Balgarianovinite.com Cosmin Dragomir is a journalist, founder of gastroart.ro – the first magazine dedicated to the history of Romanian gastronomy, an author, Euro-sommelier and researcher who has spent more than one hundred nights in the Balkans in search of flavours and stories that the world has yet to discover.
He has several published cookery books to his name. The latest, Sarut-mana pentru masa (I Kiss Your Hand for the Meal), written jointly with Adriana Sohodoleanu, is in two volumes and includes more than 800 pages of traditions, recipes and ingredients characteristic of ethnic communities in Romania – including the Bulgarian one.
“We visited the Bulgarians in Izvoarele. Among them I encountered that hospitality typical of the Balkans. And I discovered some recipes and subtleties I did not know before. For example, chulama, which is eaten cold. I also had very tasty ribnik. I tried lyutika (lyutenitsa – editor’s note),” he said in an interview for the Bulgarian News Agency.
Cosmin’s greatest passion, however, is sarmi (stuffed cabbage or vine leaves).
“I collect them, and that is not a metaphor. I dream of creating a museum. I have eaten sarmi in more than 10 countries across three continents. To that I add the fact that I am probably the only person in the world with sarmi tattooed on me. Sarmi are not just food. They are both a national and an international dish. They exist in many cuisines around the world, bringing together gastronomically many nations, including Romanians and Bulgarians,” he said.
He has already gathered enough items for a museum and is convinced that he could even achieve a world record in a category that would be created specifically for the occasion.
He began his small obsession, as he himself described it, in the autumn of 2020, during the pandemic. Today he has nearly 400 exhibits.
“Out of curiosity I bought one tin, then a second. And I never stopped. At the moment I have more than 200 tins, jars and various types of packaging from four continents. And many other items related to the theme – stamps from around the world featuring sarmi, more than 40 books in different languages with sarmi on the cover, postcards, posters, matches, spices, drawings, paintings. I even have a newspaper advertisement from the 1970s for a Hungarian restaurant in Ohio that offered sarmi on its menu,” the Romanian explained.
Upon learning of his passion, people from his home region send him knitted sarmi.
“To understand my madness, I will tell you that my wife ordered cufflinks with sarmi for our wedding,” he revealed with a broad smile.
He is convinced that if the sarma museum becomes a reality, it will be unique in the world.
“Recently I have even been thinking about a travelling museum in the form of a portable container with large front windows. It is a simpler solution than a building. We must be realistic. In Romania, a museum cannot sustain itself. At the moment I am looking for investment, sponsors and solutions,” Cosmin explained.
He does not rule out Bulgarian participation in the project, provided there is interest. His collection already includes several Bulgarian exhibits.
“The difference between Romanian and Bulgarian sarmi is not great. Only in the spices. And in the size. An acquaintance sent me a photo of a giant sarma from Sofia – a half-kilo sarma (laughs). Ours are smaller. I have tried them in Veliko Tarnovo and in Sofia. And a friend brought me a tin of sarmi from Ruse,” the Romanian said.
Curious to find out whether there are as many sarma recipes in Bulgaria as in Romania – more than 100 – Cosmin intends to deepen his knowledge in the field and perhaps even fulfil another of his dreams: to write a Universal Encyclopaedia of the Sarma. Romanian Collects Sarmi, Dreams of Founding Sarma Museum with Bulgarian Exhibits 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-04-11 06:40:44 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law