto something and show some nerve.

Nope.

“All that is needed for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing” — Edmund Burke.

That quote has never seemed so apropos.

and

I must be insane by Anonymous Cowardbut I don’t get it. If Google did refuse to alter search results in Nation X, wouldn’t most people applaud? Granted, they might have some local legal manueverings, but they have the relatively little cash needed for that.

Besides, I thought this bleeds into the MUCH larger concepts of who controls the internet, nation-states or individuals (in this case, an individual corporation).

For example, if Google just kept serving, how many nation-states would/could go through the effort to lock Google out? How many of their citizens would increasingly object during the lock-out phase (since it couldn’t be overnight)? And would it even really work in the end, anyway?

Seems to me that Google *could* stand up for full results and let the chips fall where they may… eventually surviving any temporary turbulence. Without inviting venomous responses, how am I wrong here?

and

Re:What are they talking about here? by crymeph0 (682581)

The wonderful DMCA has forced them to filter out results. For example This query [google.com] displays a DMCA takedown notice at the bottom of the page.

and

I know how to sidestep the whole issue! by mmell (832646)

Google moves its corporate headquarters to the Cayman Islands.

Circumvents the US Government prying into Google’s databases, and permits Google to continue working in the American Way, by taking advantage of business opportunities without the US Government trying to legislate morality.

Really . . . does our government think China will repent and come to the UN hat in hand seeking forgiveness of the world so that Google can provide them with a search engine? Or have I misunderstood what the government is ostensibly trying to say here, that Google has a moral obligation not to respect the sovereignity of the People’s Republic of China because that conflicts with (US of) American ethics?

Good grief, where were these ethical considerations when we were trying to put the whack on F. Castro and J. Stalin? Or more recently during the Iran/Contra debacle? (finding further examples is left as an exercise for the reader)

Apologies to all present – I’ll get off my soapbox now, closing with a quote:

“Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right” – H. Mallow

and, interestingly,

Bribery by AK Marc (707885)

These laws haven’t ended bribery, but they have resulted in recipts for bribery. I know of people that illegally paid bribery to government officials. They paid “elevator rental fees” to police to gain access to their secured servers, and such. They just collected recipts and declared it as a cost of doing business. It is necessary in many places, and makes no more sense than declaring haggling illegal because it isn’t popular in the US. I guess they should just call them “campaign contributions” and not worry about it, like they do in the US.

and, sadly,

I was going to make a joke… by revery (456516)

But while I was doing research on the PRC to find some fodder, I found myself getting sicker and sicker reading about China’s treatment of families, particularly, women and children. What’s worse, is that America seems to be moving toward China rather than away from them. So this is meant to be an anti-joke, a small dose of sobriety amidst my daily regimen of vanity.

or

Isnt it a little late? by night_flyer (453866)

Everywhere I look, I see “Made in China”… if that isnt collaborating, its definitally financing the imprisonment and torture of Chinese citizens, as well as financing our own eventual demise…

It will be interesting to see how the discussion ensues. I, for one, think this whole situation is a big, ugly mess. It has broad implications, since we have all come to rely on Google (and Yahoo, to a lesser extent), not only for the US and China, but also for Europe, in general, and more specifically for Romania. If PSD came back to power, could they demand Google start omitting politically sensitive results from Google.ro searches in Romania? How about desires to block UDMR information? Or other sites?

Is this pandora’s box? Does this not set serious precedents which need to be talked about by the internet-at-large? What do you think?

When I think about it, the Lion King broadway show must have really tittilated all the furries. I mean, here are people getting paid to live the life, right? Fully grown adults dancing on stage in semi-aboriginal dry grass headress, wearing animal based costumes (some even in fur), while singing and jumping and twirling and role-playing. And they get paid for it. Yes, I imagine the FurNation folks must be quite jealous for not being paid. On the other hand, does the fact that so many people in the United States paid good money to see the show somehow hypocritically conflict with their rejection of the furry underworld? Methinks maybe.

Alas, we’re not here to talk about human adaptations of Disney’s The Lion King. Nor how to get the DVD for free. Nor where you can find Romanian subtitles (pop-under warning!) for those who are learning Romaneste or those who natively speak it. No, we’re here to honor something entirely more popular and more ancient than The Lion King.

What? Why, chocolate, of course. Behold the Nestle Lion, King Size!

The international conspiracy of Chocolateers is most definitely operating within the borders of Romania, apparently infiltrating under the guise of large business conglomerates. Everywhere you turn are American Snickers, Twix and Kit Kat (though this last one tends to be the white chocolate variety instead of the US-standard dark) looming from the shelves of alimentara and other assorted merchantry. It should come as no surprise to find the Germans involved, as well. After all they are rather… well, German.. aren’t they? That’s why you can find Kinder lurking about in nearly equal quantity. Mmm… German chocolate…

And the world’s largest food company? No doubt. Global kingpin Nestle maintains a presence in Romania. The weapon of choice is the disarmingly delicious Lion candy bar which was very recently redeployed in King Size units.

Ever suffering for you, my dear reader, I felt duty-bound to mercilessly throw myself upon the grenade so that I might endure the terrible release of evil alone, thus sparing you from harm.

And, you know what? Death ain’t so bad, y’all.

Nestle takes some neopolitain wafers and sticks them together with some sort of sugar-based stickiness (presumably not corn syrup, but I could be wrong), then surrounds those wafers with caramel. Interestingly, it seems as though one additional wafer is then placed atop that wafer-caramel concoction, before the entire thing is bathed in deep, dark chocolate which has bits of puffed rice (rice crispies!) swimming around. The final result is called Lion, probably a reference to Nestle’s hard-working African employees.

Those who know me best are probably mildly amused to find me eating chocolate. It’s true that I don’t normally care for it. I suppose it was just the call of the wild which tempted me to dabble in this bit of yumminess. I suppose once per year is still acceptable… or, um, like, twice…

Are ya down with the marketing droid buzzwords?

Surely, even a worker bee product-obsessed consumer such as yourself realizes the inherent synergetic worth of value-added distributor partners who leverage sticky initiatives in order to maximize strategic mindshare solutions while utilizing customized functionalities of impactful platforms which, of course, allows dynamic client communities to architect vertical ROI.

Open your wallet.

Now, it’s fairly easy to keep up on the latest whatever “cool” phrase is being passed around the cacophony of advertisements slowly driving you insane. New word constructions catch flame all the time, finding themselves soon adopted across the sales biosphere. Usually, it’s in your own language.

Not in Romania, where the true hipster just dashes on a little English here and a little English there. From a self-centered point of view, I admit there is some comfort in seeing lots of English words being used in advertisements, product labels, information signs, websites, and so forth. It adds to the sense of familiarity. The downside is that the current blitzkrieg of anglo lexicon could have a debilitating effect on Romanian culture. (Not that I propose any ludicrous courriels, of course.)

You see, in Romania, the simple word “fresh” is apparently the golden key to open the doors of your wildest dreams about revenue streams who dance to the tune of cash register dings and credit card authorized bleeps.

Since Romanians seem to love America so much, the international corporations just borrowed a page right out of the United States playbook. Fresh works seems to work well in 49 states (heck, Alaska is so darn cold, it’s impossible for anything to not be fresh), so they just imported the word into Romania and slapped across all the labels.

Domestos can give your toilet that Apple Fresh… taste? Yuck. At least, it “Kills All Known Germs” which is very comforting to the overwhelming percentage of Romanians who have no idea what in the world that blurb even means.

Tide (oh, yes, they have Tide here) is a wonderful Alpine Fresh smell. We all know what a relief that can be, since we intuitively appreciate the freshness of alpines, right? Bueller? Bueller? Again, the vast majority have no understanding of the words, at all.

Glade’s popular “After The Rain” scented room deodorizer both freshens and fragrances. Yup, you got it. Not only does it have the bombdiggity ability to freshen, but it also is endowed with the rare gift of being able to fragrance… fragrancize… fragranciate…

Astera takes the cake, though. Romanians can see the box says it is toothpaste, which is very helpful to the few college students who know what the words tooth and paste mean. I suppose it’s not terribly important if there is toothpaste inside because it has some ultra-exciting swooshy font stuff happening to give you that Fresh MultiEffect. Wow! I bet you’re feeling jealous right now.

Why stop the fun there? It goes on.

Astera clearly has to fire someone because they accidentallly included one Romanian word on the packaging. “Caries” is the term for cavities. So, if I understand properly, one of the fresh multieffects of Astera is to give you cavities. Oooh, where do I sign up for that?! But, wait! There’s more! If you order now, through this exclusive promotional offer, they’ll even give you tartar! How awesome is that, eh?

Fortunately, Astera does give you healthy gums and that’s very important because all Romanians obviously know the word healthy and the word gums. Moving right along, we come across whitening, which is a wonderful benefit the consumer doesn’t understand.

And, then, we hit paydirt… Double Fresh! My friends, that is truly a wonder to behold. In fact, while you are probably in front of your screen paralyzed with amazement as you try to comprehend the sheer vastness of the meaning with your mouth agape, I will take this opportunity to end on a high note so that I can join my non-English speaking Romanian friends in applying this double freshness to myself!