Food guide
What to Eat in Moldova, From Mamaliga to Placinte
Moldovan food is country cooking, built on maize, cheese, vegetables from the garden and the meat of the farmyard, and it shares much with the kitchens of Romania and its other neighbours. It is at its best at a village table, where the meal comes with the family's own wine, and in the capital's restaurants that cook the dishes of the countryside.
Updated 2026-10-08
Mamaliga and the farmhouse table
Mamaliga, a firm porridge of maize meal, is the old staple of the countryside, turned out onto a board and cut with a thread, and served with brinza, salty sheep's cheese, sour cream and fried pork or a stew. Sarmale, cabbage or vine leaves rolled around rice and meat, and stuffed peppers come to the same table.
Zeama and placinte
Zeama, a clear chicken soup soured with fermented bran and filled with homemade noodles and herbs, is the soup of every family and the cure for a long night. Placinte, thin pastries folded around cheese, cabbage, potato or pumpkin and fried or baked, are made at home and sold hot at bakeries and market stalls.
Markets and the seasons
Chisinau's Central Market shows the country's produce: cheeses and sour cream, smoked meats, honey, pickles, and in summer and autumn the fruit of the orchards and vineyards, from cherries and apricots to grapes, walnuts and plums. In the villages, the garden sets the menu through the year.
Wine at the table
Wine is part of the meal in Moldova, and many village families make their own; a rural guesthouse, such as those of Butuceni below Orheiul Vechi, pours it at dinner and may show its small cellar. In the restaurants, the native grapes, Feteasca Neagra and Rara Neagra among the reds, are the ones to try, alongside the wines of the great cellars near the capital.