Romanian Traditions & Foods

Holidays & religion
Romania is a country where most of the population is following the orthodox-christian religion. The orthodox religion is derived from Christianity but is much stricter in some ways like fasting without any animal product (milk, eggs, butter), church service takes about 4 hours on a Sunday instead of the hour and a half like in the catholic church. Romania knows multiple holidays that are comparable with the western holidays and some that are just celebrated by Romanians.

New Years eve (Revelion)
New years eve or Revelion as it is known in Romania is a very important holiday and is the first holiday celebrated in Romania. The celebration of new years eve dates back to 2000 years before Christ. During the celebration the Romanian people give each other symbolic gifts, like sweets and honey as a sign of peace, money and gold as a sign of welfare or a lantern for a year full of light.

New Years day (Anul nou)
In the cities New Years day is being celebrated by having people over at home or go out to bars, pubs and continue the party that New Years Eve offered. However the date of New Years day corresponds with the celebration of saint Vasile the great (Sfantul Vasile). In the countryside this is being celebrated on the first day of the year. On this day children will go out caroling a carol called Socrova. With the carol they wish everyone a rich, fruitfull year.

Christmas (Craciun)
During Christmas the Romanians prepare the Christmas tree with beautiful ornaments, just like in most countries Christmas day is spent with family and friends. The celebration is in name of Jesus Christ who was born on Christmas. In addition to the usual tree ornamenting, gifting to others and gathering of friends and family the Romanians also go door to door and carol for sweets, fruit or money. This is mostly being done by children who have been practicing weeks beforehand to impress the people.

Martisor
In Romania on the first of march there is a celebration named Martisor (literally translated; small march). The men give woman a gift consisting of a red and white thread or a more expensive version is a piece of jewellery with the red and white thread involved in the appearance. After the woman received the gift from a man they will wear this accessory until the end of March. This tradition symbolizes the beginning of spring and it is believed to bring strength and health during the coming year.

Easter (Pastele)
Easter is being celebrated on a different date than when the Christens and Catholics are celebrating the rise of Christ. Eastern is being celebrated after ‘the seven weeks of fasting’. During this time it is prohibited to eat any animal related food. This includes butter, milk, eggs and fish. During the last night of fasting everybody wakes up around midnight, washes themselves put on clean (usually new cloths) and heads towards the church. At the church there will be a ceremony where the priest will, with a cross and a lit candle in his hands, come out of the church followed by all the believers. The priest will then shout:
‘’Christos a inviat’’, meaning christ has risen, To which everybody will respond with: ‘’Adevarat a inviat’’, meaning he really has. The fire from the candle the priest brought out is being used to light everyones candles. After which everyone will return to there homes with the lit up candle by the church its flames. When arriving home instead of going to sleep, everybody sits down at the table and has the first meal in seven weeks that consists of animal products.

Bear parade
When winter is nearing its end there is another unique tradition exclusive to Romania known as the bear parade. During this period there will be a parade of dancing bears which stand for bringing luck . The participants dress themselves with real bear hides and go door-to-door while growling and accompanied by percussion and singing to wear off all the evil.

Romanian traditional foods
Cozonac
This type of cake has been made for years and is a very old tradition in Romania. It is being said that the Cozonac is originated from ancient Egypt and then taken over by the Greek. Eventually it found its way to Romania. It is being made for special occasions like Christmas or easter but its also being enjoyed on a wedding day. Its made by using flower, eggs, milk, butter, salt and sugar. Optional ingredients that are used quite often are: resins, orange or lemon zest, walnuts, vanilla or rum extract, cocoa powder and poppy seeds.

Mamaliga
Mamaliga is a often made supplementary dish by Romanians. The dish consists of a type of corn porridge that is eaten with some type of meat (usually pig) and cheese mixed with yoghurt. Mamaliga was is known to be a replacement for bread for people who could not afford bread. During the passing of time it changed to a nostalgic food for many Romanians and is being eaten on the regular by all Romanians.

Mici (Mititei)
Mici are meat rolls usually consisting of a mix from pig-, cow- and chicken meat. This is a tradition Romanian dish that is made on a barbeque and is mostly eaten with a piece of bead and some mustard.

Sarmale
Sarmale is arguably the most iconic Romanian dish. The dish can be described as cabbage rolls stuffed with different types of meat or rice. In addition to the meat or the rice there are herbs added, onions and in some cases traditional (smoked) bacon (usually with rice). The dish is often served with mamaliga (corn porridge) and yoghurt to bring down the intensity of the overpowering flavour given by the sarmale. The dish is being eaten on all the holidays and on wedding days. Sarmale is a delicious dish especially when it is home cooked with the right ingredients. Many Romanians prepare for the winter by pickling cabbages so it can be used during the winter to make Sarmale.

7085 reads

Content categories

Check all content related to:

Travel & Relax

Romania

Attending events, festivals and local celebrations

Cooking international recipes and local food

Understanding another person and culture

More contributions of WorldSupporter author: Paul Costin

This content is used in bundle:

Recipes from Europe or with a local twist by WorldSupporters- Bundle

Hungarian Street Food: Lángos

This deep fried flatbread is a common street food in Hungary where it is served warm with sour cream and grated cheese, rubbed with garlic or garlic butter, or doused with garlic water.

Instructions

In a mug dissolve the salt in the water. In a bowl combine the sifted flour with the yeast. Add salty water to it and stir through (if it’s very sticky, add a little bit more flour). Work the dough with a wooden spoon or with your hands until the dough comes off the bowl and gets smooth. Leave the dough in the bowl, cover with a clean cloth and let it rise for 30-40 minutes or until it has doubled in bulk.
Once it is rested, carefully tip out the dough onto a floured surface, stretch out into a square and cut out about 10 cm (3,93 inch) round shapes with a big glass (big cookie cutter also good). Stretch out each piece with your fingers into a rund shape with the centre being thinner than the edges. Let the pieces rest for another 30 minutes on the floured surface.
In a saucepan heat sunflower oil. Place lángos into the hot oil, fry it on one side until golden brown then turn. Repeat with the remaining lángos dough.
Serve while it’s hot. You can eat it simple or sprinkle with chopped garlic or douse with garlic water and top with grated cheese and sour cream.
Enjoy!

Ready In: 55 min.

Ingredients:

300 g all-purpose flour
7 g dried (instant) yeast
250 ml water
½ teaspoon salt
sunflower oil for frying
toppings: sour cream, grated cheese, garlic

Polish potato pancakes

Using the coarse side of a box grater, grate the potatoes and place them into a sieve or colander over a bowl. Using the finer side of the grater, grate the onion and add it to the potato. Using the back of a spoon, or even your hands, squeeze out any excess water/juice from the potatoes and onion. Discard the liquid, and then put the onions and potatoes into the bowl. Add the egg, two tablespoons of flour and season with sea salt and pepper, then stir everything together – the mixture should be quite thick.

Heat a little vegetable oil in a large, flat frying pan. Drop three or four mounds of the mixture into hot oil, and flatten to make small pancakes.

Fry for 2-3 minutes per side, turning once, until golden brown. Transfer the pancakes to a plate lined with a paper towel. Repeat until all the potato mixture is used, adding a little fresh oil if necessary. You can serve the pancakes immediately, or keep them warm, wrapped in tin foil in a low oven.

To make a quick mushroom sauce to serve with the pancakes, heat a little oil in a clean frying pan. Fry the chopped onion on a low heat for ten minutes until golden and soft. Add the mushrooms and cook for a further few minutes, until soft. Pour in the stock and simmer for one minute, then pour in the double cream and stir in the sour cream. Allow to bubble and simmer, then serve with the potato pancakes, along with some fresh dill and extra sour cream on the side.

Smacznego!

Ready In: 25 min.

Ingredients:

Ingredients:
6-8 medium-sized potatoes, peeled
1 onion, peeled
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons plain flour
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Oil for shallow frying
For the mushroom sauce:
1 onion, peeled, finely chopped
250g chestnut mushrooms
125ml/½ cup vegetable stock
125ml/½ cup double or heavy cream
1 tablespoon sour cream
Extra sour cream to serve
Fresh dill to garnish

Sarmale Recipe - Romania

Recipe for Sarmale (Stuffed cabage rolls)

Ingredients:

800g of minced pork and beef (mixed well together)
3 big onions
2 tablespoons of oil (vegetable or sunflower)
100g of rice
150g of smoked meat (preferable pig but beef is also fine)
100ml of tomato juice
2 tablespoons of dill
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
Thyme, salt and pepper
Pickled cabbage leaves

How to prepare:

Finely chop the onions and cook them until see trough with 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the tomato paste and cook for another 2-3 minutes, while stirring. Now add the onion and tomato paste mix to the minced meats, then add salt, pepper, thyme, the washed rice and the very fine chopped dill.

Remove the leaves from the cabbage very carefully, now divide the leaf in two parts. Fill the leaves with the meat component and roll them until completely closed. Now fold the sides, of the roll, in so the sarmale is done. Now continue until all of the sarmale are rolled. Now moving to the pan you will cook the sarmale in, before putting in all the delicious rolls you just prepared we will have to make a bed for the rolls. We will do this by laying pickled cabbage leaves on the bottom of the pan or even chopped pickled cabbage can be used instead.

Now lay your sarmale in the pan, do this by following a spiral form and make sure the sarmale are put together with not too much space in between them. After you finished one spiral row you can lay another bed of pickled cabbage on top before continuing with sarmale. When all the cabbage rolls are laying in the pan, Fill the pan with the tomato juice until it reaches the upper sarmale. You can ad additional pickled cabbage on top and put the smoked meat also dispersed in the pan. Now its time to turn on the fire and let your sarmale simmer for about 3 to 4 hours. Make sure to keep the lit

Tips:

Optionally you can decide to make the sarmale in the oven in a cooking pot if you own one.
To be sure that the sarmale are cooked well you can taste some of the pickled cabbage.
You can use more rice and less meat if you desire, or you could even go for fully rice with chopped paprika and mushrooms to make the dish fully vegan.

Ready In: 350 min.

Romanian Traditions & Foods

Scotch Eggs

Hello everyone,

On my trip to great England i had the one of the best pub foods. Pub food is fast easy, simple and doesn't require to much effort. Today i wan't to share my version of scotch eggs, i've been making them since i left England and the are delicious.

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Instructions

Boil all your eggs for 2-4 mins (Depening on the heat). You wan't the eggs to be cooked on the outside and liquid in the center (Yellow). Once you're eggs are done take them out and pout cold water over them for 20 seconds. This is to stop the egg from cooking any further.
Preheat your deep fryer to 350.
Meanwhile wrap your hard boiled eggs in your pork sausage.
In 3 separate bowls add your eggs, flour and bread crumbs,
Dredge your wrapped eggs first into the flour, then eggs then bread crumbs.
Fry 2 at a time in deep fryer for about 5-6 minutes or until internal temperature is 160.
Remove cooked eggs and serve
Serve with honey mustard or your favorite dipping sauce (Mayo, Ketchup, BBQ hot sauce) or make ur own.