Mici appears as a signature dish in 1 Romania cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.
Mici (Mititei) · Bucharest
Mici are Bucharest's skinless grilled minced-meat sausages, a blend of beef, lamb and pork seasoned with garlic, black pepper, baking soda and broth. The plate is served with mustard, bread and a Romanian lager.
The mici (literally 'small ones', also called mititei, 'tiny ones') is a Bucharest invention. A 1920 letter from the chef of Caru' cu bere on Strada Stavropoleos, preserved in the Romanian Academy library, records the recipe. Popular legend ties the dish to Iordache Ionescu's tavern at 3 Covaci Street in the late 1800s, who ran out of intestines for sausages and grilled the spiced minced meat in skinless form. The dish is first mentioned in print by French-Romanian journalist Ulysse de Marsillac in 1870, and named 'mititei' around 1872 by writer N. T. Orășanu. May 1 Labour Day is the citywide mici-eating tradition.
Where to eat in Bucharest:
- Caru' cu bere
- Hanu' lui Manuc
- Mici la Piața Obor
- Hanu' Berarilor Casa Oprea Soare
- Berăria H