This post presents a delicious and fairly unique authentic soup from my home country Romania. Informally, we call this "the queen of soups", and it is considered a rare delicacy. It is sweet, sour and garlicky, with many other subtle flavors that blend together under the surface. The soup is so simple that many of these aromas are magical: the guests are left wondering where they all come from when the dish seems to only have water, tripe, and a couple of vegetables. The obvious answer is that all these mysterious flavors come from the chef's artful technique, which is the explanation I usually go with. Serve hot with a pickled hot pepper, and it will provide an unforgettable experience for you and your guests.

Ingredients:
 - Two pounds of beef bones (optionally with a bit of meat). I prefer beef shanks or short ribs
 - Six pounds of beef trip (honeycomb)
 - One celery root (peeled, whole)
 - Two parsnips (peeled, whole)
 - Two squash (peeled, whole)
 - Three yellow onions (peeled, whole)
 - Four carrots (peeled, whole)
 - 20 ounces of sour cream
 - Six egg yolks
 - Three heads of garlic (peeled)
 - Half a pound of pickled paprika or peppers (cut into stripes)
 - Five bay leaves

Preparation:
 - Cut the honeycomb tripe into strips. it's a fairly tedious process, so start early and see it to completion.
 - Boil the beef bones in about 2 gallons of water for an hour hour (or until any meat easily falls off the bone). Remove the froth regularly to keep the broth clear. When done, add the celery root, parsnips, onions, and carrots, and boil for another 45 minutes (or until you can easily pierce them with a fork).
 - Remove all bones from the broth, and discard them.  - Remove all vegetables from the broth. Save one carrot separately. You can use all others (minus that one carrot) separately for a boeuf salad, for example.
 - Add the tripe strips and boil for another hour (remove the froth regularly to keep the broth clear).
 - Separately, mix 20 oz sour cream with 6 egg yolks. Scoop one cup of hot broth and mix with the sour cream. Repeat this a few times until the temperature of the sour cream rises. Poor over the broth and mix thoroughly.
 - Mash the three heads of peeled garlic, and add to the soup
 - Finely mash the saved carrot, and add to the soup. This adds a beautiful orange tint to the soup.
 - Add the pickled pepper stripes and mix.
 - Stop the oven and set aside.
 - Serve hot, accompanied by slices of bread. You should also have some salt, pepper, vinegar, and garlic sauce ready for use.

Presentation:
 - The best presentation involves both color and texture. The honeycomb tripe has such a brilliant pattern, and you should try to stack a few pieces in the middle of the plate such that some of them show over the surface.
 - As for color, the pickled peppers tend to rise to the top, adding some beautiful red accents. This nicely complements the yellow and orange color of the soup.
 - Feel free to sprinkle some flakes of fresh parsley for a hint of green.

My brother and I gave our mom a really hard time as kids, particularly when it came to her cooking: for one reason or another, we always thought everyone else cooked better than she did, and we never shied from expressing our expert opinions on the matter (truth be told, our mom was a fabulous cook, but it took us many years to realize that). At one point, we let her know that her soups cannot match the awesome delicacies served at our kindergarten. The reason was very simple: our lives were already full of hardships (like fighting over toys or screaming our lungs out), so she could not really expect us to have much energy left in us to also chew the vegetables in the soup. The amazing chefs at our kindergarten were aware of the complexities of a kid's life, and they created this amazing soup that had no vegetables to chew on (looking back, it was just water boiled with soup seasonings, almost nothing natural or nutritious). Our mom did not believe us at first, but after a few meals where we did not touch the soup, she decided to prepare a special soup for us, according to our specifications. The recipe below was her best attempt at creating a soup that is nutritious and healthy, while not having any vegetables nor meat in it.

In her unlimited wisdom, our mom selected a lot of lighter colored vegetables for the soup - it's easier to conceal a peeled summer squash or parsnip in a soup, then it is to achieve the same effect with a red bell pepper. She was a great cook, but she was not Harry Potter. After boiling everything, she mashed them individually and made them lost in the soup, which became very creamy as a result. Her biggest mistake was that she mashed them by hand, which allowed us to spot a few minute pieces of carrots upon careful examination of her creation. But the soup was too delicious, so we forgave our mom for her cunningness and we kept slurping her savory concoction.

Aside from being a great food for kids and a welcome change from a regular soup, this recipe is also great for situations where a loved one has difficulties chewing. For example, when he or she gets the wisdom teeth removed. Give it a try, and I assure you that your efforts towards preparing the dish would be greatly appreciated.

Ingredients:
 - Two yellow bell peppers
 - Two summer squashes
 - Two celery sticks
 - One yellow onion
 - One carrot
 - One parsnips
 - Five or six potatoes
 - One small celery root
 - One and a half pounds of chicken (preferably with skin and bones - legs, wings, backs)
 - Spices: salt, a tablespoon of black peppercorns, four or five bay leaves

Preparation:
 - Wash, clean and peel the vegetables. Place them alongside the chicken in a large pot.
 - Add one gallon of water, the black peppercorns and the bay leaves.
 - Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium, cover, and continue cooking for an hour and a half.
 - Remove from heat.
 - Pick the vegetables and place them separately.
 - Pick the chicken pieces. Separate the meat and discard the bones and the skin.
 - Sift the soup through a cheesecloth, and discard the bay leaves and the peppercorns - they already added flavor to the soup.
 - Run the vegetables (minus the carrot) and the chicken meat through the blender (use some of the soup to get it going). Mash the carrots separately: similarly to my mom's original recipe, I like to see very small pieces of the carrot in the soup, and not really a puree of it (which would change the color of the soup).
 - Finally, mix the vegetables and chicken with the remaining soup. Add salt to taste.
 - Serve warm.

Presentation:
 - Place the soup in a nice colorful bowl for serving. I prefer a red or orange bowl, as it matches the occasional small pieces of carrots in the soup.
 - Garnish with croutons and chopped parsley to add further color and texture.

This is a tasty soup with many vegetables and occasional gifts of tender meat. As an extra bonus, the lemon flavor and the sour cream smoothness come to satisfy your craving for an ethnic touch. You really can't go wrong with this recipe, if you're looking for a simple recipe that you'd enjoy in a Romanian home.

Ingredients:
 - Two pounds of beef (preferably with bones, for example back ribs or short ribs)
 - Three medium-sized carrots
 - Three medium-sized parsnips
 - One celery root
 - One red bell pepper
 - One green bell pepper
 - One yellow onion
 - Three small potatoes
 - Two zucchini
 - Two lemons
 - Four large tomatoes (or one 14.5oz can of diced tomatoes)
 - Three tablespoons of tomato paste
 - One bunch of parsley
 - One pound of sour cream
 - Spices: salt and pepper

Preparation:
 - Add the beef and one gallon of water to a big pot. Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer (not a lot of bubbles): this helps keep the soup clearer. Cook the beef for an hour and a half, while periodically removing the foam.
 - While the beef is boiling, you have plenty of time to clean and dice the vegetables. You may want to keep them in cold water such that they stay fresh and don't change color (particularly the potatoes).
 - After an hour and a half of boiling the beef, remove it from the water, separate the meat and cut it in cubes, and discard the bones. Add the meat back to the soup, together with the diced carrots, parsnips, and celery root. Continue simmering for another 15 minutes.
 - Add the diced bell peppers, onion, and zucchini, and let them simmer for 10 minutes.
 - And the diced potatoes, and the tomatoes. Carefully mix the tomato paste in the hot soup until it becomes liquid (you can also remove a cup of hot soup, mix it with the tomato paste, then add it back to the soup). Continue simmering for 15 more minutes.
 - Remove from heat. Add the squeezed lemons, the chopped parsley, and sour cream, salt and pepper to taste. Mix, cover, and let the the flavors blend for 5 minutes.
 - Serve hot.

Presentation:
 - If possible, choose a soup bowl that is wider and shallower - this helps some of the diced vegetables break through the soup surface to reveal nice colors and texture.
 - Have extra sour cream handy, if your guests want to add more.
 - Sprinkle chopped fresh parsley on top to an extra touch of freshness.
 - Serve alongside sliced bread and chili peppers (fresh or preferably pickled).

I give you here the recipe for one of the more popular soups in Romania. In fact, we don't even call it a soup: it is a 'ciorba' (pronounced /tch-ior-bah/), which is a group of soups that taste sour. We have a special ingredient for the sour flavor - we use borsch, but not the beet-based one that seems common in nearby Eastern-European countries. I give a simple alternative here to easily obtain the same great taste by using lemon juice instead. In addition to the sourness, I love this recipe for the texture and flavor of the meatballs.

Ingredients:
 - One yellow onion
 - One pound of lemons
 - Half a celery root
 - One yellow squash
 - One leek
 - One red bell pepper
 - One parsnip root
 - One large carrot
 - One pound ground meat
 - Four tablespoons fulls of uncooked rice
 - Four tablespoons of tomato paste
 - Two cups of chopped parsley (or dill, or both)
 - Spices: salt, pepper, paprika, chili pepper, bay leaves
 - For serving: a few leaves of fresh parsley, bread, sour cream (optional), hot peppers (pickled hot pepper would be more traditional)

Preparation:
 - Start by cooking the rice. Bring 3/4 cups of water to a boil, add the rice (rinsed separately), cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 20 minutes. When done, remove from heat, fluff with a fork, and let cool on a flat plate for some 5-10 minutes.
 - Meanwhile, chop all vegetables and greens. Set aside half a cup of finely-chopped onions and the parsley. Fry the rest of the chopped veggies in a bit of olive oil on medium heat for 5-10 minutes. Transfer the veggies to a large pot, add three liters of water, four bay leaves, and spices to taste. Cover, bring to a boil, then keep on cooking for another half an hour. Use this time to prepare the meatballs (next step).
 - Mix the ground meat with half a cup of finely chopped onion, the cooked rice, half of the chopped parsley (about a cup), and a tablespoon each of salt, pepper, and paprika. When the mixture is uniform, grab about a tablespoon-full of the mix with wet hands, and roll into a ball. Repeat till uniform.
 - Once the broth has been boiling for half an hour, add the meatballs and the tomato paste, and cook for another half an hour. Use this time to squeeze the lemons and remove the seeds.
 - Mix in the lemon juice to the soup, a cup of chopped parsley, and salt, pepper, and chili pepper as desired. Serve hot.

Presentation:
 - Sprinkle some chopped parsley on top for extra color and aroma.
 - A lot of Romanians like to serve this with bread and sour cream: it adds richness and yumminess to the soup, and it helps cool it if it's too hot. Offer your guests this option by presenting sour cream in a bowl next to the soup.
 - Traditionally, we also serve pickled hot peppers next to the soup, to please the ones who like a to spicy it up a notch.

This is a very light and clear Romanian soup, one of the top five most common soups we have in our cuisine. Aside from the vegetables and the meat (which are fairly expected), the dumplings introduce an exceptional texture that is bound to impress your guests. Making the dumplings requires a bit of practice, but that is easily achievable because they are prepared separately. You might even want to start simple: make the dumplings and add them to your favorite chicken soup; if you like the end result, then try following the whole recipe next time.

Ingredients:
 - Two parsnips
 - Four carrots
 - Two potatoes
 - Two eggs
 - Half celery root
 - Half a cauliflower head
 - Three or four chicken drumsticks
 - Half an onion
 - One teaspoon of cooking oil
 - Two zucchinis
 - One red bell pepper
 - 5/8 cups of creamy wheat
 - One cup of chopped parsley
 - Spices: salt, pepper, one bay leaf

Preparation:
 - Chop the parsnips, carrots, celery root, and cauliflower, and boil in two liters of water for about 30 minutes. Use a larger pot, as this is where we'll end up with the final soup.
 - Add the cubed potatoes and the diced bell pepper and zucchinis to the soup. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Continue cooking everything for another 20 minutes.
 - Chop the chicken drumsticks (we want to break the bones), and brown the pieces with a teaspoon of cooking oil on medium heat. When browned (not burned), discard the liquid, if any. Add the chopped half onion, and cook together for a few minutes (until the onion turns yellowish). Add one liter of water, one bay leaf, and salt; cover, reduce the heat to medium/low, and simmer for 20 minutes. Sift through a cheesecloth: add the broth to the boiling vegetables from the step above, as well as the meat (separated from the bones), if desired.
 - Meanwhile, we need to prepare the dumplings. Whisk the two eggs with a mixer for about five minutes, on high speed. Reduce the mixer's speed to low, and gently add the creamy wheat and enough salt as if you'd be preparing an omelet. Mix till uniform. Boil two litters of water separately. When boiling, add a cup of cold water to reduce the heat. Quick add about 3/4 of a tablespoon of batter, and allow it to quickly detach from the spoon: this will grow in size to form a dumpling. Continue until you run out of the mix. Cook for twenty minutes, gently flipping the dumplings from one side to another every 5 minutes or so. Pay careful attention to the water: as soon as it is boiling, add a cup of cold water to cool it off. After the twenty minutes, remove from heat.
 - At the very end, remove the soup from the heat. Carefully move the dumplings to the soup, one by one; make sure you don't also take the debris, which should be discarded with the water. Add the chopped parsley, and cover.
 - Serve hot.

Presentation:
 - Serve in a nice colorful bowl. I chose a blue one, as it nicely complements the colors in the dumping soup.
 - If possible, try to have one of more dumplings break the surface of the soup: it looks more interesting than a flat surface. Then sprinkle some cracked peppers to add some extra depth to the presentation.
 - Use a nice bunch of curly parsley to further garnish the presentation.

Ingredients:
 - 2 pork hocks (smoked)
 - 1 lb beans
 - 1 carrot
 - 1 parsnip
 - 1 squash
 - One 15 oz can of tomato sauce or 3 tomatoes
 - 1 bell pepper
 - 1 red onion
 - 1 cup parsley
 - Salt
 - Pepper
 - Chili pepper
 - Thyme
 - Bay Leaves

Preparation:
 - In a large pot, put the smoked pork in plenty of water.  Cover with a lid, and boil for about 3.5 hours  We want to cook the meat until it starts to fall off the bone.  And we keep it covered to prevent a lot of the water from evaporating.
 - Separately, we need to boil the beans (I usually use a 1 lb bag of navy beans).  In Romania, the water in which they boil needs to be changed several times to help eliminate the gases.  And it seems to work, so I do it.  So, put the beans in water and bring to a boil.  Completely discard the water, replace it with fresh cold water, and repeat the process several times.  The magic number in Romania seems to be 3, but I usually do it 5 times.
 - Separately, shred the carrots, parsnip, and squash.  Also, dice the tomatoes (if not using the tomato sauce), bell pepper, and half of the red onion.  They will contribute a delicious natural flavor to the soup.
 - Once the meat starts falling off the bone (you can easily remove it with a fork and a blunt knife), figure out how much water you want to keep - and you want to keep some of the water that the smoked hocks boiled in, as it has a great flavor.  If you keep more, you'll end up with a Smoked Pork Hocks with Beans Soup.  If you keep less (about 7 cups), you'll end up with a Smoked Pork Hocks with Beans Stew.  You'll also end up with a stew if you continue the steps following for longer, and allow more water to evaporate.  That's my favorite process, as it also turns the beans a bit mushy and the sauce slightly thicker.
 - Add the beans (after having discarded the final water they boiled in) and the vegetables to the hocks and the water.  Also, add the spices: salt, pepper, and chili pepper to taste, about 3-4 bay leaves, and some 4 tablespoons of thyme.
 - Cook together for 20-30 minutes, or until the most of the water evaporates and you have a thick sauce for the stew.
 - Once it is ready, remove from heat, add the chopped parsley leaves, mix, and cover.

Presentation:
 - Serve next to toasted bread and red onions.  Feel free to further top it with chopped dill or parsley and finely-diced red onions for an improved presentation.  Serve warm.  And enjoy.

Ingredients:

 - 1 lb ground beef

 - 1 lb canned diced tomatoes (undrained)

 - 1 lb canned kidney beans (undrained)

 - One package McCormick hot chili seasoning mix

Preparation:

 - Brown the meat in a pan, and drain the extra fat.

 - Add the tomatoes, the kidney beans, and the spices package.

 - Cook on medium heat for about 20 minutes.

Presentation:

 - Garnish as desired with slices of fresh jalapeno peppers, chopped onion, or shredded cheese.

Ingredients:
 - Tomatoes (about two pounds)
 - Bread (3-4 slices, soaked in water, then squeezed dry)
 - Onion (about half of a small onion)
 - Garlic (3-4 cloves of garlic)
 - Green pepper (one, small, preferably red or yellow)
 - Cucumber (one, small, peeled)
 - Olive oil (about 7 spoons)
 - Vinegar (about 2 spoons)
 - Spices: salt and black pepper

Preparation:
 - Blend everything till smooth.
 - Taste. Feel free to add more of any ingredient you like.

Presentation:
 - Top with chopped onion, cucumber, pepper, cilantro.