Romanians like to eat, and they eat a lot with a great diversity. An existential Romanian question is: We eat to live, or live to eat? A great number of proverbs and sayings have developed around the activity of eating.

From the innocent child's thank you:

Sărut-mâna pentru masă,

c-a fost bună şi gustoasă,

şi bucătăreasa grasă

Thank you for the meal

it was good and tasty

and the cook was fat

to the funnier:

Mulţumescu-ţi ţie Doamne

c-am mâncat şi iar mi-e foame

Thank you Lord

for I have eaten and I am hungry again
 

Romanian cuisine is diverse, blending the dishes of several traditions which it came into contact with, as well as maintaining its own character. It was greatly influenced by the Balkan cuisine, especially during the short Turkish invasions, but also includes influences of the cuisines of other neighbors, such as Germans, Serbians or Hungarians.

The following are the national Romanian drinks, which people enjoy drinking the most:

• socata
• bere (beer)
• palinca
• rachiu (fruit brandy)
• secarica (caraway seed brand)
• turţ
• ţuica (plum brandy)
• vişinată (kind of cherry liqueur)
• vin (wine)

They are so good that they cannot be described, must be tasted.