Easter Traditional Food
Traditionally, the Orthodox Christians sacrifice a lamb as a symbol of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for the Redemption of the humans. Thus, they prepare lamb sour soup, roast lamb and drob de miel . Also, they dye chicken eggs in red; the traditional Easter cake is pască.
EASTER EGGS – OUA ROSII
Easter eggs are special eggs that are often given to celebrate Easter or springtime. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide. The oldest tradition is to use dyed and painted chicken eggs. The Easter egg, for Christians, is a reminder that Jesus rose from the grave, and that those who believe will also experience eternal life.
LAMB’S DROB – DROB DE MIEL
Drob, is a traditional Romanian dish similar to a haggis made of minced lamb's offals wrapped in a caul and roasted like a meatloaf. At Easter, is customary to sacrifice a lamb, so the drob de miel (lamb's drob) is served at Easter as a traditional Easter dish.
GRILLED LAMB – MIEL LA GRATAR Cooking time: 30 minutes Makes: 6 servings Ingredients: lamb leg 5-6 garlic cloves salt black pepper Preparation: Separate the bone. Cut steaks about 3/4 inch. Grease each of them with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper and minced garlic (or thyme). Preheat the grill. Cook the meat about 10 minutes on each side. We recommend serving it with baked potatoes and fresh salad, but you can try any side dishes combinations, for a variety of meals. It works great with roasted potatoes, green beans, okra, and other vegetable based dishes.
ROAST LAMB – MIEL LA CUPTOR Cooking time: 1.5 hour (preparation : 30 minutes; baking: 1 hour) Makes: 6 servings Ingredients: 1 lamb leg ( preferably back leg) salt ground black pepper 5-6 garlic cloves thyme (optional for flavoring) 2 tablespoons olive oil 2-3 tablespoons white wine new potatoes - for roasted potatoes (optional)
LAMB STEW - STUFAT DE MIEL A classic Romanian food dish, the lamb stew, called "stufat de miel" in Romanian is a traditional recipe for Romanian lamb lovers. It is easy to make and a true candidate for a gourmet dinner. I hope you will enjoy it too. The original recipe requires green garlic, which is rather difficult to find in American groceries. If you do not have green garlic, you could replace it with regular garlic, although some of the "fresh taste" will be lost. The lamb stew recipe is meant to be a Romanian food celebration of spring when all new herbs are coming to life.You could also seed your own garlic cloves and wait for the green garlic to grow. Recipe Cooking time: 30-40 minutes (preparation: 10 minutes; cooking: 20-30 minutes) Makes: 6 servings Ingredients: 2 pounds lamb ribs 4 fresh scallion bunches 2 fresh green garlic bunches 2-3 tablespoons tomato paste salt for seasoning 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
LAMB SOUR SOUP RECIPE – CIORBA DE MIEL In Romania, you cannot have Easter without lamb soup! This sour soup is once again an explosion of celebration of new herbs coming to life in spring.
Cooking time:1 hour Makes: 6-8 servings Ingredients: lamb: neck, head and ribs 1-2 bunches green fresh onion 1 bunch parsley 1-2 small bunches green chard 1 egg sour cream 3-5 tablespoons rice
WALNUT FILLED PANETTONE Preparation time: 3.5 hours - COZONAC Makes: 2 small-medium loaves Romanian cozonac is a slightly sweet yeast-raised egg bread that is traditionally eaten for Easter, Christmas and New Year's. Some cozonac are filled with nuts, lokum (Turkish Delight) or raisins. When the cozonac dough is filled with farmers cheese, it becomes a pasca, similar to a Polish kolacz.
Ingredients: 21 ounces (600 g ) bread flour 3 eggs 5.3 oz (150 g) sugar 4.4 oz (125 g) butter 1 cup (1/4 l ) milk 1 pinch salt 3 teaspoons dry yeast (or 1.4 oz (40 g) fresh yeast) grated lemon peel rum extract vanilla extract
PASCA Pasca is a traditional dessert for the Easter celebration.You cannot have Easter without Pasca! Preparation time: 3 hours Makes: one medium Pasca Ingredients: 18 ounces (1/2 kg ) bread flour
3 eggs 5.3 oz (150 g) sugar 4.4 oz (125 g) butter 1 cup (1/4 l ) milk 1 pinch salt
3 teaspoons dry yeast (or 1.4 oz (40 g) fresh yeast)
Filling ingredients: 1.5 pound (750 g) farmers' cheese (you can also use cream cheese) 3 eggs 2-3 tablespoons sour cream 5.3 oz ( 150 g ) sugar 2.6 oz ( 75 g ) butter
grated lemon peel
3 tablespoons flour grated lemon peel
rum extract
vanilla extract
vanilla extract If you use fresh yeast instead of dry yeast, you will need an additional: 2 teaspoons bread flour 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 cup of milk
4 oz (110 g) raisins