About

Hello and welcome. Thanks for visiting. I've written this page to share a bit about myself and the influences that shape the recipes you'll find on Cristina's Kitchen.

These are the main elements that shape the recipes you'll find on this blog:

1. Romanian roots and real ingredients;
2. Good cooking technique and execution;
3. Exploration of food culture.

Romanian Roots & Real Ingredients

I was born in Romania in the late 80s. Much of my young life was spent in the country. My grandparents had a homestead and land in a rural village in Dobrogea, a region in the far east of the country.

My grandparents grew their own fruit, vegetables and grains, had chickens, pigs and various other animals over the years, and also ran a small family vineyard.

Like in many cultures, food was a core part of our traditions. Our food culture is shaped by the seasons and by the harvest. Fasts during lean times, celebrations around harvests and slaughter.

I've shared many of my favourite Romanian dishes on the blog and I try to also share some of this cultural context along the way.

For example:

• Smoky Romanian Bean Stew (Fasole cu Afumătură)
• Cozonac (Romanian Holiday Sweet Bread)
• Romanian Meatball Soup (Ciorbă de Perisoare)
• Romanian Stuffed Peppers (Ardei Umpluți)
• Papanasi: Romanian Sweet Cheese Donuts with Blueberries & Cream

The food of Dobrogea is also quite different from the rest of Romania because it has a different climate and different cultural influences over hundreds of years.

In Dobrogea you'll find much more of a Balkan and Turkish influence than the west of the country, which tends to be influenced more by Western and Central European cuisine (Austrian and German).

So you'll find a lot of recipes here that lean into those flavors, for example:

• Creamy Tomato Chicken and Eggplant Bake
• Fresh Fava Beans in Tomato Sauce with Dill & Garlic
• Dill Yogurt Sauce with Garlic
• Puff Pastry Baklava

This contrast is one of my favourite aspects of Romanian cuisine and I love comparing notes with Romanians from the west and seeing how similar concepts are interpreted differently.

The focus on whole food ingredients that we have in Romanian culture is also a feature of many other cultures like French and Italian.

I've found a lot of resonance with these food cultures so you'll also find classic French and Italian recipes like:

• homemade pasta dough
• potato gnocchi
• Ossobuco alla Milanese (Braised Veal Shanks)
• Croziflette: The Classic French Cheesy Pasta Bake

Good Cooking

The other part is that cooking is an amazingly powerful skill to have.

When I was a kid, Romania was still under communism and it was often said (especially amongst rural people that had access to homegrown food) that prepared food purchased from shops (or 'din comerț') was made with cheap ingredients and couldn't be trusted.

I was skeptical at first but the truth hit me hard after I ate one too many Savarine made with thick, filmy artificial whipped cream that would coat the roof of my mouth in grainy oil.

I realized the only way I could eat a legit savarina was to make it myself!

That spirit has shaped a lot of what I do in the kitchen. You'll find deep dives on certain technical topics like making perfect bechamel, choosing the right flour for homemade pasta and brining poultry.

These deep dives are in cooking foundations but there are also helpful pointers and notes on good technique and presentation throughout the blog.

Food culture

The final influence on my food is that I've lived in a lot of different places, from Romania to Canada, the USA and now the Netherlands.

In the early 90s my parents fled communist Romania to make a new life in Toronto, where I lived until my mid-20s.

I grew up Romanian-Canadian in the beautiful cultural metropolis that is Toronto and was fortunate enough to be exposed to a lot of different (food) cultures as a result.

At present I consider the most 'Toronto' recipe on the blog to be Jamaican Beef Patties.

In 2014 I left Toronto and lived in Michigan for 3 years before moving to Amsterdam with my husband and our dog Oliver in late 2017.

Food is one of the core ways we humans express and share our cultural identities. Our food is what set us apart and reflects our unique traditions, memories and values.

But if we look closely and compare notes, we can also see how recipes and cooking styles transcend borders - diaspora-style or through multiple discovery.

That's the beauty of food for me. Not finding what sets us apart, but finding what we share in common.

How to reach me

If you want to get in touch with me you can drop a comment below. If you have a question or comment about a recipe then drop a comment in the comments section of the recipe.

I absolutely love hearing from you - it's probably the best part about food blogging. I try to reply to recipe-related questions within a day.

For other questions you can reach me at contact (at) cristinaskitchen (dot) com.