“Smecher” comes from the fact that the Boyards from Oltenia, who owned vineyards, hired a specialist in wine tasting.
Since in German the word “schmecken” means to have taste, to be good at tasting, it came about that the specialist who could not be fooled with bad wine was called “Smecher”, meaning a clever person who could not be fooled. He was the clear-sighted one.
The anecdote says that there was a time when the Saxons from Siebenburgen (as Transylvania was also called), crossed the Carpathians to trade and reached the territory of Dragasani, from where they bought wine. In return, they offered handicraft items that the Saxons produced with a quality that was recognized throughout Europe.
The Olteners quickly found a way to deceive the Saxon merchants. They fed them and then served them the strongest wine they had. Since the Saxons were not used to drinking, they quickly became “tipsy” and when negotiations began over the price of the goods, they were almost drunk and could no longer sell at a good price.
While they were buying the wine, the Olteners gave them several more wines to taste, so the Saxons immediately got drunk again.
When they loaded the traded wine, the good wine was not only bought at a much higher price than normal, but also replaced by the worst plonk and impure one. Only when they got home did the Saxon merchants realize that they had been deceived : they were selling quality products very cheaply and buying bad, expensive wine.
Thus the profession of “Schmeken” was born. They accompanied the Saxon merchants to the vineyard of Dragasani to exchange products and bring wine to Transylvania. After the Saxons were drunk, the “Schmecken”, “the one who tastes” came into play. Everyone respected him and listened to what he said. Of all of them, he was the only one who did not put a drop of alcohol in his mouth.
He negotiated and set the selling price of crafts and he also tasted the wine and set the buying price. The people of Oltenia called him “smecher” (wise) and understood that he was “the one who is not deceived”.
Story collected from Adrian Prisecaru
