Cornulețe

Chișinău. Zeama is the other everyday dish, a sour chicken noodle soup sharpened with bors, and sarmale, which came in with the Ottomans, are served hot here with smantana and pickles rather than cold as in Turkey or Greece. The vineyards begin more or less at the edge of the city.

Moldova. Wine is not a sideline here but a documented one. The cellars at Milestii Mici, tunnels cut into limestone, hold what is recorded as the largest wine collection in the world, and household winemaking remains ordinary rather than remarkable. Placinta, the coiled or folded pastry filled with cheese, cabbage, potato or apple, is what gets eaten alongside.

Europe. European cooking is built on the land and the seasons, wheat, butter, and cured pork in the north; olive oil, tomatoes, and seafood around the Mediterranean; preserved vegetables and hearty stews through long winters. Centuries of peasant tradition, guild craft, and royal courts refined techniques from French mother sauces to Italian fresh pasta and Central European baking. Regional identity runs remarkably deep, with a single dish often changing from one valley to the next.