Christmas Traditions in Romania

Romanian Christmas Pig Pork is an important part of the Romanian Christmas Eve and Christmas Day meal. On December 20, St. Ignat's Day, a large pig, fattened for this very purpose, is slaughtered to provide the staple ingredient to the Christmas time feast. While rural villagers still practice the pig slaughter, keeping and slaughtering domestic animals isn't practical for city dwellers, but the tradition of eating pork for Christmas in Romania prevails. Other dishes will accompany the main pork dish or be made from pork, and Romanian plum brandy may be drunk.

Romanian Christmas Carols Christmas carols and the practice of caroling both feature heavily in Romanian Christmas traditions. The act of going through the village, or from house to house, singing carols dates to pre-Christian times. Today, Romanian carolers are most often children who may carry a staff topped with a representation of the Christmas star. Some Romanian Christmas carols have a religious theme, while others may reference Romanian folklore.

“Capra” In many parts of Romania, it's also traditional that someone dresses up as a goat, with a multicolored mask, and goes round with the carol singers. The goat is known as the 'Capra' and it jumps and dances around getting up to lots of mischief!

Santa Claus In Romania Santa Claus is known as 'Moş Crăciun' (Old Man Christmas) In Romanian, Merry Christmas is 'Crặciun Fericit'.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Christmas Dinner with the Family

Traditional Christmas meal Traditional Romanian Christmas foods include Roast Gammon and Pork Chops (made from the killed pig!)

Sour Meatball Soup 'Ciorba de perisoare' which is a slightly sour vegetable soup made with fermented bran and pork meatballs Ciorbă is a distinctive type of Romanian soup that is soured with vinegar, sauerkraut juice or another sour agent. Sour meatball soup is among the most traditional of the sour soup.

“Sarmale” cabbage leaves stuffed with ground pork Sarmale or stuffed cabbage are enjoyed year-round in Romania, but especially for holidays like Christmas and Easter. This Romanian stuffed cabbage recipe is made with pork, sauerkraut, cabbage and tomatoes.

'Cozonac' a rich fruit bread Romanian cozonac is a slightly sweet yeast-raised egg bread, that is traditionally eaten for Easter, Christmas and New Year's. Bulgarians call this bread kozunak. It's considered the Italian panettone of the Romanians. Some cozonac are filled with nuts, lokum (Turkish Delight) or raisins. When the cozonac dough is filled with farmer’s cheese, it becomes a pasca, similar to a Polish kolacz.

“Salam de Biscuiti” Salam de Biscuiti, or unbaked cookies made to look like slices of salami, are popular at Christmas time in Romania and elsewhere throughout Europe, especially Italy, Germany and Hungary whose cuisines have influenced Romanian food. Essentially it is a combination of cocoa powder, butter, sugar, rum extract or other real liquor, crumbled cookies and, usually Turkish delight. Some recipes call for whole eggs or egg yolks but, because this cookie isn't baked, make sure to use pasteurized eggs. The mixture is formed into a log shape, refrigerated and then sliced and served.

Sibiu Christmas Market The Sibiu Christmas market in Romania follows the traditions of other Christmas markets in Eastern Europe. The charming historic center of Sibiu has celebrated Christmas in this way since 2007. Though it's one of the lesser-known Christmas markets. The Sibiu Christmas market is called "Targul de Craciun" in Romanian. Sibiu has been nominated for UNESCO World Heritage protection, so expect the Christmas market to reflect the best Romanian Christmas traditions, foods, and crafts.

New Year's Eve New Year's Eve is also an important celebration in Romania. It's sometimes called Little Christmas. Traditionally a small, decorated plough called a 'Plugusorul' is paraded through the streets on New Year's Eve. It is meant to help people have good crops during the following year.

“Sorcova” On New Year's Day, children wish people a Happy New Year while carrying around a special bouquet called a 'Sorcova'. Traditionally, the Sorcova was made of twigs from one or more fruit trees like apple, pear, cherry or plum. They're put into water in a warm place on 30th November, so they hopefully come into leaf and blossom on New Year's Eve! Nowadays often a single twig of an apple or pear tree is used and it's decorated with flowers made from colored paper.