When you could find a whole chicken, they were so small, that the factory decided to put claws from other chickens in the bag, to make them look bigger.

Oceanic fish was rather easy to find. Part of it was sold for export, especially the white one, before reaching the country. It was only low quality fish, scad mostly, that got to be sold in Romania.

Flour and corn flour could be obtained under the table, from agricultural areas. It was forbidden however to transport agricultural products by private individuals if the quantity exceeded the consumption needed for a day or two. (I. M., 99)

People in Bucharest would stand many times in a queue to buy corn flour, until they stuffed a whole sack, which they sent to their relatives in the countryside. (M. V., 156)

You had to cover the salami in flour to be able to eat it. Not to mention that after ?85 you couldn?t even buy one whole piece of salami anymore. They would sell you a whole piece, but would cut it in two so that you couldn?t hang it on the balcony and dry it. (S. R.-B., D. R.-B., 138)

I remember the tricks we used to employ to get them to sell us a little bit more than the ration. And then people would shout: ?don?t sell more than two, to be enough for everybody?. One of my tricks was to go home quickly, leave whatever I had bought, change my clothes and then come back to the queue and innocently join the queue in the middle. I would confidently reply to those who noticed my presence: ?I?ve been here all the time, mister, just because I?m so little, you can?t see me?? and then triumphantly go home with another two packs of corn flour. (G. S., 58)

What was most difficult to find were the diaries, meat (cold meats were hard to find, salami was a rarity, too); the shelves were empty; any shop would only sell shrimps. Exotic fruit was also hard to find. Oranges, lemons, grapefruit, and bananas were only sold in winter around Christmas time and New Year, and only in small quantity. I hadn?t heard of kiwi, mango and other exotic fruits. I remember standing in a queue to buy some bananas but I could only buy one kilo, so that there would be something left for the others as well. One year my sister from the country called me and asked me to send her some oranges and bananas for she couldn?t find them where she lived (she had small children).

Chocolate and figs were hard to find as well. People would get by as they could, there were hard times; some had connections in restaurants (where they could obtain some food), others in food stores. People would do small services for each other, the problem arose when you had nothing to barter with in order to get some food. In a nutshell, food was sold under the table. (M. C. J., 96)