Hello Europe: New Foods I Want to Try

There is so much that I’m looking forward to on my trip to Romania and Italy.

I can’t wait to soak up the history, take in the scenery, wander through little streets filled with market vendors, and simply have the chance to step somewhere completely different from my everyday life and experience it for myself.

But, of course, one of the things I find most intriguing is the food.

I believe food is one of the best ways to experience a place. You can read about a country’s history, visit its landmarks, and take pictures, but there’s something different about sitting down at a table and eating something that has been part of that culture for generations.

Food has a way of telling its own story.

And since I haven’t left yet, I thought it would be fun to look ahead at two dishes I’m especially curious about trying—one from Romania and one from Italy.

Not because these are the only foods I want to try. Far from it. I have a feeling I’m going to want to try just about everything I see.

But these two caught my attention.

Romania: Sarmale

After doing some research on Romania and watching cooking documentaries such as Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, I came across sarmale.

Sarmale is traditionally made by wrapping a filling of minced meat and rice in cabbage leaves and slowly cooking the rolls.

Now, I am, in fact, a picky eater. But as I’ve grown older, my taste buds have expanded.

For example, cabbage is something that never really appealed to me. But I tried it recently, and it’s actually pretty good. I can handle the flavor, let’s just say.

But sarmale sounds hearty, comforting, and, most importantly, traditional. It sounds like the kind of food that belongs around a family table.

Sarmale is often served with mămăligă, Romanian polenta, along with sour cream and other traditional accompaniments.

I’ve never tried anything quite like this, so even though I don’t exactly know what it will taste like, that’s part of what makes me curious.

Will the cabbage be more prominent than I expect? Will the filling remind me of other stuffed dishes I’ve had before? Will the polenta completely change the experience?

I have no idea.

And honestly, I kind of like that.

Sometimes, we spend so much time looking things up before we travel that we forget there can be something wonderful about simply experiencing something for the first time.

I can read about sarmale. I can look at pictures. I can learn how it’s traditionally prepared.

But I can’t know what it will actually feel like to sit down somewhere in Romania and have it placed in front of me.

That is something I have to experience for myself.

Check out this recipe by Jo Cooks

Umbria: Porchetta

Then there is Italy.

My favorite place on earth.

I’ll be staying in Umbria, in a hilltop town called Panicale.

I’ve never been to this region before, so I’m especially excited about trying the local food. One dish that immediately stands out to me is porchetta.

Porchetta is a traditional central Italian dish made from seasoned pork that’s slowly roasted with herbs and aromatics. The result is tender, flavorful meat surrounded by beautifully crisp, roasted skin.

It sounds rustic and incredibly comforting, and I think that’s part of what draws me to it.

When I think about Italian food, I don’t just think about pasta and pizza. I think about long meals, simple ingredients, local traditions, fresh bread, wine, herbs, roasted meats, and food that is memorable.

Porchetta seems to embody a lot of that.

I think it’s the kind of food that feels like it belongs at a gathering. Something to slice and share. Something that can be tucked into bread and eaten casually or served as part of a larger meal.

And because I’ll actually be staying in Umbria, I’m especially curious about experiencing it there.

I don’t know yet what my first bite of porchetta will be like. It could become a new beloved dish, or maybe I’ll discover that it’s completely different from what I imagined.

Perhaps I’ll find some little local preparation that I never would have encountered if I had simply looked up “Italian food” before my trip.

That’s what I’m hoping for.

I want to be surprised by the food.

I want that eyes-rolling-back-in-my-head kind of experience where something tastes so good that I have to stop for a second and appreciate it.

And hopefully, I’ll have a few of those moments.

Check out this recipe from Christina’s Cucina

The Beauty of Eating Somewhere New

One of the things I love about traveling is that food gives you another way to connect with a place.

It’s about understanding that the food you’re eating probably has a long history behind it.

Someone developed the recipe. Someone passed it down. Someone made it for their family. Someone grew up eating it. Someone decided that this particular combination of ingredients belonged together.

And eventually, it became part of the identity of a place.

That’s what makes food so fascinating to me. A dish can be incredibly simple and still carry so much meaning. A plate of sarmale isn’t just cabbage, meat, and rice. A serving of porchetta isn’t just roasted pork.

There is tradition, memories, and culture in it. 

I want to taste something that belongs to the place I’m standing in. I want to sit at a table and know that the food in front of me has a story I’m only beginning to understand.

Before I Go

I don’t know yet which dish will become my favorite.

Maybe it will be the sarmale.

Maybe it will be the porchetta.

Maybe neither one will be the thing I remember most.

There are still so many foods I’m going to encounter that I haven’t even thought about yet. There will probably be things I order simply because I’ve never seen them before. There will be meals that are planned and meals that happen completely by accident.

And I’m looking forward to that.

For now, though, these are two dishes sitting on my little mental list of things I hope I get the chance to experience.

I’ve spent plenty of time imagining what this trip will be like.

Soon enough, I’ll actually be there.

And when I sit down at that first Romanian table or find myself eating somewhere in the Umbrian countryside, I won’t be thinking about what I expected anymore.

I’ll simply be eating.

And sometimes, that’s the best way to travel.

A Little Taste Before the Journey

Travel doesn’t always begin when the plane takes off.

Sometimes it begins much earlier—with the planning, the anticipation, the pictures you look at, the places you imagine yourself standing, and yes, the foods you can’t wait to try.

For now, I’m still at home imagining these meals.

Soon, I’ll get to taste them for myself.

And I think that’s one of the sweetest parts of looking forward to something: you get to experience it twice—once in your imagination, and then again in real life.

Until then, I’ll be dreaming about the table. 

What food would you most want to try if you could experience it in the place where it originated?

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”— J.R.R. Tolkien