Nechezol
Nechezol was a coffee substitute,[1] imposed on the market in the last years of communism in Romania. Coffee disappeared in the 1980s, with the drastic limitation of imports.
The word "nechezol" is, by no means, the official designation of the product, but a bitter pejorative given by the people. The Romanian verb "a necheza" means "to neigh" (like horses), alluding to the content of barley in this coffee substituent. So nechezol is a chemical substance that makes one to neigh after drinking it...
Nechezol contained only one-fifth coffee, the balance being barley, oats, chickpeas and chestnuts. Its nickname is derived from the verb a necheza (to neigh), alluding to the oats (usually fed to horses), with the chemical suffix -ol giving a pseudoscientific touch alluding to Elena Ceaușescu, "world-renowned scientist", wife of dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu.
Nechezol contained no caffeine.[2]
Notes and references
- ↑ "Précarité alimentaire, austérité / Food insecurity and austerity". Manger pendant la dernière décennie communiste en Roumanie / Eating in the last decade of communism in Roumania (in French). Catherina Perianu. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
- ↑ "O lume disparută / A Vanished World". Ion Manolescu, Ioan Stanomir, Paul Cernat, Angelo Mitchievici.
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