The vegetarian heart of the Danube: Irina Georgescu on Eastern Europe’s secret plant-based dishes
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Often seen as a meat-lover’s haven, the Eastern European regions along the Danube tell a different culinary story at home – one of abundant vegetables, storied traditions and a river that unites more than it divides. Irina Georgescu reveals the recipes that have long nourished these lands.
![[Irina Georgescu’s ‘Danube’ celebrates the unsung vegetarian traditions of Eastern Europe]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/15/09/15000441-4be38a6f-9d97-478a-820a-25b01ebfe708.jpg)
Eastern European food is often associated with meat, but travel along the Danube river, and the regions it weaves through at it’s most easterly point, and you might be surprised at the prevalence of plant-based cuisine. “Romanian, Bulgarian, Serbian, by which travellers have associated a lot of meat, because the menus in the restaurants are different to the ones people cook at home,” says cookery writer Irina Gerogescu. Bar the odd treat or celebration, home kitchens in this region are much more likely to be enjoying vegetables.
![[Georgescu brings the spirit of the Danube into modern kitchens, blending tradition with technique – a delicious tribute to the resourcefulness and creativity of her Eastern European heritage]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/15/09/15000815-1070f955-ce40-4c29-baf5-cef6faac20a5.jpg)
“Almost everyone at the back of the house has a little vegetable garden. The temperatures in the summers are very high, it’s a haven for tomatoes. It has the right climate for vegetables; a lot of runner beans, garden, peas, peppers, aubergine.”.
Leeks may be better known to us as a national food of Wales (where Georgescu now lives having moved from Romania to the UK 15 years ago) but they were loved by the Romans too, becoming a culinary symbol of Oltenia, in the south of the country – and part of many national dishes, including eggs with sautéed leeks for breakfast.
It’s why 90 per cent of the dishes in her latest cookbook Danube – which focuses on the cuisine influenced by this side of river and the lands upon which it laps – are vegetarian. “I wanted to select those dishes that are very popular, but you won’t find them in a restaurant.”.
