Tudor Dinu explores the history of coffee and tobacco in Romanian lands

Historian Tudor Dinu has released a new book titled ‘Coffee, Tobacco, Sweets: The Delights of the Orient in the Romanian Lands’ (Humanitas, 2026). The work examines the Greco-Oriental civilization that developed in the major urban centers of Wallachia and Moldavia during the Phanariote era (1711–1821).

Dinu’s research focuses on how coffee and tobacco held a central role in this society and survived the subsequent Westernization of the Principalities. The historian also discusses his personal connection to the subject, noting his descent from Ioan Tăutu, a high-ranking Moldavian official mentioned by chronicler Ion Neculce as one of the first locals to consume coffee.