The traditional Romanian meal does not follow the starter/main/dessert structure. It opens with gustări (small bites and spreads), centers around a ciorbă (sour soup, the heart of the meal), continues with a felul principal often slow-cooked, and ends with sweets and coffee. For Ionesco, Franco-Romanian, this structure blends with French habits: wine at the table, coffee that never ends, conversation spilling over the dishes. The meal is less a succession than a duration — like his plays, where one lingers, repeats, and laughs at the waiting itself.

Borș is a sour liquid obtained by fermenting wheat bran (tărâțe) in water. It gives Romanian ciorbe their lively acidity, very different from vinegar or lemon. This fermented note, present throughout Ionesco's childhood cuisine, marks the Romanianness of the meal even before you taste the meat.