What to eat
Hungarian cuisine is most well-known for dishes that use ample quantities of paprika (mild red pepper). Goulash (boiled beef and vegetables, flavoured with paprika) is the national dish and appears on most menus as both a soup (gulyásleves) and a main course stew (székelgulyás). Paprika is also a key ingredient in chicken paprikásh (csirkepaprikás), a casserole of chicken and vegetables thickened with sour cream. Roast goose is a favourite dish for celebrations. Stuffed cabbage (töltött káposzta) and stuffed peppers (töltött paprika) are both borrowed from Ottoman cuisine. Pancakes (palascinta) can be either savoury (such as hortobágyi palacsinta, filled with veal stew) or sweet with jam, chocolate sauce or cream cheese. Other desserts include somlói galuska, pieces of sponge cake soaked in alcohol and served with chocolate sauce and cream.
Paprika, an essential ingredient in Hungarian cuisine, on sale in Budapest’s central market
Croatian and Serbian cuisine are very similar, both being influenced strongly by Middle Eastern ways of cooking assimilated during many years of Turkish occupation. Čevapi or čevapčići (spiced meatballs), pljeskavica (minced meat patties similar to a hamburger) and ražnjiči (kebabs), all often served with green peppers and ajvar (tomato, pepper and aubergine sauce), are widely found in snack bars and restaurants. Other meats include pork, lamb, veal and beef. Karađorđeva šnicla (Karadjordje’s steak), rolled stuffed veal or pork, breaded and baked, is also known as maiden’s dream because of its erotic shape. Many small restaurants along the Danube may only serve fish, mostly šaran (carp), som (catfish), štuka (pike) or pastrva (trout). Commonly found snacks include different kinds of burek, greasy filo pastry pasties filled with cheese, meat or spinach.
Romanian meals usually start with ciorbă (‘sour’ soup) made with either burtă (tripe), peste (fish), văcuţă (beef) or legume (vegetables). A popular main course is tochitură (hearty meat stew in a spicy red pepper sauce) served with mămăligă (maize-meal polenta), cheese and a fried egg. Mici are small flat grilled minced pork patties, often sold by number from street vendors, while sarmale are cabbage leaves stuffed with meat and rice. Near the Danube, and throughout the delta, fish is abundant, most commonly crap (carp), somn (catfish) and ştiucă (pike). The most common dessert (in smaller restaurants often the only dessert) are clatite (pancakes) served with chocolate or jam.
What to drink
Hungary, Croatia, Serbia and Romania are all both beer and wine drinking countries. Beer is mostly lager style, and although apparently produced by a number of national breweries, large multinational brewers own most producers. Draught beer (Hungarian csapolt sör, Croatian točeno pivo, Romanian bere la halba) is widely available. In all four countries wine (Hungarian bor, Croatian vino, Romanian vin) quality suffered from a pursuit of quantity during the communist era, but has been steadily recovering since.
In Hungary vineyards spread throughout the country produce large quantities of table wine mostly from Kadarka red grapes or Olasz white grapes (a variety of Riesling). More well-known are full bodied golden white wines, slightly sweet but fiery and peppery and an ideal accompaniment to spicy Hungarian food, and Bull’s Blood, a full-bodied red made from Bikavér grapes. Most famous of all is Tokay, a dessert wine from northeast Hungary made by a unique process where the sweet pulp of over-ripe rotted Furmint grapes (known as aszú) is added to barrels of one-year-old wine and left to mature for at least three more years.
In the former Yugoslav countries the tendency is for white wine to be produced inland to the north in Slovenia, northern Croatia and Vojvodina (northern Serbia) while red wine comes mostly from the south and the coastal regions of eastern Croatia, southern Serbia and Macedonia. The Danube valley is a major white wine producing area in both Croatia and Serbia, with Croatian vineyards on the slopes of the Bansko Brdo ridge (Stage 6) and around Vukovar and Ilok (Stages 7 and 8). This wine region extends into the Serbian foothills of the Fruška Gora mountains (Stage 10), with further Serbian vineyards south of Belgrade. Principal varieties are Graševina (a local grape), Traminer and Italian Riesling. The main local red grape is Prokupac, but this is declining in favour of international grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
Romania is the world’s ninth largest wine producer, but little is exported. Prior to the Second World War most of Romania’s wine came from eastern Moldavia, an area that was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945. The communist government replaced this lost acreage by planting state operated vineyards mainly in northern Wallachia, south of the Carpathians, which produced large quantities of cheap wine. Since the fall of communism many of these vineyards have been replanted with international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc to produce better quality wine. Some local grapes have survived, the most common being Fetească Neagră (used for roşu (red) wine), Fetească Albă and Fetească Regală which both produce alb (white) wine. Tămâioasă grapes (similar to Muscat) produce sweet wine. Cotnari is a sweet dessert wine very like Hungarian Tokay, made from Grasă grapes. The Danube passes close to two of Romania’s better quality wine growing areas: around Segarcea (30km north of Cârna, Stage 19) and in southern Dobruja near Lipniţa (Stage 26) and around Murfatlar (Stage 27). One problem with buying wine in Romanian bars and restaurants is that it is almost always sold by the bottle (750ml) or by litre carafe. It is impossible to buy wine by the glass.
In all four countries the most popular spirit is fruit brandy. Hungarian Pálinka can be distilled from apricots, plums or pears, while Croatian and Serbian Šljivovica (sometimes called Rakija) and Romanian Ţuică are plum brandies. All are frequently home distilled, particularly in Romania and can vary from smooth and sweet to strong and fiery.
All the usual soft drinks (colas, lemonade, fruit juices, mineral waters) are widely available. Tap water is normally safe to drink in all four countries although if you are susceptible to stomach upsets caused by water that differs from your domestic supply, bottled water is on sale everywhere.
Amenities and services
Grocery shops
In Hungary, Croatia and Serbia all cities and towns passed through have grocery stores, often supermarkets, and most have pharmacies. In Romania every village has a number of small general grocery stores often with a table and chairs outside where local residents can be found drinking beer at any time of day.
Every Romanian village has a number of small grocery shops combined with a bar like this one in Ciocăneşti (Stage 25)
Cycle shops
Cycle shops and repair facilities are few and far between, particularly in Romania. A basic knowledge of cycle maintenance, particularly mending a puncture, adjustment of brakes and gears, replacement of broken spokes and repairing a broken chain might come in useful.
Currency and banks
The Hungarian currency is the Forint, although many tourist oriented businesses such as hotels and restaurants will accept payment in euros. In Croatia the official currency is the Kuna, but as the euro is closely tracked by the Kuna, it is widely accepted here too. It is likely that Croatia will join the Eurozone during the lifetime of this guide.
Serbians use the Dinar, a direct successor of the Yugoslav Dinar while the currency in Romania is the Lei. In both countries the best rates of exchange are usually obtained by taking cash (pound sterling, euro or US dollar) and exchanging it locally in registered exchange offices rather than banks; the days of an active black market are long gone. In both countries euros are widely accepted in tourist oriented businesses, indeed hotel prices are often quoted in euros. Cross-exchange of local currencies is surprisingly difficult, even at border crossings. Because of this you should avoid changing too much currency as you may not be able to exchange it back after you leave the country.
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