This is not a terrible cookbook. It is just one that failed to inspire me as others do. It was interesting to see the kinds of food that Romanians eat, to learn a little about the history of the country, to read a folktale or two, to read a couple of poems that describe the country, etc. Many of the dishes seem to be somewhat similar to goulashes. Romania wasn't a country until the latter half of the 19th century. This relatively new country's cuisine has, therefore, been influenced by the cuisines of many nearby countries as well as France. There is an extensive bibliography in the book, and the indexes appear comprehensive. The predominant cheese used throughout the book is caşcaval. In the Kindle version of the book, there is often a footnote indicated by one or more asterisks. Unfortunately it is very difficult to determine which asterisk goes to which page because they begin at about 97% of the way through the book on the Kindle edition with each footnote being on a separate page. I was able to determine that the one for this type of cheese was usually a footnote indicating other cheeses that could be used for Americans unable to locate this cheese. One thing I noted about Romanian cuisine is the extensive use of sour cream in just about everything. I've decided that I can just add some sour cream to a dish and call it "Romanian." It's an interesting book, but it's not one that I'll be using often. ( )