Diapositiva 1

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Romania
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CHRISTMAS
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Christmas Traditions in Romania

• The birth of our Lord Jesus Christ was always
• for the Romanians, one of the most important
  religious holidays, together with the
  Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Baptism of
  the Lord . For this reason this holiday was also
  the source of many cultural traditions. Thus are
  the carols sung by a group of carol singers, of
  different ages. They gather at the house of one
  of them and adorned with traditional clothes
  which are ornamented with flowers and little
  bells, go from house to house on Christmas Eve to
  wish the owners good things for the year coming.

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• It is thought that these carol singers will bring
  health and wealth which were simbolized by a
  little brench of fir-tree, placed in a bowl full
  of apples, pears and nuts. The carol singers are
  paid by the householders with rings, pies,
  fruit and other little gifts and, today more and
  more with money.
• During the day before Christmas Eve, there is
  another custom kids go from house to house with
  the star which is a pole adorned with flowers
  or paintings and has on its top a star,
  symbolizing the star that appeared on the sky
  when Jesus was born. The kids sing a special
  song with this occasion which reminds the
  listeners of Christs miraculous birth in
  Bethleem.

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• Closely connected with Christmas there are a lot
  of legends such as the legend of the man called
  Christmas. It says that, a very long time ago,
  there lived a very bad , furious and drunkard
  man called Christmas.
• His wife, Mrs. Christmas was the midwife of the
  village. One day,when her husband wasnt at
  home,at their gate came Virgin Mary who was about
  to give birth to little Jesus, and asks her for a
  shelter for the night. Mrs. Christmas thought a
  little knowing what a bad man was her husband but
  in the end agrees to let her stay in the stable.

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• After Virgin Mary gives birth to little Jesus,
  Mrs. Christmass husband comes home and finding
  out that she let Mary stay in their stable
  punishes his wife by cutting her hands.
  Desperate, she goes to Saint Mary, in the stable
  to show her what happened ,but Mary conforts her
  and says to put her hands into the water used
  for Little Jesuss bath. Doing this she
  discovers, in astonishment, that two hands of
  gold appeared instead of the old ones. When her
  husband Christmas sees the miracle he feels sorry
  for what he did and the tradition says that he
  was the first man to become Christian.

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• There is also traditional food for Christmas such
  as a type of sweets called the little Jesuss
  clothes. They are made as a type of homemade
  pancakes ,with sugar syrup and minced nut core
  . Instead of nut core a type of local seeds
  prepared with vanilla sugar could be used. Then
  it is the pound cake called cozonac and a lot
  of homemade dishes from pork. When the family
  comes back after the midnight Christmas liturgy,
  they stay together at the dinner table until
  down, thanking God for all His blessings for that
  passed year and praying Him for blessing in the
  new one.

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Photos of Christmas in Romania
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Easter
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Romanian Easter Traditions

• Easter is the most important religious event in
  the Christian calendar, celebrating the
  resurrection of Jesus Christ from death.
  Traditionally, celebrations in Romania begin on
  the Saturday evening. Dressed in all their finest
  clothes and holding candles, people gather round
  the churches. At the Easter Resurrection Mass
  (Slujba de Inviere) just before midnight, the
  priest comes out to give a blessing, distribute
  holy bread and provide the flame from which
  everyone will light their candles. Suddenly the
  darkness is lit up and thousands of candles take
  to the streets.

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• Everyone tries to keep the flame alive until they
  arrive home. There, around the table, the family
  comes together for a special Easter meal. Roast
  lamb and home-made cozonac (sponge cake with nuts
  and poppy seeds) are the traditional dishes.In
  the countryside, the Easter Resurrection Mass
  lasts until early morning. The custom among
  country folk is to take their painted eggs, the
  traditional cozonaci and specially prepared
  dishes into the church on Saturday night so they
  can be blessed by the priest.

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• One of the most beautiful Romanian Easter
  traditions is painted eggs. The shells of
  hard-boiled eggs are dyed in colourful patterns,
  with a rich red the prevailing colour. They are
  often decorated with folk motifs. Designs are
  made with an implement called a condei or chisita
  - a small cartridge filled with paint with a
  sharp point on the end. There are a myriad of
  motifs used on painted eggs. The most popular
  ones are the cross, the star, the sun, the wave,
  the zigzags, and stylised flowers. Religious
  motifs are also largely used.

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• Sometimes motifs are applied using natural
  leaves. Traditionally, it's the women who paint
  Easter eggs, and they have to do it on the
  Thursday before Easter. Women are not supposed to
  do any work on the Friday. Sunday Easter morning
  the painted eggs are tapped together with the
  words "Hristos a Inviat - Adevarat a Inviat" -
  "Christ is Risen - He is Risen indeed." This
  beautiful ritual precedes the Easter breakfast.
  For fourty days people, especially in the
  countryside, greet each other with these
  words.

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Painting the Easter Eggs

• As well as making inspirational gifts, decorative
  eggs make a lovely table-setting for Easter
  Sunday. Just arrange them in pretty, coloured
  bowls or baskets on a little foliage or freshly
  cut grass, and place at either end of the table.
  Or follow the German tradition of hanging
  decorative eggs from spray-painted branches then
  scatter them throughout the house just as you
  would holly at Christmas time. The eggs could be
  either blown or hard-boiled and dyed.

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Blowing the Eggs

• Wash the egg and prick top and bottom with a
  thick needle or hatpin. Peel away a little shell
  at the base. Holding the egg over a bowl, seal
  your lips over the top and blow hard. The egg
  will resist then come out in a rush! Rinse the
  shell carefully in cold water and prop up to dry.
  Alternatively, eggs can be hard-boiled after they
  have been washed (and the shell degreased).

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Colouring the Eggs

• Use only food-grade dyes, such as red food dye or
  other colours
• Dissolve the dye in warm water, add a pinch of
  salt and few drops of vinegar, then bring to boil
  
• Dip the hard-boiled eggs and leave to coulour on
  all sides, after dyeing, leave the egg to dry on
  a plate with bloating paper

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• You could use onion skins to create a really
  glamorous Easter egg! Boil eggs (in shells) with
  onion skins and they'll turn a rich, glowing
  bronze. Then paint patterns on them using gold,
  silver or bronze pens
• Alternatively, melt some candle stubs in a
  saucepan over a low heat. Dilute a few drops of
  different food dyes in glasses of water. Dip egg
  first in dye then into the melted wax just to
  cover the dye mark. The wax seals the dye so you
  can dip the egg in several colours without them
  running into one another.
• You could also, try patterning the egg with
  little stick-on circles and stars. Then paint
  with poster or spray paints. Peel off the labels
  to reveal the shapes in contrast underneath. For
  a two-colour effect, paint the whole egg first in
  a light or dark colour, stick on the labels,
  repaint in an opposite shade and remove labels
  (the shapes will retain the original colour).

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Photos of Romanian Easter
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Cook Book
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Traditional Romanian Easter Cuisine

• Most Romanians are Orthodox Christians. Along the
  year their diet follows the religious calendar,
  which sets periods of fasting prior to the major
  religious celebrations, which are accompanied by
  feasts.

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• While the Christmas holidays always include such
  dishes as sarmale (minced pork rolled in
  sauerkraut leaves or vine leaves), and other pork
  dishes toba, caltabosi, chisca, smoked sausages
  made from equal amounts of beef and pork chopped
  finely with a knife and mixed with garlic, pepper
  and salt, the paste being then stuffed into sheep
  guts then the sausages are smoked for two
  hours.) and as a dessert cozonac (traditional
  pound cake usually made for religious holidays),
  the Easter holidays contain lamb dishes at the
  end of a long and strict fasting period that
  makes Easter meals seem even tastier.

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• Traditional Easter dishes are all based on lamb
  and cottage cheese. Roast lamb, lamb stew with
  green onions and garlic, lamb broth are all
  delicious Romanian traditional Easter meals.And
  for dessert cozonac again and a spe cial pie
  called Pasca.
• A food almost all Romanians enjoy is mamaliga
  (polenta). There is no Romanian in the world that
  wouldn't think nostalgically of the polenta back
  home. It is tasty, easy to prepare all year round
  and it can be served with almost any dish.

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• Another authentic Romanian dish is the delicious
  tripe soup, noted for its nutritional value as
  well as for the fact that it is said to be a
  great hangover remedy. For this very tasty soup
  the main ingredient is beef tripe, well cleaned
  and boiled in salted water. When it is tender,
  carrots and onions, as well as pepper and garlic
  are added. The soup is further boiled and then
  allowed to cool. Then the tripe is cut into
  narrow strips, the soup is strained and the
  liquid is again simmered with the strips of
  tripe. It is served seasoned with vinegar and
  sour cream.
• Besides the traditional dishes based on
  vegetables and meat, well known and appreciated
  are the rice pilaf, moussaka or chulama of
  Mid-Eastern origin.

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• Turkish coffee has long been liked for its
  flavor, and Romanians are good at making it, just
  as they make excellent cakes with nuts and syrup
  called baklava and sarailie.

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Recipe of the Romanian Easter pie (called
pasca)

• 10 eggs, well beaten
• 8 cups unbleached white flour
  
• 1 cup sugar or 3/4 cup honey
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup butter
• 2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla
• 1 Tbsp. dry yeast
• Rind from 1 orange and 1 lemon
• Cow sweet cheese /sweet cream/chocolate cream
  specially prepared with sugar, eggs a little
  flour and spices for the filling.

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• Heat milk to lukewarm, and add yeast. Add enough
  flour to make a spongy dough. Let rise for about
  1 1/2 hours. Mix down and add the eggs, sugar or
  honey, butter and flavoring. Stir well and add
  enough additional flour to make a soft dough.
  Knead well. Cover and let rise in a warm place
  until double in volume. Knead again. Let it rise
  again and punch down 2 more times, letting it
  rise well between punchings.
• Shape into loaves. Put in round pans and then
  fill it with the cheese/sweet cream or chocolate
  cream. Bake in a 350 F. oven for about an hour.
  Watch it carefully, it burns easily.