March specialties – Mucenicii – these kind of sweets are baked only once a year – on the 9th of March – when Romanians feast the 40 (or 44) Martyrs from Sevasta who were said to had been Christian soldiers in the army of Roman emperor Licinius, who were imprisoned and convicted to die in a cold lake – Sevasta – but God strengthened their will and their bodies too so they would not die.

All “Mucenici” have the shape of figure “8” – a symbol of human body – and in the southern part of Romania (Oltenia, Dobrogea) they are small pieces of pastry boiled in water with sugar or honey, chopped walnuts and cinnamon. They are served as a sweet cold soup – the liquid stands for Sevasta Lake… ingenious dish! In the northern parts of the country, Moldavians had not been that precise because they only bake 8 shaped pieces of dough – simple or twined – honey them and sprinkle walnuts on top. Absolutely delicious!

Easter feast – there is always going to be lamb on the table for Easter! Lamb means purity and a new life and it is also a symbol of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for humans’ sins. Lamb roast and sometimes lamb soup is eaten on the Easter day.

But for Easter there are also “sarmale” and “cozonac” on the table alongside of other specialties as:

• Drob – a cooked mix of intestines, meat (traditionally lamb), eggs and fresh vegetables, mainly green onion and dill
• Oua rosii (red painted eggs) – for Easter Romanians use to knock symbolically red eggs (hard boiled eggs painted traditionally in red – but today people use different colours) – red as Jesus’ blood – saying “Jesus has resurrected” and the answer is “Yes, indeed He is resurrected”.
• Pasca – a nutty kind of cheesecake made only at Easter time – it is yummy but only once a year!

Coliva – dead people’s cake

Coliva is a special “cake – salad” which is offered at funerals and when people give alms for their passed away relatives. Traditionally Orthodox people celebrate (actually is more like a memorial and a day of mourning) their close relatives’ death by going to the church and giving alms to poor people or to neighbours, relatives or friends. Romanians celebrate 7 days, 3 weeks, 40 days, 6 months, 9 months, 1 year, 2 years and so on since their relatives have left this world.

Alms consist of different dishes which have been previously blessed by a priest and “coliva” is the single dish which is cooked only in such occasion. It is made of boiled wheat, chopped walnuts, sugar/honey and various spices, such as lemon and orange peel, vanilla sugar, rum extract/essence; finally, the cake is beautifully decorated with caster sugar, cocoa, bon-bons and walnuts.

As the wheat grain is a symbol of Jesus, “coliva” is also a holy dish although it is a pagan times heritage. “Coliva” is a symbol of the after-death life and of revival, rebirth: according to folk tradition the dead body will resurrect the same way the wheat grain is first buried and then it germinates a new plant.

Author: Irina Petre

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