Restaurants, cafes and “green stations” will offer you a wide variety of traditional Bessarabian cuisine. Its peculiarity is in mutual enrichment of different local cuisines. Here you could enjoy Ukrainian “borsch” (beetroot and cabbage soup) with “pampoushki” (small loaves of bread with garlic), “vareniki” (curd or fruit dumplings), fishermen’s “ukha” (fish soup), Bulgarian “milina” (curd or sheep’s milk cheese baked in the dough), “goloubtsy” (stuffed cabbage-rolls) in grape leaves, Moldavian “mamalyga” and many other dishes.

Traditionally local people use large quantities of fruit and vegetables, Danube fish, spicy sauces and different kinds of seasoning. The Lower Danube region is also famous for its wonderful locally grown light wines.

*FISHERMEN’S “UKHA”*	Fish-soup. Made of various sorts of Danube fish - sazan (a fresh-water fish belonging to the carp family), sheat-fish, pike-perch. It is usually served with special spicy sauce and local wine.
*UKRAINIAN BORSCH*	Beetroot and cabbage soup. “Borsch” is extremely popular with all the nationalities of Lower Danube. It is cooked on rich broth and has a very beautiful red or cherry color which tomatoes and beets add to it. You could also find potatoes, carrots, cabbage, onions, sweet Bulgarian pepper and parsley in it. Served with “pampoushki” (small loaves of bread with garlic) and sour cream.
*BULGARIAN STUFFED PEPPER*	Fleshy sweet red pepper is filled with various kinds of stuffing. That could be meat with rice, rice with vegetables or vegetable mixture. It is stewed or baked in the oven and served with sour cream.
*MAMALYGA*	Cooked of maze grain. The history of this dish goes back a long way in time, but even today “mamalyga” is a popular dish not only with Moldavian families, but also with other nationalities living here. Served with curd, “brynza” (sheep’s milk cheese, a feta type cheeze), and fried pork fat.
*GOLOUBTSY*	Stuffed cabbage- or grape leaves- rolls. Minced meat or vegetable stuffing together with cooked rice are wrapped up in new grape- or cabagge leaves and stewed in the traditional Turkish tin vessel. Grape leaves add pleasant refreshing taste to the dish. Served with sour cream.
*VARENIKI*	Curd or fruit dumplings. On Christmas Eve it is traditionally served with potatoes and sauerkraut; in summer - with various fruit and berries. Served with fruit syrup - they make a delicious summer dish.
*DANUBE HERRING*	Fish with tender meat which is traditionally eaten salty. It is famous for its gustatory qualities far beyond Bessarabia. The catching season is March-June.

Egg-plants are called “siniye” (“blue”) in Bessarabia. They are a very favorite kind of vegetables in Bessarabian cuisine. Egg-plant puree (called locally “egg-plant caviar” is a regular dish on every Bessarabian table in summer and in autumn. Baked on an open fire or in the oven, egg-plants are cut into small slices and mixed with onions, Bulgarian pepper and tomatoes. They are seasoned with oil and salt to taste. Extraordinary delicious.

Curd, pumpkin and “brynza” (sheep’s milk cheese) baked in dough. Made of thin drawn out dough folded into several layers with various stuffing (curd, “brynza”, pumpkin). Baked in the oven or fried in the frying pan. Can be served both hot and cold.

Mutton cooked with red bitter pepper. Mutton is stewed for a long time in a special tin vessel with thick sides - in a “kazan”. Large quantity of red bitter pepper is added. Once ready, it is cooled in a mould. Such meat can be preserved for a long time, it has a specific spicy taste; it is popular in the areas where sheep-breeding is developed.

Curd, sheep’s milk cheese baked in dough. Traditional Bulgarian pie made of tender dough with traditional Bulgarian milk product “brynza” or curd stuffed richly with cream. Cooked salty or sweet. Well-cooked “milina” is tasty both hot and cold.

DON’T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO ENJOY LOCAL CUISINES OF THE NATIONALITIES RESIDING IN BESSARABIA!