Haan Palcu-Chang, a Canadian chef of Taiwanese-Romanian heritage, has amassed almost 100k followers on Instagram with his mouth-watering Romanian recipes. He sat down with Romania Insider to tell us more about himself and his love for Romanian food.

Haan has cooked in and led award-winning kitchens in Denmark, France, Singapore, China, and Canada - and yet his successful social media page receives hundreds of thousands of likes for Romanian classics like cirobă de miel (lamb soup), papanași, or ciorbă de perișoare (meatball soup). 

Haan’s cooking style is heavily influenced by his mixed-race background and mingles flavors from East and West, and he also adds that personal touch to Romanian dishes. He currently lives in Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada, with his beautiful little family. At the moment, he focuses on private dinners, running cooking workshops, and creating social media content where he shares his love for traditional Romanian recipes.

Your Instagram page is full of mouthwatering classic Romanian recipes. How did you decide to make content about Romanian cuisine?

I grew up eating Romanian food, so it has always been an important part of my life. Even today, I still eat Romanian food at least once a week. So, it was natural for me to post Romanian dishes on my Instagram. However, what I noticed very quickly was that there was a huge demand for traditional Romanian recipes presented in English. Many Romanians live abroad, and they want the ability to share the food they grew up with with their non-Romanian friends, spouses, co-workers, etc. I guess I’ve now found a niche for myself, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and heartwarming. 

What does Romanian food mean to you? There is an obvious family connection there.

Romanian food means everything to me. For some Romanians living in Romania, this may be hard to believe because I do not look like your average Romanian. But my bunica (grandmother) and mother were both born in a small Transylvania village called Haghig (close to Brașov). So, I grew up eating food from this region of Romania. The flavors of the Romanian kitchen have greatly influenced my food memories and my own cooking style. Plus… every plate of food seems incomplete to me without sour cream… so that should tell you something!

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Haan Palcu-Chang (@haanpc)

Your posts get thousands of likes. Romanians seem to be your biggest fans. What type of reactions do you get from people who aren’t familiar with Romanian cuisine?

Yes, amazingly, my videos get hundreds of thousands and even millions of views… which still completely blows my mind. And I am honestly so grateful for the support I have gotten from the Romanian community. When it comes to non-Romanians, I think many of them simply have no idea what Romanian food is. So, when they see that our food is full of deep history, diversity, and, most importantly, deliciousness, they are eager to try the recipes I post. The other thing that I love is learning about all the similarities between cultures when it comes to food. I recently posted a recipe for ciorbă de perișoare and so many Mexicans said it looks so similar to their version of meatball soup. 

You have a cookbooklet on Romanian foods; tell us a bit about how it was received.

Yes, I recently published a booklet entitled 11 Delicious Romanian Recipes. Inside is a collection of some Romanian classics that I have put my own spin on. I also worked with a Romanian artist from Craiova, named Alexia Udriste, who did original artwork for all the recipes. This was a passion project for me and one that I am so proud of. The feedback from Romanians and non-Romanians alike has been incredible. I have got such heart-warming messages from people, it honestly makes me want to cry! The success of this booklet has inspired me to do another one… I already have a new artist to work with, and it will focus on the food my grandma grew up eating in Transylvania. 

Finally, what is your favorite Romanian recipe to make?

This one is easy for me. My bunica’s prăjitura cu mere (apple cake). This is my all-time favorite dish she made for me and I hope that this recipe lives on for many generations in my family. There is just nothing like some warm apple cake from the oven shared with friends and family!

(Photo: courtesy of Haan Palcu-Chang)

radu@romania-insider.com