Romanian Culinary Delicacies and Linguistic Curiosities

[Mandryka]

The power of the internet -- easy access to Francophones and indeed Romanophones. I still can't get over it!

@Florestan A Romanian deli has opened near me. What should I buy?

[Florestan]

@Florestan A Romanian deli has opened near me. What should I buy?

A Romanian what?

[Mandryka]

A Romanian what?

Un magazin alimentar romanesc

That's funny: A Romanesque shop!

[prémont]

Deli is a common abbreviation of delicatessen and is also used in my country.

[Florestan]

Google tells me the Romanian word is delicatese.

Thanks. I get it now.

Un magazin alimentar romanesc

That's funny: A Romanesque shop!

Ask for ghiudem, babic, salam de Sibiu, slănină, șorici, jumări, tobă, caltaboș, telemea, brânză de burduf, urdă, murături.

And don't you dare forget to buy a bottle of țuică.

Bon appetit! --- and let me know what you made of them.

[Florestan]

Deli is a common abbreviation of delicatessen and is also used in my country.

Completely unknown in Romania. What I recommended to @Mandryka we buy at butcher's, grocer's, markets and supermarkets.

The only deli I am aware of is the Turkish word for crazy/insane, from which the colloquial Romanian word diliu is derived. 

[Mandryka]

Thanks. I get it now.

Ask for ghiudem, babic, salam de Sibiu, slănină, șorici, jumări, tobă, caltaboș, telemea, brânză de burduf, urdă, murături.

And don't you dare forget to buy a bottle of țuică.

Bon appetit! --- and let me know what you made of them.

Sausage, cheese and pickles, washed down with a glass of schnapps! Can't wait.

It's strange because the language is Latin and yet the food is Germanic.

My friend Marius said Zancusca and Cozonac.

[Florestan]

Un magazin alimentar romanesc

That's funny: A Romanesque shop!

Well, Romanesque and românesc have very different meanings --- yet both words stems from Roma/Roman and denote something originating from the Roman Empire.

Btw, here's "Un magazin alimentar românesc" in other Romance languages:

French --- un magasin alimentaire roumain.
Italian --- un magazzino alimentare rumeno
Spanish --- un almacen alimentario rumano

Mutually intelligible, I'd say. 

[Florestan]

Sausage, cheese and pickles, washed down with a glass of schnapps! Can't wait.

It's strange because the language is Latin and yet the food is Germanic.

Non idem est si duo dicunt idem.

I'd say they are pretty much international and in one form or another common to all peoples who grow pigs, cows and sheep and eat pork, beef and cheese.

]My friend Marius said Zancusca and Cozonac.

Drat! How could I've forgotten them? The correct spelling for the former is zacuscă; the latter is correct.

[JBS]

Completely unknown in Romania. What I recommended to @Mandryka we buy at butcher's, grocer's, markets and supermarkets.

The only deli I am aware of is the Turkish word for crazy/insane, from which the colloquial Romanian word diliu is derived. 

In the US at least "deli" often is used to refer to a eat-in restaurant which serves delicatessan foods. They flourished in the 20th century Northeast, but one of the best known was Wolfie's and Wolfie's Rascal House in Miami Beach (and other South Florida locations). Especially during the tourist season, people would stand in line for an hour or more to get in, and some of the waitstaff spent their entire working careers there. I ate there a number of times with my family, and can say it deserved its reputation.  There are now two Wolfie's, one about an hour north of Palm Beach, the other in Sarasota (SW Florida). I don't know how their ownership, or more importantly their food, links to the original Wolfie Cohen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfie_Cohen%27s_Rascal_House

[JBS]

The only deli I am aware of is the Turkish word for crazy/insane, from which the colloquial Romanian word diliu is derived. 

Are you sure it's Turkish? US slang has "delulu", as a shortened for of deluded or delirious--and of course both those words have Latin ancestry.

[Florestan]

Are you sure it's Turkish? US slang has "delulu", as a shortened for of deluded or delirious--and of course both those words have Latin ancestry.

This is actually a very intriguing linguistic topic.

Deli is a Turkish word meaning crazy/madman/insane.

Delirium is a Latin word meaning madness/insanity.

Turkish and Latin belong to different linguistic families. Is the partial yet striking similarity purely coincidental or does it stem from an ancestral common proto-language?

Given that the personal pronouns, the numerals and the words for the first-grade relatives (ie, precisely the words whose forms are more or less similar for an entire language family) are very different in Latin and Turkish, my educated bet is on the former: pure coincidence.

[Mandryka]

Well, Romanesque and românesc have very different meanings --- yet both words stems from Roma/Roman and denote something originating from the Roman Empire.

Btw, here's "Un magazin alimentar românesc" in other Romance languages:

French --- un magasin alimentaire roumain.
Italian --- un magazzino alimentare rumeno
Spanish --- un almacen alimentario rumano

Mutually intelligible, I'd say. 

But only a Romanian can understand Oaia aia e a ei? 

[Florestan]

But only a Romanian can understand Oaia aia e a ei? 

True --- and yet all those words are Latin. 

[André]

Well, Romanesque and românesc have very different meanings --- yet both words stems from Roma/Roman and denote something originating from the Roman Empire.

Btw, here's "Un magazin alimentar românesc" in other Romance languages:

French --- un magasin alimentaire roumain.
Italian --- un magazzino alimentare rumeno
Spanish --- un almacen alimentario rumano

Mutually intelligible, I'd say. 

Very interesting topic ! May I contribute ?

« Un magasin alimentaire «  : everybody will understand but will also identify you right away as a foreigner. Although the designation is absolutely correct, the french term is 'épicerie', which I'm sure you know. Why épicerie (spices) ? Dates back a long time ago (13-14th century), when Marco Polo's travels popularized spices in Europe. Tea, coffee, sugar, flour were added as they became available in local markets. Eventually it came to mean a place to buy any kind of food for retail customers.

I found this interesting link (use google translate):
- https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81W9KjLw2uL._AC_SL1410_.jpg

that explains the evolution of the term as well as related ones like 'grocery' and 'haberdashery'.

In most north american urban markets it's increasingly hard to go to a real patisserie, a boulangerie (bakery), or boucherie (butchery): they are rare, expensive and likely to disappear when the owners get older 😢. That's why most people here go to the Supermarché...

[ritter]

And in Spain, "un almacén alimentario rumano", although grammatically correct, sounds awkward. One would say "una tienda de alimentación rumana".

But the traditional Madrid term for these shops (omitting the Romanian bit) is even more colourful than the French épicerie. It's  "ultramarinos" (i.e., "overseas"). I imagine it's because delicacies from overseas, mainly coffee and cocoa, could be bought there...

[JBS]

True --- and yet all those words are Latin. 

Not knowing Latin, I used Google to translate it, and discovered along the way that Anglophone Wikipedia has an article devoted to Romanian profanity.

[SimonNZ]

Not knowing Latin, I used Google to translate it, and discovered along the way that Anglophone Wikipedia has an article devoted to Romanian profanity.

Heh. I saw a list of Romanian swears some time ago and was surprised how much imagery involved the creative desecration of someone's mothers name-day cake.

[Florestan]

Heh. I saw a list of Romanian swears some time ago and was surprised how much imagery involved the creative desecration of someone's mothers name-day cake.

That's strange. The desecration is usually of someone's mother's anatomical parts. Do you have a link to that list?

[ritter]

That's strange. The desecration is usually of someone's mother's anatomical parts. ...

Well, then Romanians have that in common with Spanish Americans (not so much with Spaniards themselves).